information

information + knowledge + partnerships =

practical actions and positive
positive results!
Over the years, marketing agencies and produce
boards in the Caribbean participate in
promoting a wider international trade fairs to promote Caribbean
appreciation of
fresh and processed agricultural products. This
information and
knowledge has made the Caribbean brand synonymous with flavour
management for and taste, and Caribbean food products are in high
agricultural demand. These trade shows are also meant to stimulate
development business by putting buyers in direct contact with suppliers.
generally and However, when buyers place their orders, oftentimes, by
specifically,
the container-load, oftentimes we find that our suppliers
support for the
are only able to manage one or two shipments.
IICA/CTA
MEAgrISys project.
There is just not enough supply!
Our production cannot keep up with both local and
international demands. We have been called 'nations that
#7 of 2008
produce samples'. We are failing to capitalize on the

a collaborative Caribbean label. Our competitors appear to be better at

effort of: producing to fill the market, consistently, than we are. For
Naitram Ramnanan example, Costa Rica has developed a significant business
CaRAPN member and trade in organic banana grown in their "Caribbean"
and:
coast, which conditions similar to CARCIOM Caribbean
Diana Francis countries. Information has played an important role in
Trade Policies and defining market opportunities and translating that information to the farmers, in
Negotiations Programme
IICA Caribbean Region terms of tech packs, packaging and distribution. They have built a new value
chain around bananas, focusing on organic baby foods and organic vinegar.
Many CARICOM countries have acres and acres of bananas, and while the Fair
enabled by: Trade label has grown significantly from when it started, bananas are still being
Technical Centre traded in its original form - as fresh bananas.
for Agricultural and
Rural Cooperation
(CTA –ACP) Agriculture in CARICOM has yet to tap into the immense potential that exists for
fresh, processed and other non-food products and services. On the fresh
produce, there is a rich history and traditional knowledge in root crops that has
remained relatively under-developed. Hot peppers and pumpkin cannot satisfy
The Views expressed international demand; demand for tropical fruits, vegetables and flowers is
herein are not necessarily
those of the CTA and IICA growing, but CARICOM producers fail to consistently supply a range of tropical
fruits and vegetables to export markets. Processors also complain that sourcing
local/regional raw material is uncompetitive and unreliable.
The more successful agri-enterprises, such as, poultry, pork, hybrid vegetables, are all produced from almost
100% imported inputs. Processed products are also being 'manufactured' largely on imported raw material
content. In spite of the fact that there are several micro and small jams and jellies processors in almost all
CARICOM countries, we import more jams and jellies than we produce. The same goes for fruit juices. This
situation is no different in respect to livestock subsector: Bufalypso, Barbados black belly sheep and the
Jamaican red hope have not attained their full potential, while we cannot meet the demand for the small
ruminants.

The ability to meeting a demand for any product, whether for an agriculture fresh
produce, cosmetic, or medicine, depends on information. Since it is being said that we live in a
market-driven world, information is the base of sifting out opportunities and making decisions to
capitalize on them. Information It is now well accepted that unimpeded information and knowledge
flows are prerequisite to better technologies, management and organization systems that make
production systems and economies more competitive. As the example, i-bulletin #1 or 2007, aptly
demonstrated that the dasheen farmer has a need for small scale machinery for tillage, fertilization and pest
control operations. But after several decades of ineffective agricultural knowledge and information system
development in agriculture, this farmer's technological needs are unmet.

For agriculture in CARICOM tap into the emerging opportunities for fresh, processed and other non-
food products and services, an effective, integrated and participatory information system is a must.
The 6 previous i-bulletins all focused on a specific link in the value chain in an effort to demonstrate the
importance of information in effective decision-making to business success, and as well the possible good
influence that effective decisions in one part of the value chain can have on the other parts.

The right INFORMATION, provided JUST-IN-TIME and USED by the right PEOPLE, is
critical to enabling the private sector, including farmers, to take practical ACTIONS
to manage production schedules and make alliances with other producers to meet
market demands in a reliable manner.

Making information work for agriculture will

enhance the knowledge base for decision making and lead
. Information and the to practical actions and consequently positive results. This
is essential in modern agriculture. Agricultural information
Agricultural Development systems need to be built to meet the ‘real’ information
Agenda - The Bigger Picture! needs of decision makers, to foster ‘true’ partnerships
among participants for the system to work, and to feedback ‘credible’ information to stakeholders, in
their own language and at the time they need it. Several public (including Ministries of Agriculture) and
private sector organizations (including commodity industries) are exploring ways to strengthen their
information and knowledge management systems as a major factor in either achieving an/or enhancing
competitive advantage. An integrated approach is central to this process.

