Presentation on Global perspectives in agricultural knowledge management for discussion at National Workshop on Agricultural Knowledge Management in India 27-28 September 2017

1. Knowledge Management in
Agricultural Organizations: A
Global Perspective
Ajit Maru
Ahmedabad, India

2. Discussion Points
KM/S ?
Evolution of Knowledge Management
Agriculture and Knowledge Management
Why India needs to strengthen its Agricultural
Knowledge Management?
Benefits from Improved Knowledge Management
in Indian Agriculture

3. Knowledge and its
Management
Knowledge is awareness with experience.
Knowledge is in the minds of people.
Knowledge management in essence is the
management of people so that that they can
share, exchange and use knowledge effectively

4. Evolution of Knowledge Management

5. Evolution of Knowledge Management
1969 - Emergence of Internet

6. Evolution of Knowledge
Management
Initially, Knowledge Management aimed at
managing an Organization’s Intellectual assets to
contribute to company’s business strategy
Knowledge Management for growth and
development of its organization and
client/customer
Now, Knowledge Management also for
Conceptualization and Innovation in an
Organisation

8. Trends in Knowledge
Management
Including and making Communities central to
Knowledge Management for Tacit-Explicit-Tacit
cycle
Focus on Sharing and Exchanging Knowledge at
glocal (global and local) knowledge
Need for robust infostructure for efficient use of
big data along with knowledge (awareness and
experience)
Increasing space and demand for Knowledge
based workers in a “knowledge” based economy

9. Agriculture and Knowledge
Management
Agriculture is becoming increasingly knowledge
intensive due to:
Need to participate in globally competitive
agricultural commodity and technology markets
Make agriculture sustainable economically,
socially and environmentally and resilient
Need to cope with Climate Change and extreme
aberrations of weather

10. Agriculture and Knowledge
Management
Knowledge management
in agriculture is as old as
the day mankind
domesticated plants and
animals to provide them
food.
The systems of knowledge
management are
constantly evolving with
use new information and
communications
technologies.

11. Agriculture and Knowledge
Management
A new Agriculture, Agriculture 4.0, is emerging.
This agriculture is data driven and optimizes Agri-
food chains and systems holistically from input,
production, marketing, consumption and waste
management.
This agriculture considers productivity on the
basis of efficient use of all natural resources.

12. Agriculture and KM
Agriculture 4.0 needs rapid innovation and hence
new knowledge and knowledge workers.
Agriculture is ideal for mass innovation driven by
democratization of learning and science using
ICT.

13. KM in International Agricultural
Organisations
World Bank in 1996 became a “Knowledge Bank”
under James Wolfensohn.
The CGIAR started looking at a System wide KM
Initiative in 2002 and appointed a Chief
knowledge Officer. CGIAR focus on KM/S.
IFAD also during the same period focused on
Knowledge and its management as an
agricultural development thrust

14. KM in International Agricultural
Organisations
FAO initiated becoming a Knowledge
Organisation in 2008 after an Internal review and
appointed a DDG, Knowledge.
THE GCARD Roadmap 6 point plan to transform
agricultural research for development included
greater capacities to share, exchange and
make use of agricultural knowledge for
development change among all actors
CAAS is developing a Roadmap for Knowledge
Management for Chinese Agriculture

15. Why KM In Agricultural
Organisations has not worked
out till now?
Inability to develop a knowledge strategy in
consonance to support the Organization’s
business strategy. Many a times Organization do
not know what their “real” business is.
Inadequate support from top leadership.
Structure of Organisations does not support
knowledge sharing, exchange and use.

16. Why KM In Agricultural
Organisations has not worked
out till now?
Wrong ICT Structure, Management and Use
Inadequate Communication, Openness and
Transparency
Separating KM function from organization’s functions,
treating it as a operation and not as an organization’s
culture element
Separating the process of KM from its content and
focusing more on processes than its content

17. Why Indian Agriculture needs
to strengthen its KM?
Need for increased efficiency and greater economy in
Agri-food systems
Urgent need to rapidly innovate agriculture to meet
current and future challenges
Need to improve efficiency and Intellectual capacities of
agricultural development institutions, organisations and
systems to support mass agricultural innovation
Need for Organizational and Systems development and
growth of Indian Agricultural Development, Research
and Innovation
Retaining knowledge at risk of loss

18. Benefits from Improved KM in
Indian Agriculture
Better and faster decision making especially for
emerging challenges such as climate change,
environmental damage, use of natural resources, loss
of biodiversity and management of trans-boundary
diseases
Enabling faster, easier, economic, more effective
access to existing, relevant information, experience and
skills
Reusing concepts, ideas, documents and expertise,
avoiding duplication and redundant efforts and
repeating mistakes

19. Benefits from Improved KM in
Indian Agriculture
Communicating important information and
experience widely and more rapidly
Promoting and enabling standardized,
repeatable processes and procedures
Providing easier access to methods, tools,
templates, techniques, examples etc.,
Making scarce expertise widely available
Showing users how knowledge available across
the system benefits all
Leveraging Technological and Innovations
capacities and size at home and abroad

20. Thank You
Contact: amaru_in(at)yahoo.com