Enhanced Knowledge Management: knowledge centers for extension communication and agriculture development in Ethiopia

There is increasing evidence on the benefits of knowledge management (KM) to enable organisations to be more competitive, achieve higher efficiency and increase output. The Ethiopian government has embarked on a major initiative for use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to improve the efficiency and impact of its sector programmes.

The use of knowledge centers or tele-centers is been recognised as having an important role in extension communication and agricultural development. This paper looks at the establishment of Woreda Knowledge Centers (WKC), set-up and used in ten districts in Ethiopia. WKC is used to gather, share, classify, access, and use knowledge at district (woreda) level.

This case study concludes:

• at district level, knowledge management was enhanced as WKC was used to improve the process of accessing, sharing, transferring and using knowledge. The establishment of WKC laid basic infrastructure for KM technology use at district level
• the use of  WKC increased staff capacity to identify, access, assemble, document, share and use knowledge
  contributing to an improved extension communication and agriculture development reaching farmers and pastoralist at grass root level.
• analysis showed WKC improved culture of knowledge sharing as formal educational sessions were organised as seminars, video sessions, expert consultation, meetings and trainings
• on the bases of lessons gained, this study recommends that WKC be established in all districts through the efforts of the Ministry of Agriculture and its partners  

This article is chapter 10 in the publication "E-Agriculture and rural development: global innovations and future prospects".