The Toolbox was launched in June 2000 as a publicly accessible part of FAO’s website (LEAD 1999). Distribution of the English-language CD-ROM version took place in October 2000, to be followed by French, Spanish, Portuguese and Chinese versions. Obviously, it is too early for a full evaluation of the use of the Toolbox by Southern policy-makers, let alone of its impact on the environment, but I suggest that, in certain circumstances, it is a powerful tool, and that we can already identify some of the reasons why.
During the second workshop the reactions of senior Southern policy-makers, as well as donor representatives not previously familiar with the Toolbox, were extremely positive. During the case studies, especially that in Brazil (Morton et al. 1999a), it emerged that the clientele for the Toolbox was more diverse than previously imagined, and its uses more multiple. As well as governmental and donor policy-makers and project managers, there are possibilities for use by; extension agencies, credit agencies in technical appraisal of loan applications, NGOs and think-tanks in advocacy and lobbying, and academic institutions in teaching, including the interdisciplinary teaching of potential planners and policy-makers.
The following comments on how the electronic form of the Toolbox favours its impact on policy, and the outstanding policy issues it raises, are based on the case studies and workshops, as well as on the experience of the team constructing the Toolbox, who themselves learnt a lot during the exercise.
Accessibility through the Worldwide Web and CD-ROM
At the current stage of global expansion in use of ICTs, the use of the Worldwide Web to reach the Toolbox’s primary target group of policy-makers in Southern governments and donor organisations, and other target groups such as the management of major donor-funded projects, is not fundamentally problematic. All these organisations are likely to have Internet access. In Senegal, where a large consortium of government ministries, local authorities, research institutes, development projects and major NGOs met to discuss the Toolbox, it was reported that a majority had Internet access, and that in general:
"National institutions are for the most part equipped with computers and the senior staff are trained [in their use]. Such is also the case with NGOs. So the possibilities of using the Toolbox, when it is ready, are realistic." (Anon 1999)
But the report also observes that the Toolbox should be available in CD-ROM format, and that for some rural organisations, complementary measures of supplying computers and training should be undertaken.
In Brazil, a wealthier country, Internet access is widespread in the Federal capital Brasilia, for research institutes and NGOs as well as government agencies. At the level of a state capital such as Belém only those working in governmental organisations have easy access to the Internet. Other organisations in a state capital or in the hinterland, where Internet access is very difficult due to the poor quality of phone lines, would benefit more from a CD-ROM version. Access to computers with CD-ROM drives and familiarity with the technology extends to NGOs, associations of large producers, and in a limited way to Municipio (county) governments and some small CBOs. The general conclusion of the Brazil case-study was for dual availability of the Toolbox on the Web and on CD-ROM (Morton et al. 1999a). For most countries and for most users the combined use of a CD-ROM version together with access to updated material via the Internet perhaps offers the best of both systems and, importantly, reduces the amount of Internet access time required.
Overall, access to both the Worldwide Web and CD-ROM technology is growing rapidly in the South. When the direct access of rural people in the South to these technologies is discussed, a note of caution can be rightly sounded, but for the intermediary organisations, governmental and non-governmental that serve them, the technology is already there or arriving very fast.
Compactness
One of the advantages associated with the electronic nature of the Toolbox is its compactness. It contains over 560 web-pages specifically written for the Toolbox, with 83 major documents obtained from elsewhere. If used with Internet access, it additionally gives access to a number of external Web sites. In terms of cost, and especially for those (such as NGOs) using it at or near field-level, in terms of portability and ease of handling, this represents a great advantage over print media.
Hypertext and non-linearity
Another enormous advantage over print media is the non-linearity that comes from the use of hypertext links. Even where printed books or manuals present the reader with several alternative modes of reading, depending on interests and degree of detail required, physical navigation can be cumbersome. The Toolbox is a true "garden of forking paths" (Borges 1970): users can follow a variety of planned pathways, as well as creating their own through using cross-links, and making use of the glossary and search facility. For some purposes, shortcuts or alternative ways of doing the same thing have been provided for experienced users.
Mixed content and mixed media
Compactness and the use of hypertext together allow the Toolbox to assemble very diverse sorts of information: diverse in terms of subject matter and discipline (environmental assessment, livestock production, policy and social science), electronic format (html, pdf, photo-images and graphics), and to some extent in terms of audience (policy-makers, NGOs and extension workers). Future initiatives of this sort could extend this diversity, by including information in database or GIS form, as well as applications software.
This diversity allows the Toolbox to be a complex and flexible tool, well-suited to its complex subject-matter and to the need for holistic analysis of environmental impacts, policies and practical technologies. It has the additional and specific advantage of bringing the policy arguments, rightly considered crucial by the donors, to many audiences who would not normally consider them relevant or who would actively disagree with them. In this way policy arguments can piggy-back on the large amount of practical technical extension contained within the Toolbox; this ability is premised on the Toolbox being on the one hand large in content, but on the other hand compact, easily navigable and non-linear.
A "soft" decision-support system
The Toolbox does not only make a considerable amount of information available, it also acts as a guide through that information. It serves as what we might call a "soft" decision-support system, and its use of html fits very well with this function. It does not, cannot and should not give users a sole answer, either in policy-making, environmental appraisal, or in technical extension. Quite apart from the ethical and political issues involved, it is obvious that the environmental issues are too complex, and too variable across the globe, to allow a precise categorisation of environmental problems that would automatically generate unique solutions. But by identifying broad categories of environmental risk in broadly-defined sub-systems, it can present the user with a wealth of tailored information that is easy to assimilate and which will assist him/her in decision-making.
The Toolbox addresses a problem often identified in the ICT revolution, that of "information overload". Without restricting (and how could it?) its users freedom to look elsewhere, it acts as a filter or packaging device to bring them some of the most useful information. Some observers may recoil from this position at variance with what they see as the benevolent anarchy of the World Wide Web; this potential debate is discussed further below under "Participation versus Authority".
