Agriculture in the 21st century is "an information-intensive sector of the global economy, moving away from an artisanal, extensive, traditional activity where access to information is a necessity and not a luxury". So said Dr. Louise Fresco, Assistant Director-General of the Agriculture Department of FAO, at the opening of the first ever Consultation on Agricultural Information Management (COAIM) (FAO, Rome, 5-7 June 2000).
The three-day event brought together representatives of 88 countries - information users and providers, policy-makers, funding agencies, and observers from the UN and NGO community - to discuss ways of improving the capacities of decision-makers, professionals and the public at large in developing countries to access and use information essential for achieving sustainable agriculture development and food security.
Importantly, COAIM provided the mechanism for the intergovernmental process that is essential for improving the coordination of capacity building efforts in information management, as well as setting up the guidelines and standards that enhance access to relevant data and information worldwide.
The consultation featured workshops on key aspects of the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in agricultural development and food security and on the latest advances in information management systems, which were presented by specialists from the wider development community and academia.
In addition, the consulation highlighted that information management framework, standards and systems adopted by theWorld Agricultural Information Centre (WAICENT),such as AGROVOC, AGRIS and GIEWS, have made significant progress in the generation of agricultural knowledge. However, it was observed that the poorest stakeholders have yet to see many of the benefits. As one COAIM participant commented, "we must now reach the unreached".
In recognition of this, WAICENT has now developed and launched an Outreach Programme to improve the quality of information exchange from the grassroots to national policy makers, for which Groups at national, regional and local levels will be able to adapt and integrate existing WAICENT tools and methods to their own needs.
One country in which the project is already underway is Ethiopia, where a National Agricultural Information System is being established. A database on agricultural experts throughout Ethiopia took just one week to create by customizing an already-existing WAICENT model, and an Intranet site at the Ministry of Agriculture has also been established. Commenting on the new technology, Mr. Woldemeskel, the National Project Coordinator, said: "We went from nothingness to a working system in under six months".
More information about the COAIM, including the agenda and background documents is available here.
Agroweb - a network of country websites in Central and Eastern Europe - is helping to close the information gap in agriculture and related topics in the region.
The network initiative is the result of an on-going collaboration between the FAO Regional Office for Central and Eastern Europe, 19 countries, and the Central and Eastem European Chapter of the International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists (IAALD).
With already 19 individual country sites in place and others in the pipeline, Agroweb aims to provide users with specific information on the ministries, information centres, libraries, research institutes, educational and non-governmental organizations dealing with agriculture; as well as to promote the collection, dissemination and availablity of agriculture related information within countries and across the region as a whole.
To view the Agroweb country sites in development, click on the relevant links below