This i-bulletin
bulletin issue features a comprehensive system addresses the Agricultural Knowledge and
Information System (AKIS) as a new concept and analytical tool in examining how we address the problems
that are confronting us and leading to the general decline in agriculture

Pg.2
 Explaining AKIS
An Agricultural Knowledge and Information System (AKIS) comprises
comprises the institutions and
individuals,
individuals, and identifies
identifies the knowledge, experiences and information they possess to
support decision making in all link of the agriculture value chain, from farm to market.

AKIS:
AKIS: the set of organisa
organisations and/or persons and the links and interactions between them that
are engaged in, or manage such processes as the anticipation, generation, transformation,
transmission, storage, retrieval, integration,
integration, diffusion and utilization of agricultural knowledge
and information, which
which potentially work synergically
synergically to support decision
decision making, problem
solving and innovation in agriculture or a domain thereof.1

This approach makes a concerted effort to understand and improve existing configurations of agricultural
institutions and design better ones. It came about largely to address the situation where agricultural
developers, planners and policy makers were inclined, partly for reason of institutional politics, to view
farming systems, extension, development of agricultural technologies, research and policy making as separate
spheres, each with their own set of issues, managed by groups of researchers and professionals who overlap
only marginally. The AKIS concept
concept represents a shift and visualizes major players of an
agricultural system as a closely integrated and linked system. This represents both a historical and
conceptual progression from treating various institutions and practices, such as, Farming Systems
Development, Extension, and Research, individually, as opposed to parts of a whole, where decisions taken in
one area, affects outcomes in another within a system. A systemic approach demands that we treat with all
elements as an agricultural knowledge and information system. The Caribbean needs to advance along this
path to achieve integrated and sustainable development in agriculture and rural communities.

Examining the knowledge generation processes in successful multinational companies, public service
organizations, among others, strongly supports the notion that knowledge processes can be effectively
managed through an AKIS. Using AKIS as a base can assist in identifying opportunities to enhance the way key
stakeholders are organised in the existing network of players for the purpose of knowledge generation and
information exchange. It can also contribute to enhancing awareness of the process of agricultural innovation
and information exchange. If well developed, an AKIS can also support the identification of ways to create this
‘elusive’ enabling environment by allowing for the “bigger picture to be clearly visible”. This will in turn
engender greater commitment and collaboration among actors who may then be more inclined to remove
these constraints or contribute to an improvement in the system’s performance. AKIS provides the mechanism
for the two-way flow of information and knowledge to facilitate the development of policies, technologies and
other elements that can have positive impacts on agricultural development.

The typical information environment in the Caribbean can best be described as comprising pockets of
information ‘systems’, that in many instances, have little or no linkages between them or to other systems. For
example, a pocket of information may exist for livestock, with further sub-systems for the various types of
livestock produced, such as, dairy, beef, small ruminants, pork, poultry, rabbits, aquaculture and other types
of livestock. The Ministry of Agriculture, Research Institutions, Development and other service organizations

1 Roling, N. and P. G.H. Engel (1991) *The development of the concept of agricultural knowledge and information systems (AKIS):
Implications for extension”. In W.M. Rivera and D.J. Gustafson (eds) Agricultural Extension: Worldwide institutional and evolution and
forces for change. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
Pg.3
generally tend to have broad information and knowledge on these various sub-systems. However the specifics
of data, information and knowledge on these various systems are held by the farmers and their representative
association, such as, the dairy farmers association or the poultry association. An AKIS provides the tools and
mechanisms to provide coordination and linkages of these ‘information pockets’ in the context of a broader
development objective and information need. When all the players in the system are well documented and
linked an AKIS acts like a road map, detailing the route to the type of information required that enables good
decisions and practical actions.

A typical AKIS
Agriculture is an activity and a sector that pervades the entire society therefore systems that contain
information on agriculture is complex. Especially since the public sector has dominated the production and
marketing of a majority of activities in agriculture, this makes it even more complex, with the information
widely dispersed over many ministries, statutory authorities, non-governmental organizations, international
and regional bodies. Among the various Government Ministries with important pieces of information are the
Ministry of Agriculture, which generates and documents government’s policy, which includes incentives
systems, general information and technical information for production and marketing. Ministries of Health
have the mandates for matters pertaining to food safety. They would also have critical information pertaining
to the status of nutrition and nutritional needs of the population that needs to be fed back into production
decisions. Ministries of Legal Affairs are responsible for issues of land ownership and laws that govern the
sector. They also have valuable information that can be used to make effective decisions on addressing issues
related to risks, such as, praedial larceny. Ministries of Works or local government have information on the
status of access roads, rural bridges. Ministries of Public Utilities have information on the status of electricity,
telecommunications and water in rural communities. Other Ministries that are responsible for investment
promotion, human resource development, through education and skills training, poverty reduction
programmes, trade information, regulations governing trade, etc., all hold information that is vital to effective
decision-making in agriculture. The types of information that they manage has to be known and made
accessible through an AKIS.

