A knowledge driven society
To improve the livelihoods of arid lands communities in East Africa through delivery of practical and usable information using modern technologies.
The origins of ALIN/Reseau d’Information des Terres Arides (RITA) date back to 1987 at a conference organized by Oxfam-GB in Cotonou, Benin.
This component of ALIN Strategy aims at providing access to the ICTs and assisting communities to connect and communicate with the world including use of social media will remain a core activity of ALIN. The Maarifa centre concept will be consolidated by ensuring that the existing centres are optimally equipped and that they can support communities to undertake other auxiliary livelihoods-improving services such as mobile money transfer businesses and even Business Process Outsourcing (BPO).
ALIN will focus on ensuring that it adequately understands its beneficiaries. A clear image of the typical beneficiary needs to emerge in terms of household income, family size, main productive activities in which they engage as well as means of sharing and receiving information. Baseline data will be generated through field baseline surveys and focused sessions with farmers as a way of determining their knowledge needs. A combination of information products and methods will be used to ensure that communities in of east Africa have access to usable knowledge..
After generating optimal amount of information and knowledge, the “The Third Vertical” of Community Empowerment involves proactive and consistent outreach to communities with information, training, support and even setting up of demo plots to ensure that communities receive and more importantly, are able to make use of the information and knowledge. Key empowerment activities involve strengthening of focal groups; retaining people, use of volunteers and associates with domain knowledge at Maarifa centres; training; demonstrations and exchange visits facilitation among a range of others.