sharefair09-101I was the facilitator of this session and we started with a short introduction of the 16 participants, 3 of whom presented their related experiences.

I asked the group to pair up and have a very short discussion on their individual understanding of the title. Some participants were more interested in the Knowledge capturing side of the topic while others wanted to learn more about innovative stakeholder engagement approaches.

Our three cases linked nicely the two aspects.

  • Emerson Zhou from IFAD presented in his 5 minute short talk the different knowledge tools that the PAMA (Market access for smallholder farmers) Program in Mozambique used as the project progressed.
  • Moses Abukari from IFAD talked about the use of a GTZ IFAD tool on Knowledge profiling to look from a post project perspective at the tacit and explicit learnings that had taken place in a specific community in Ghana.
  • Tomol Murmu from IFAD shared with us an effort that was undertaken in West Bengal, India on the use knowledge sharing to revive and revitalize cultural identity.

The group captured the short presentations and the discussions on cards and these are the 9 topics that emerged from the sorting exercise:

  • Integration: When we engage stakeholders and capture knowledge, we are integrating KM into project activities at all levels. Gender inclusion is a important aspect.
  • Benefits and beneficiaries: Attention must be paid to the benefits that stakeholders get from sharing their knowledge, beneficiaries must be clearly defined
  • Tools: Choose the right tools for the right users and depending on the cultural context, use multiple tools (TV, radio, web, workshops, emails, street theater, network analysis, interviews…). Be systematic about knowledge capturing
  • Dignity: KS is about empowerment, it encompasses culture and values, the revival of dignity. KM values are: Love, share, care, cooperate.
  • Stories: document, disseminate and learn from stories as part of the stakeholder engagement process.
  • Processes: KM is an organic process that needs experimentation, learning, facilitation, and a feedback from stakeholders on how they feel about the process.
  • Evaluation: KS is linked to evaluation issues and there are KS tools that are designed for evaluation processes
  • Demand driven: KS works when the there is a demand for knowledge capturing.
  • Stakeholders: Stakeholder involvement should be maintained over time. True faith in stakeholder’s knowledge can do miracles. You need incentives for effective stakeholder participation. Stakeholders should be grouped around themes or interests. Champions and institutional leadership make stakeholder engagement happen.