FAO established the World Agricultural Information Centre (WAICENT) in recognition of the instrinsic value of information in fighting global hunger and achieving food security. Through the WAICENT framework, FAO is able to effectively disseminate the Organization's vast wealth of information on agriculture and food security in accordance with its belief that information is power only if easily and freely accessible.

The WAICENT Internet portal offers a unique and unlimited capacity to disseminate information to millions of users around the world. As part of its efforts to expand access to FAO information, particularly in Member Nations where the Internet is not widely available, WAICENT promotes access to specialized information systems such as FAOSTAT, AGRIS and the Corporate Document Repository by making content available on CD-Rom.

KCE contributes to the continuing success of the WAICENT framework by:

• coordinating the structure and content of the WAICENT portal;
  
  
• actively seeking capacity building and partnership initiatives which promote best practices in information management;
  
  
• sharing information management systems and other information and communication technologies (ICTs) with FAO partners;
  
  
• proactively participating in FAO's interdepartmental WAICENT Advisory Group (WAG);
  
  
• providing access to FAO publications both in print and in electronic format through the FAO Library online Catalogue and the Corporate Document Repository.