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After seven years of activities, the LinKS Project has come to an end. The project looked at gender issues, agrobiodiversity and local knowledge in Tanzania, Mozambique and Swaziland. Through its core activities - capacity building, communication and advocacy, and research – the project has been instrumental in:

The formulation of a new revised national livestock policy in Tanzania;

Mainstreaming its issues into the curriculum of the Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania;

Establishing a Trust Fund on Indigenous Knowledge in Tanzania (with 11 national institutions participating);

Increasing the awareness on the importance of indigenous knowledge among development specialists at institutional and policy level in all three countries

The project has held over 40 training workshops and trained more than 1 000 people. The 30 field research activities - that focused mainly on plant and animal genetic resources, some of them with an HIV/AIDS component - have generated approximately 50 research reports. These are just some of the outcomes of the project, however many research reports are currently being finalised and will be posted on the website soon. The website in fact will remain active and will still serve as a database of information related to gender, agrobiodiversity and local knowledge, crucial issues that will still be at the centre of FAO’s activities.
The LinKS countries have found different ways to carry on their work on LinKS issues: in Swaziland, through an informal network on gender, agrobiodiversity and local knowledge; in Mozambique through the provision of training workshops; and finally, in Tanzania through the Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (Links) Trust.
The LinKS Project in fact, is pleased to announce the establishment, in August 2005, of the Tanzanian Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (Links) Trust, an initiative taken by a group of individuals from different Tanzanian institutions, including the Tanzanian Food and Nutrition Center (TFNC), the University of Dar es Salaam (USDM), the Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (COSTECH), the Ministries of Health, Livestock Development and Agriculture, and the National Environment Council.
The founding of the Trust, a non-governmental and non-profit making organization, is an initiative prompted by the need to make Local and Indigenous Knowledge issues visible in the national policies and strategies at different levels. The Trust will take over LinKS project activities and build on the experiences made during the past seven years. Its main purpose will be to establish a platform within the country for sharing ideas and information on local knowledge systems. Moreover, the Trust will be able to provide training courses on gender, biodiversity and local knowledge.

The LinKS Training Manual: Building on Gender, Agrobiodiversity and Local Knowledge is now available in French and Portuguese.
The manual is available as a hard copy or on CD-ROM.
Click here to downloand the entire manual in one PDF file (4.7Mb).
Veuillez cliquer içi pour télécharger le manuel entier en format pdf (2.3Mb).
Clique aqui para fazer o download do manual inteiro em formato pdf (2.2Mb).
To download each of the main modules separately click on the following links:
Introduction         English         Français         Português
Module 1             English         Français         Português
Module 2             English         Français         Português
Module 3             English         Français         Português
Module 4             English         Français         Português
Module 5             English         Français         Português
Key readings        English         Français         Português