Background
The ASARECA Knowledge Management Community of Practice (KMCoP) is a Platform for Knowledge Management, Information and Communication (KMIC) practitioners in the ASARECA National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) in its 15 Member States. This Platform was officially launched in December 2021 during the 2nd Annual Knowledge Management Practitioners Consultative and Training Workshop in Entebbe, Uganda that was attended by key KMIC Specialists from 14 Member States then.
Rationale of KMCoP
The governments, agricultural research and development institutions, extension agencies, education institutions, input and output actors and providers, wholesalers, and farmers in the sub-region are yearning for near real-time knowledge-based transformation. They are demanding ASARECA and the National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs) to facilitate this transformation by designing strategies, tools, processes, and platforms such as this to inform planning, generation, processing, packaging, storage, dissemination, access to and use of knowledge and knowledge products to increase the innovative capability of its stakeholders. This Platform is meant to strengthen capacities, promote sharing of knowledge resources, enhance access to relevant and timely knowledge products for informed decision-making, and co-creation of new products based on growing demands by Member States.
Objectives of KMCoP
The Community is focused on achieving five key objectives as illustrated below:
Membership
The KMCoP currently has 100 members, comprising mainly Knowledge Management, Information and Communication staff from the NARIs. Preparations have been made to accommodate more membership comprising the categories shown below.
Membership fees and Funding
Currently membership to KMCoP is free to all. KMCoP activities are currently financed by the European Union (EU) through ASARECA Core Funds received mainly from Member States, and through the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme CAADP ex-pillar IV (CAADP-XP4) project, which is managed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) as part of the grant awarded to ASARECA, AFAAS, CCARDESA, FARA and CORAF.
Further information on membership is available from
ASARECA Secretariat
Plot 5, Mpigi Road
P.O. Box 765, Entebbe, Uganda.