Other important elements of an AKIS include Libraries and Documentation Centres, which contain valuable
collections of useful information. These Centres are found in most agricultural departments, research
organizations, projects management units, laboratories, etc. However, often these are not well catalogued and
managed and hence even known to exist. This cannot be good for modern agriculture. Marketing Boards
generally have useful information on all aspects of markets and marketing requirements. Their knowledge
management systems need to be greatly improved. Training institutions, such as, universities and other
diploma granting colleges, secondary schools, farmers’ training centres among other training organizations all
have useful information as part of their various training programmes as well as projects and research
conducted by students. Farmer’s organizations are the best source of information on indigenous knowledge
and local conditions. Typically, they have not focussed on developing knowledge management capacities; this
needs to change, urgently and fast! Other private sector or business organizations have qualitative information
on production and trade with respect to the entire value chain. This needs to be integrated into a system.

Weak information systems were identified as a key binding constraint to the development of the agriculture
system by the regional Initiative to reposition agriculture being led by President Bharrat Jagdeo of Guyana.
Developing a system such as AKIS at the national level is the most direct and practical way to address this
issue.

Pg.4
 ……. an information learning process for a difference!
Information binds all of us in the agricultural development process.
We all play a role in providing key pieces to fill the agriculture
information puzzle. Building that puzzle takes partnerships!
The MEAgrISys project on “Building a Monitoring and
Evaluation Agricultural Information System” is managed by
IICA and the CTA to strengthen the quality of information
generated by and used for decision making in agriculture.
Its conceptual base is built on AgRu-
AgRu-matrix
matrix that promotes
- an evolved concept of agriculture “beyond the farm,
food and rural areas”;
- a development approach built on ‘full participation,
integration and sustainability”;
- an expanded concept of information “beyond the
statistics and economic indicators”.
The process started in the late 1990s,
1990s when IICA, on
behalf of member states led a process to position
agriculture as of strategic importance to sustainable
development in the hemisphere. In 2001, it was included
on the agenda of the Summit of the Americas. At the
2003 Summit, Heads of the State endorsed the Agro Plan
2003-2015 for improving agriculture and rural life and
mandated Ministers of Agriculture to develop appropriate
mechanisms to measure and evaluate progress.
It complements the CARICOM ‘Jagdeo Initiative’
Initiative’ which is
the current strategy for alleviating 10 Key Binding
Constraints as a critical step in improving agriculture in the
CARICOM member states. MEAgrISys will be developed to
enable follow-up and measuring of impact.
It is built
built on 3 mutually-
mutually-re-
re-enforcing types of information:
information
- Expectations and opinions of key persons on progress
and prospects of major development objectives;
"Expectations move the world"
- Experiences documented in National Reports on the
main actions and challenges of countries to achieve
these objectives;
- Performance Indicators that measure results, progress
and impact of actions.
It IS a practical approach because these types of
information are not new; they already exist in national
surveys, annual reports of Ministries and other
organizations. This practical approach allows one include
elements defined by 'expectations'. Other approaches do
not take that into consideration MEAgrISys will try to pull
all types of information together in a common framework
to provide a more holistic analysis of the situation in
agriculture.
It hopes to make a difference and to promote information
as critical to achieving the Vision set for agriculture!
MEAgrISys seeks to facilitate the identification, collection,
storage, analysis and sharing of that information. Its
success depends on participation of all involved, interested
and affected by developments in agriculture. It is not
intended to address all the deficiencies of the information
environment in agriculture in the Caribbean, but will build
on and add value to some good national efforts.
The Bottom-Line…
Each person living in a society, whether at the
community level, in urban centres, or in major
cities, uses information available to him/her to
make personal, professional, business and other
decisions. The same applies in agriculture value
chains. Each player in the chain is, at one point, a
producer and a consumer. The decisions made
when wearing both hats are inter-related and
depend on the information set available to them.
Using Information is a MUST!
Having good information is a RIGHT!
But we do not always have the systems in place to
ensure such rights. In today’s intensely integrated
world, the ‘information’ that is being fed in all
forms, from all various media, can be
overwhelming. We all depend on each other to
filter out the facts and fill in the blanks.
The ‘We’ in the system is all of us!
All the individuals and institutions that
individually, have critical facts and can fill in
our blanks.
We all, together, make up the AKIS –
Agricultural Knowledge and Information
System.
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