Enhancing coordination among AKIS/RD actors

An analytical and comparative review of country studies on agricultural knowledge and information systems for rural development (AKIS/RD)

This new publication aims to provide a preliminary response to the question: How can developing countries encourage the various systems, organizations and producers concerned with agricultural research, education and extension, and operating in the public or private sector, to behave as one system with regard to the agricultural development component of rural development? In other words: What do developing countries need to establish and maintain an Agricultural Knowledge and Information System (AKIS) that targets agriculture – broadly conceived as crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry – as a main component of rural development (RD)?

Case studies on the present status and direction of AKIS/RD in ten countries are reviewed and compared with a view to providing preliminary answers to this question. The FAO/World Bank publication, AKIS/RD: Strategic vision and guiding principles (2000; PDF file, 1.2MB), lays out nine guiding principles intended to assist in achieving the AKIS/RD objectives of poverty reduction, agricultural productivity gains, food security and environmental sustainability. FAO then commissioned case studies of AKIS/RD in Cameroon, Chile, Egypt, Lithuania, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uganda. Enhancing coordination among AKIS/RD actors: An analytical and comparative review of country studies on agricultural knowledge and information systems for rural development (AKIS/RD) highlights unique or innovative steps undertaken in the countries to strengthen AKIS/RD, assesses the commonalities among the countries, compares the strengths and weaknesses that emerge in each case study, reviews the lessons learned, and puts forward a preliminary set of normative guidelines for advancing AKIS/RD.

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