Innovative Approaches of Knowledge
Management in Agriculture:
Experiences from IPMS project–Ethiopia
11th regional conference of Southern and Eastern African
Association for Farming research-Extensions (SEAAFSRE)
South Africa, 19-21 November 2012
Fanos Mekonnen, Ermias Sehai and Dirk Hoekstra

A successful Knowledge Management initiative is
one that has been institutionalized within a given
organization and/or community with measurable
positive impact

Outline of topics
 KM overview
 IPMS KM interventions
 Lessons learned

Agricultural Extension in Ethiopia- Now
 More infrastructure
 More public staff
 More ICT

Agricultural knowledge management
 KM is about developing
and nurturing a system
 Learn from each other,
leverage collective
knowledge resources, share
knowledge, and use
knowledge…

Why KM in IPMS
 Knowledge determines
winners and losers
 Leverage indigenous
knowledge

IPMS KM Framework
Multidirectional knowledge flow, empowerment of
practitioners, and partnership

 Agricultural knowledge
centers
Knowled  MSc studies
ge
 Field days
Capturin
g  Technology exhibitions
 Action researches

Knowledge Capturing:
Agricultural kknowledge centers

Student shares his researchout put to
district experts

IPMS Agricultural Knowledge Centers

Knowledge Capturing: Guided study tours

On Job training

Knowledge
Storing • Ethiopian Agriculture
Portal
• Project publications
• Multimedia
• Project website

Knowledge Storing:
Ethiopian Agriculture Portal
http://www.eap.gov.et

Knowledge Storing/Sharing:
Publication and multimedia

• Participatory Radio Sereis
knowledge • Workshops, conferences...
sharing • Publications
• Technology Exchibitions
• Field days
• Media

Agricultural technology exhibitions

Field Days

Key Project Results
 Change of Attitude
 KM is refered as a significant input of IPMS
 Good acceptance of the agricultural knowledge centers;
it has become exemplary
 Ministry of Agriculture have pretty much took
responsibility handling the EAP,
 Created strong linkages with university and research
 120MSc research thesis were supported
 Good documentations
 31 working papers, 6 manuals, 2 toolkits, 6 commodity
synthesis produced and distributed (digital and printed)
 Key project outputs translated to the local language
 Excellent promotion and scaling out

Knowledge Sharing before and after IPMS intervention
100
50
0
Alaba Alamata Bure Goma
Same as before > volume of information > Diversity

Lessons, challenges and opportunities
 Knowledge is refered as a significant IPMS
contribution by benificiaries
 Inter-related approaches to KM, capacity
development and partner linkage makes it a whole.
 Awareness on KM is progressive process
 Focus is what the KM system can do for them
and not on what they can do to make it better for
everyone

The power of four: Key points to consider
• Who will coordinate our KM initiative?
People • Who are our target beneficiaries
• How will we acquire, synthesize, and
share knowledge?
Process • How will we measure return on our
investment?
• What are the appropriate tools for our
target beneficiaries?
Technology • What new tools are out there that may
create new opportunities for knowledge
sharing
• How can we ensure the right
organizational setup to support
Organizational knowledge management?
Framework • Do we provide KM conducive
leadership ?

Conclusion
 Knowledge is a critical input to agricultural
development
 KM strategies should be coupled with capacity
development strategies
 Many oopportunities: Internet, mobile phones, FTCs
 Plan, Implement, learn, and modify and
DOCUMENT

A successful Knowledge Management initiative is
one that has been institutionalized within a given
organization and/or community with measurable
positive impact
We say, IPMS has progressed significantly in
doing so, what do you say?

Livestock and Irrigation Value chains for
Ethiopian Smallholders