A new initiative

Under the framework of the Second Consultation on Agricultural Information Management, a meeting of international agencies¹ took place in order to explore the mechanisms for improved co-ordination in capacity building in information management (Rome, 22 September 2002).

The agencies noted that any efforts towards increased collaboration should be set within the guiding framework of the Millennium Development Goals² on poverty, hunger, the environment and global partnership, while also focusing on achieving the goal of greater efficiency and effectiveness of information exchange and communication.

The agencies, recognizing the need to improve complementarity and collaboration in capacity-building efforts, recommended that:

an informal Inter-agency Advisory Group (IAG) be formed comprising a small number of individuals nominated by international organizations active in capacity building, in information management, agriculture, food security and in the wider development context;
the IAG would develop without delay a set of collaborative actions in two major areas:

the development and dissemination of non-proprietary guidelines, methodologies, tools and training materials in support of improved information management and communication, which encompass the needs of stakeholders ranging from policy-makers through to poor households;
the development of model intervention(s) backed by the partners to validate the resources and tool as above.

The participants of the Second Consultation on Agricultural Information Management supported the creation of this Inter-agency Advisory Group and requested the preparation of a report of its activities to be presented during the next Consultation.

Madagascan villagers being interviewed for a rural radio programme.
(Photo FAO).

Additional information on the Inter-agency Advisory Group is available at: http://www.fao.org/coaim.

¹United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the World Food Programme (WFP), FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Development Gateway Foundation (The World Bank Group), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), One World International, the World Economic Forum and the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation (CTA).

² Millennium Development Goals: i) eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; ii) achieve universal primary education; iii) promote gender equality and empower women; iv) reduce child mortality; v) improve maternal health; vi) combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; vii) ensure environmental sustainability; viii) develop a global partnership for development.