Connecting communities in arid lands with knowledge in East Africa

Abstract

To connect communities living in arid lands in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and provide them with Internet and information services, Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN) operates 12 community knowledge centres. These Maarifa centres act as the main hub for sharing information resources with the community, for capturing indigenous and local information, and for providing Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services and training to the community. ALIN's systematic process of capturing, sharing, and analysing quantitative and qualitative information about its centres' activities and about the needs of its beneficiaries helps the organization provide its demand-driven knowledge and information services to some of the most marginalized communities in the world. This case story presents an overview of ALIN's approach to monitoring and evaluating this knowledge management initiative, describing what was helpful and what were the main challenges in this evaluation process. This article also presents some of the lessons learned and the subsequent changes that have been made to the ongoing assessment of this initiative.

Notes

1. The poorest people of the Eastern and Southern Africa region live in the desert or on semi-arid land that makes up almost 40% of this region's land base (IFAD 2012).

2. ALIN is an international NGO that facilitates information and knowledge exchange to and between extension workers or infomediaries and arid lands communities in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The information exchange activities focus on small-scale sustainable agriculture, climate change adaptation, natural resources management and other livelihood issues. ALIN's mission is to improve the livelihoods of arid lands communities in East Africa through delivery of practical information using modern technologies. See http://www.alin.net

3. See http://www.alin.net/Baobab%20Magazine

4. Maarifa in Swahili means knowledge.

5. VSAT= Very Small Aperture Terminal, a ground unit used to receive or send data via satellite.

6. One Maarifa centre, the Nguruman Maarifa centre in Entasopia, Kenya, has been featured as one of the most remote places to have an Internet connection. See http://crave.cnet.co.uk/gadgets/top-ten-most-remote-tech-locations-on-earth-49303909.

7. Between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2010, 2955 community members were trained at Maarifa centres on various skills including writing, filmmaking and use of podcasts among other practical IT skills.

8. Maarifa centre blogs are available from the Maarifa centre page on ALIN's website, http://www.alin.net/Introduction.

9. See http://www.alin.net/Joto%20Afrika

10. Field officers for example reported that it wasn't always easy to categorize a visitor as either a ‘farmer’ or a ‘professional’ because some people, such as local teachers, can fit both categories. To solve this issue, it was agreed that the answer as to which category the person belonged would be based on the information they sought. If a teacher visited a centre to seek information around his teaching work, he would be recorded as a ‘teacher’. On the other hand, if the main reason for his visit is to learn about a new farming technique, he would be recorded as a ‘farmer’.