Review of Progress and Prospects

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2. GOAL AND OUTCOMES

Participants agreed that their collective goal was that stakeholders in agricultural science and technology should be better informed so that they make better decisions (researchers, extensionists) and develop policies based on evidence (policymakers), leading to the economic and social enhancement of rural livelihoods of the poor.

A set of outcomes were foreseen as emerging from follow-up to the Consultation:

agricultural information professionals would be able to ensure their work has more impact and to work together more effectively;
coherence and integration of agricultural information management and systems would be strengthened;
national and regional policy frameworks would recognise the value of and support agricultural information systems.

3. GENERAL FINDINGS

The Consultation had been convened partly in order to consider the nature of international institutional partnerships. It was generally recognized that new institutional mechanisms are required to maximise the potential of recent technical advances. Extensive discussion on participants’ experience in organizational networks produced a detailed analysis of strengths and weaknesses of such networks and mechanisms of collaboration. There was no agreement during the Consultation on precisely what form an improved global institutional approach should take, but options were identified for discussion and finalization in the near future.
A model was developed for mapping the major factors affecting agricultural information systems, loosely based on the model developed by the CGIAR and referred to during the Consultation as the “onion model”.

The elements of the model were then analysed to establish the most appropriate order for their implementation.

Topic	Action
Vision/strategy	The top priority is to clarify the vision of what is to be achieved, supported by a strategy that lays out the goals and objectives.
Advocacy	A planned, deliberate, and sustained effort is required to increase awareness of the vision and strategy amongst key stakeholders at policy and institutional level.
Capital	Advocacy should stimulate investment, which can then be channelled into appropriate areas within the strategy.
Policy	Policies should then be developed to structure processes and determine functions of human/technological resources.
Partnership	Advocacy should also lead to collaboration (public/private) based on a shared vision; mechanisms and resources, and clear incentives for all parties.
Content management	Content must be made available in digital format, and technical resources (e.g. standards, tools, applications, languages) must be developed and applied to facilitate digitization of content.
Capacity building	Establishment of policies and procedures must be followed by continuing enhancement of human resource capacities through training.
Organizational culture	Development of appropriate approach to roles and responsibilities of, and inter-relationships between, internal stakeholders.
Infrastructure	Appropriate ICT facilities have to be developed to support wider connectivity within the available telecommunications environment.

The Consultation participants attributed high priority for intervention to three major areas of the “onion” model, namely advocacy, people (especially capacity building), and content, recognizing that in fact they are closely inter-related. Other areas in the “onion” model were felt to be outside the scope of the Expert Consultation, namely infrastructure (especially IT), financial issues, and internal institutional issues such as intellectual property rights.

Participants also recognized the critical importance of enhancing collaboration as a prime objective of the Consultation, and spent considerable time analysing the critical success factors at national, regional and international level and outlining potential mechanisms for the development of some form of more formal partnership or alliance.

4. ACTION AREAS

Members of the two Tracks of the Consultation were provided with presentations from participants on key issues related to the three major themes of the consultation. The issues were further analysed by working groups to define the opportunities and constraints, and the proposed actions.

4.1 Advocacy

Participants recognized that a planned, deliberate, and sustained effort would be required to increase awareness of the vision and strategy amongst key stakeholders at policy and institutional level.

Opportunities and Constraints

Participants identified opportunities and constraints associated with advocacy for more coherent approaches to the management of information on agricultural science and technology.

	Opportunities	Constraints
National	Ability to attract funding Support from policymakers	Lack of strategies National priorities distorted by international partners Poor link to national development plans/policies Lack of advocacy skills Lack of communication with international level
Regional	Representation of national members’ interests Intermediary role Ability to facilitate collective action	Lack of strategies Poor advocacy and communication skills Weak links to national strategies, needs, and delivery Poor linkages across agriculture sub-sectors
International	Strong mission and vision Strong position and ability in advocacy Institutionalization Ability to lead advocacy partnerships	Policy differences amongst stakeholders Insufficient advocacy and public awareness Poor match with national needs Supply-driven approach

The meeting recognized the need for wider awareness and active involvement amongst the range of stakeholder constituencies, given the broad lack of awareness of information management issues at policy level. Progress in the area of advocacy can draw on the strengths of organizations at different levels (national, regional, international) were recognized, provided that certain points that require attention are addressed. Development at the national level depends on enhancing the support from policymakers, particularly when attracting resources funds. Organizations at the regional level can advocate for and facilitate collective actions by playing an intermediary role. Institutionalisation and consortium-like approaches form a potential that can be developed at the international level. Communication between the three major levels was felt to require improvement. It was also recognized that advocacy activities need to accommodate the differences between the constituencies.

Proposed actions
The key objective would be to secure commitment and participation from critical members of the various stakeholder constituencies in agricultural science and technology from different levels (local, national, regional, international). Participants proposed the following actions:

Consultation mechanisms. Development of a “virtual” space to facilitate discussion and agreement on (i) a “vision” for the initiative, and (ii) a plan for an advocacy campaign. The plan would need to address the fact that communication at the different levels and between them has been the weakest aspect of collaboration to date, and to tailor messages appropriately for each stakeholder group. The suggestions for activities on advocacy arising from the GLOBAL.RAIS meeting would be reviewed as part of the process.
Champions. Identification and mobilization of suitably-placed “champions” at national, regional and international level to advocate for enhanced agricultural information management, with the appropriate messages as above.
Key events. Identification within the advocacy plan of key international and regional events related to agricultural science and technology which could (i) benefit from strategic advocacy inputs in the area of information management, and (ii) offer opportunities for gathering inputs to the advocacy plan from donors, partners, and ICM professionals.
Evidence of impact. Gathering of evidence of the development impact of more effective information management, to provide substance for the advocacy messages. Specific new initiatives should be developed to assess impact, including development of key indicators and the documentation of positive and negative lessons learnt through case studies/stories. Once developed, impact indictors would need to be actively disseminated for sponsors and donors to include in assessment, monitoring and evaluation of information management interventions.
Training materials. Development of resource materials and training courses for capacity building in advocacy techniques and communication, particularly related to IM/IT issues, would assist in training of managers, scientists, academics, and information managers to convince policymakers on the need for formulation of information strategies and policies.

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