A Step-wise Approach to Assessing Knowledge Management

In the field of agriculture and rural development, knowledge sharing (KS) and management for public institutions, as well as NGOs, community-based organizations and the private sector, is a key element to ensuring appropriate dissemination and maintenance of information, and to building capacities and development effectiveness.

Lessons and successes in knowledge management (KM) for agricultural development must be scaled-out for enhanced impact and to ensure that knowledge gaps in development organizations can be identified and filled. The Strengthening Knowledge Management for Greater Development Effectiveness in the Near East, North Africa, Central Asia and Europe (SKIM) project is facilitating and supporting KM – and capacity development activities in KM – with development institutions in Moldova, Morocco and Sudan. Initiated in June 2018, SKIM is a grant project led by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and aims to provide practical examples of KM best practices for adoption by participating institutions.

Capacity Needs Assessment (CNA)

The first step of the project, in October 2018, was to carry out a KM mapping exercise to identify key governmental and non-government institutions to be targeted in the rural development sector of each project country, and which represent the areas of research, education and extension. The second step involved an inception workshop – also held in October 2018 at the ICARDA office in Rabat, Morocco – to formally launch the project and build partnerships for implementation, as well as to start the CNA to determine baselines for the current state of KM, KS, and learning needs in the target organizations. The assessment allowed for a diagnosis of present KM-related practices and benchmarks for improvement.

Figure 1: Timeline for the CNA processes and outputs

Methods and tools

Stakeholder analysis and power interest matrix in a focus group

During the face-to-face meetings at the inception workshop, a stakeholder analysis worksheet was filled out by partners to list the key KM stakeholders of their institutions and place them on a power interest matrix. The matrix helped to categorize project stakeholders with increasing power and interest in the project and enabled stakeholder prioritization.

Organizational scoring with key partner representatives

Organizational scoring was conducted through semi-structured interviews with key informants of the respective partners in order to provide in-depth insight into the capacity development needs of the organizations. The scoring system covered four areas of ability relating to: policy (drafting, implementing and monitoring), knowledge (generation and sharing), partnership (creating and maintaining) and implementation (of development / research projects).

Online surveys

To carry out the CNA activities simultaneously across three different countries, two of the interventions – the organizational scoring and the KM baseline – were completed through online surveys. An ‘Infrastructure Readiness Tool’ was used to analyse the technical status of an organization through questions about a company’s IT infrastructure (computer software and internet accessibility).

Figure 2: Flow-chart to show the two-phase approach of the CNA – face-to-face interactions with institution representatives and online surveys to gather deeper and more detailed insights.

The findings

Following analysis of the identified KM capacity gaps for each institution, recommendations for the Moldovan partners are as follows:

• Establish a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) platform as well as clear M&E processes. There is desire for training in this field for existing and new staff;
• Develop/strengthen KM strategies, plans and processes;
• Put in place or better implement standardized glossaries and vocabulary for KM;
• Develop and strengthen partnerships and networking capabilities;
• Identify solutions to make the organizations more attractive for young researchers;
• Become the local champion on KM and KS.  

Figure 3: Three important CNA recommendations for Moldovan stakeholders

The trends in recommendations for the Moroccan partners are as follows:

• Analyse the failings of previous KM systems to set up an effective, nation-wide KM system;
• Implement an online M&E system and receive training in KM setup processes and developing KM and KS plans;
• Establish a community of practice (CoP) in KM to enable greater knowledge and experience exchange and learning between partners;
• Enhance the digitization of publications and documents to avoid knowledge loss due to staff turnover.          

Figure 4: Three important CNA recommendations for Moroccan stakeholders

And recommendations for the Sudanese partners are as follows:

• Create a KM plan, establish a KM system and define KM processes;
• Provide specialized training addressing KM;
• Implement standardized KM vocabulary or glossaries;
• Conduct awareness workshops with stakeholders;
• Set up an M&E platform that considers the e-Agriculture Strategy and the Sudan National Agriculture Investment Plan;
• Engage in more partnerships to learn from other institutions / countries and set up a CoP.

Figure 5: Three important CNA recommendations for Sudanese stakeholders

Next steps

“The CNA was the first major study about what these institutions needed in terms of development for managing their knowledge. What has been identified is a general direction for future KM trainings,” explains Bastian Mueller, Technical E-Learning and Communication Training Officer at ICARDA. “The CNA is an important step towards building a CoP in KM among the international institutions, which is very important to us,” emphasizes Valerio Graziano, Knowledge Officer at ICARDA.

Following the CNA, national write-shops have been held in the target countries to provide inductions on KM principles and processes in the areas of knowledge acquisition, creation, storage and dissemination. Specific assessments on the status and gaps in these areas were also identified with the national partners at the write-shops, and the results are being condensed into reports with updated recommendations.

In 2020, the next milestone of SKIM will consist of further training to participants on KM and KM best practices, as well as on how to implement the CNA and write-shop recommendations to address their specific needs.