Knowledge management for agriculture in Africa: Past, present and future

At the 4th Continental Knowledge Management for Agricultural Development (KM4AgD) Conference held in July 2024 in Kigali, Rwanda, Peter Ballantyne reflected on his hands-on experience in knowledge management for agriculture (KM4Ag) over the past 30 years or so.

Ballantyne is a knowledge management practitioner and former head of communications and knowledge management at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI).

In his presentation, he highlighted the evolution of the KM4Ag agenda over the years from 1995 to 2024, from a focus on ‘access to information’ to ‘open access/data’ to ‘putting knowledge into use’.

Potential future applications of KM4Ag go beyond knowledge sharing, facilitation and publishing and include foresight and artificial intelligence.

Citation

Ballantyne, P.G. 2024. Knowledge management for agriculture in Africa: Past, present and future. Presentation at the Fourth Continental Knowledge Management for Agricultural Development (KM4AgD) Conference, Kigali, Rwanda, 29–31 July 2024. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI.

Photo: ‘Sharing is power’. Leaf contributed to the tree of knowledge at the Knowledge Sharefair in Rome, January 2009. (credit: Peter Ballantyne)