CTA and SACCAR cooperate in information dissemination
Among the objectives of the Lome Convention are the development and strengthening of national and regional capacities in agricultural research appropriate to the needs of the ACP countries, the improvement of food security and the development of extension work. Because CTA and SACCAR (The Southern African Centre for Cooperation in Agricultural Research) share these interests, the two organizations have joined together in a major initiative to collaborate in the dissemination of information on agricultural and rural development, within the SADCC region. An agreement covering this collaboration was signed in Gaborone, Botswana, at the end of 1988. The joint programme will include an assessment of the agricultural information needs and resources of the SADCC region (Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe). This study is being undertaken by Professor Norman of the University of Swaziland and Dr Ntokota of Chitedze Research Station, Malawi. It will identify the urgent information needs of SADCC and determine what resources are necessary to fill the gaps. Measures to strengthen libraries and information centres serving agriculture in the SADCC region will be explored. A bibliography of published research work carried out in the SADCC region will be prepared; research of relevance to the region, but carried out elsewhere, will be included. The programme will also include the collection and cataloguing of documents relating to agricultural research in the region and produced either within or outside the region, and the publication of accessions lists relating to this material. An interim report on this aspect of the agreement, published in October 1989, shows that Botswana, Malawi, Lesotho, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zimbabwe have already been catalogued. The final comprehensive catalogue (the Inventory of Agronomic Research in Southern Africa) will be published early in 1990. CTA and SACCAR are already giving each other assistance in handling enquiries on agricultural research and development in the SADCC region. CTA is supporting SACCAR in establishing a question and answer service for SADCC, and both organizations are now endeavouring to mobilize all the information resources needed to establish such a service. SACCAR now has access to the compact discs of Agricola and ATA, to the SADCC bibliographical database and to the data on agronomic research in progress in southern Africa. Development and updating of the Agricultural Research Resources Assessment (ARRA) database will be carried out by translating the ARRA database and the Angola Country Report into English from Portuguese; by modifying the database structure to make it easier to update sequentially, and by preparing a Directory of Agricultural Research for SADCC by using the FAO CARIS format and with CARIS-type output provided to FAO for those member countries of SADCC that wish SACCAR to provide it on their behalf. The programme also foresees the organization of training programmes for information officers working in agricultural libraries and information centres in SADCC on the use of new technologies for information processing and transfer, information sources for agricultural research and development, and the management of agricultural information services. To this end, CTA and SACCAR collaborated in the organization of a workshop in Lusaka in July 1989 on the control of SADCC agricultural information services. The objective of this meeting was to familiarize the participants with the tools of information services control in order to contribute to the promotion of agricultural information in SADCC countries. SPORE will be distributed in the SADCC region, together with the proceedings of CTA seminars, translations and other technical material of relevance. Seminars on topics of specific concern to the SADCC region will be co-organized at intervals of two or three years . CTA has financed the implementation of a certain number of projects identified in the proposed areas of collaboration, and has provided expertise for the initial period. SACCAR will coordinate the activities and will provide all working facilities for, and will participate in, the implementation of this programme.
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | News Item biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
1990
|
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/45211 http://collections.infocollections.org/ukedu/en/d/Jcta25e/ |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|