Title: Knowledge Management' Partnership between WARF and Rural Communities in West Africa: Lessons Learned
1Knowledge Management. Partnership between WARF
and Rural Communities in West Africa Lessons
Learned
- Lessons Learned
- By Ndèye Coumba FALL,
- Program Director, WARF
2MISSION
- The West Africa Rural Foundation (WARF) is an
international non-profit institution, with a
professional West African staff and Board of
Governors. Its mission is to help rural
communities find and follow the path to
self-reliance. This transformation is based on
two cornerstones
- A better appreciation by the community value of
their local resources human and natural and, - Enhancement of community capacity to act
effectively and realize that value.
3Countries of operation
- WARF works in Senegal, Mali, Gambia, Bissau
Guinea, and Guinea. - These five countries are linked through popular
trade, history, culture, administrative
structures, ethnicity, languages, agricultural
systems, and the natural movements of their
populations.
4WARFS PROFILE AND DEVELOPMENT PATTERN
- Institutional performances
- Country agreement with Government of Senegal and
Mali - Board and staff development
- Diversification of the funding base
5Highlights of the presentation
- This insight on knowledge management gives us
the opportunity to revisit the way the knowledge
and know-how WARF is trying to develop with its
partners including rural communities in West
Africa.
- Needs for and goals of the support as a mechanism
for community access to new knowledge for the
sake of poverty alleviation - Learning methods and instruments
- Major lessons learned and challenges.
6LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS NEEDS FOR SUPPORT
- Support for institutional development (training,
methodological, technical, organizational
support, functioning, and logistics) - Financial support to solve problems
- Strategic relationship building with the various
development stakeholders - Overall understanding of the macro dynamics in
order to situate micro actions consistently with
more general policies and issues.
7Objective of the support help Grassroot
Organizations (G.O.) develop their capacities so
as to
- play a more important role in local development,
- develop more leadership in designing,
negotiating, implementing, and evaluating the
programs selected in collaboration with their
partners.
8This greater role implies social transformations
- decision-making power sharing between the various
stakeholders engaged in local development process
- recognition by governments and international
intervention institutions of their initiative
responsibility - a power control of local communities and
institutions - democratization of decision-making processes
within the communities - recognition of the voice of the marginalized
(women, youths, former slaves) .
9LEARNING METHODS AND INSTRUMENTS the Direct
Support
- Participatory Appraisal for peer capacity
building. - Participatory Village Appraisal
- Participatory Institutional Analysis
- Mechanism of partnership management development
- Local organization conceptualization,
formulation, and planning. - Dialogue and Negotiation Frameworks
- Trainings.
- Monitoring and reflection workshops.
- Farmer workshops of technology evaluation
10LEARNING METHODS AND INSTRUMENTS
- Contracting external expertise
- Identification surveys.
- External evaluation.
- Relationship building through a virtual network
- Experience circulation and sharing
- Information and communication with the new
technologies. - Financial support grants
- providing local organizations with financial
resources that help exert their capacity to
choose and their orientation on services they
want to offer
11LESSONS LEARNED AND CHALLENGES
- strengthening local organization cannot be
regarded as an accelerated process, but should be
undertaken in a sustainable way - be iterative and progressive
- given the diversity of organizations, interests
are often conflicting within the same community,
in terms of institutional realities, earmarked
support - flexibility in knowledge and know-how management
mechanisms.
12LESSONS LEARNED AND CHALLENGES
- The support process could generate an attitude of
fear towards WARF methods regarded as very
critical by some communities accustomed to
classical practices of technology transfer - local organizations whatever their weaknesses,
claim an identity which, even if we think it is
not consistent with their needs, requires a
strategy of progressive support to prevent
conflicts within and between communities and WARF
13LESSONS LEARNED AND CHALLENGES
- The quality of knowledge management processes can
be measured through the capacity to settle
conflict, be it cultural, institutional, or
technical - Dynamic of support, to be relevant in the current
environment, should have a function of interface
management in knowledge management processes and
find out solution to the poverty communities are
facing
14LESSONS LEARNED AND CHALLENGES
- Local culture may sometime impede learning for
development when knowledge transmission is
earmarked for so-called superior ethnic groups,
and who are not involved in the production
process - Satisfaction of grievances without any relation
to the needs for community self-promotion,
complicate the process and the learning goals
15LESSONS LEARNED AND CHALLENGES
- Learning and knowledge management mechanisms
should be consistent with traditional community
based systems - Be careful with NICT
16Conclusion knowledge management should be
considered in several ways
- In terms of information, to provide involved
stakeholders with new effective knowledge. - In terms of training which helps stakeholders to
go beyond their individual limits. - In terms of communication, with appropriate tools
and attitudes culturally accepted and encourage
profitable exchange.