Country Presentation on Establishment and Operation of RAILS in the Sudan RAILS Lessons Learning Workshop 15 th – 16 th August, 2013 Mombasa - Kenya Presentation By Prof. Abdalla Ibrahim Elhagwa Director, HRD and Information ARC – Sudan and Ahlam Ismail Musa RAILS-Sudan FP – ARC – Sudan

Introduction Agriculture is a vital development tool in achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Sudan based on which the National Agricultural Renaissance Programme was launched. It is also recognized that knowledge is a critical factor in improving agricultural production and food security. In 2010, the Agricultural Research Corporation (ARC) was re-affiliated to the Ministry of Agriculture to assure executive program for national agricultural development.

Introduction – Cont. Within the framework of ARC as the NARIs of the Sudan, a remarkable index is the research and development performed in Sudan through collaborative projects with regional, international, sub-regional activities and initiatives. Most of them aim to improve agricultural knowledge sharing and management.

Establishment of National Focal Units in the Sudan: Sudan National Agricultural Information Network (SNAIN)

Background  Under the support of ASARECA/RAIN, the First Workshop of the Sudan National Agricultural Information Network (SNAIN) was held on Monday and Tuesday 30 th -31 th of August 2004 at the Conference Hall of the Training Centre, Agricultural Bank of Sudan, Khartoum.  About 66 individuals attended the workshop and participated in its deliberations

SNAIN Workshop  As a result of SNAIN Workshop 2004, the Sudan National Agricultural Information Strategy has been agreed upon and National Steering Committee (NSC) has been formulated.

RAILS National Workshop for the Sudan

RAILS workshop for the Sudan was held during the period March, 2010 The workshop was attended by 33 among them there were 8 women participants. The workshop attended by some guests of honors from the Sudanese national agricultural research institutions, ministries, national information centers, universities and higher education, extension, national agricultural information networks, media, private sector and NGOs.

RAILS National Workshop for the Sudan Francios Stepman and Daniel Mwesige presented FARA and ASARECA RAILS National Learning Team has been selected and established under SNAIN framework The SNAIN/RAILS learning team consisted of 13 members, 11 men and 2 women mainly directors of national agricultural research and information centers, library and agricultural knowledge managers, ICT and GIS professionals and extension specialists.

SNAIN-RAILS implemented Work Plan

eRAILS Sudan Workshops Under the approved work plan Sudan eRAILS workshops has been implemented in April, 2012:  1- Three Days training workshop at Wad Medani: 15 participants  2- One day training seminar at Khartoum: 20 participants The main outputs are to create awareness about RAILS and improve eRAILS web portal at the URL: Peter Wamanga, ASARECA eRAILS webmaster and 2 members of SNAIN/RAILS LT facilitated training Another follow-up training workshop for Wad Medani workshop participants organized in 7 th November 2012

ICT equipment Support 4 Desktop computers (ARC and General Adm. of Planning and Agric. Economics – MofA and Irrigation) 2 server (ARC and NCR/DIC) 2 All in one: Printer, Scanner, Copier & Facsimile (ARC) 4 Voltage Regulator, Uninterrupted Power Supply - For Desktop Computers (ARC and General Adm. of Planning and Agric. Economics – MofA and Irrigation) 2 Voltage Regulator, Uninterrupted Power Supply - For Servers (ARC and NCR/DIC) 10 notebook computers (LT members and researchers)

List of institutions and NGOs engaged in RAILS and eRAILS Sudan

RAILS/Sudan Has been supported by national and NGOs in the Sudan mainly: Sudanese Universities Information Network (SUIN): SUIN is a project under the supervision of Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and supported by Specialists of Sudanese Universities.

The National Information Centre w w w. b s i l. c o m Policy Making Advisory Coordination Standardise Awareness Establishing, Operating & Servicing The N ational I nformation N etwork

Meeting the Needs of Small Farmers for Technical Knowledge Practical Action Sudan - NGOs

List of institutions and NGOs engaged in RAILS and eRAILS Sudan (Cont) Nectar Forum, National The Sudanese Encyclopaedia of Agricultural Science, formerly Nectar Forum, Ongoing communications to join RAILS-Sudan by the newly established the Sudanese Knowledge Society (SKS), Other national Agricultural research institution namely:  ARC research programs  SNAIN/RAILS Sudan page  Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation  Ministry of Science and technology  Documentation and Information Centre, National Council of Research (DIC-NCR)  University of Khartoum  University of Gezira  Research scientists individual pages  APHLIS Sudan (African Post harvest Losses Information System)

How can knowledge sharing and management be improved for the ARC Understanding of knowledge sharing and management To develop channels for information and knowledge follow between researchers, agricultural research programs, research stations and centers, related institutions, extension, education, NGOs and private sector Encourage researcher to facilitate capturing, access and sharing of agricultural knowledge Development of Knowledge sharing portal, website To enhance capabilities of knowledge managers and support ICT infrastructures To strengthening partnership with related initiatives and projects

How can knowledge sharing and management be improved for Sudan Knowledge sharing and management could be improved through partnership and cooperation between national, regional and international projects, networks and initiatives It is highly recommended to develop and implement national agricultural information and knowledge strategy Development of national agricultural information and knowledge website portal RAILS Sudan work endeavor to establish partnership with the related, national, regional and international knowledge sharing and management initiatives in the Sudan Examples of new agricultural information and knowledge sharing initiatives in the Sudan: ICARDA and IFAD RAIN-WANA, KariaNet, SENAS and Sudanese Knowledge Society

Regional Agricultural Information Network for West Asia and North Africa RAIN-WANA The main goal of the ICARDA / IFAD RAIN-WANA Project is to develop and deploy a fully integrated and sustainable information and knowledge management platform that is capable of supporting agricultural research and development activities in the WANA region. The platform has been well developed at the URL: and a number of Sudanese library and information centers has developed web pages at the network

KariaNet (IFAD and IDRC) Knowledge Access for Rural Inter-connected Areas Network (KariaNet), is a regional network for the management and sharing of knowledge, information and experience in agriculture and rural development in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation of the Sudan lead the activities of KariaNet and a number of KariaNet workshops and activities has been implemented in collaboration with the Agricultural Research Corporation (ARC) of the Sudan.

Sudanese Encyclopedia of Agricultural Science (SEANAS) SENAS is a multi, knowledge and encyclopedic project deals with scientific views. It is concerned with agro science and its different branches and its applications in the Sudanese land nature through editing and electronic publishing for scientific studies and research, by collecting scientific views on the used applications of agricultural knowledge and technology in Sudan. SENAS aims to apply this project through establishing a web site with unlimited storage capacity which was provided and the material which will be published with its different properties. RAILS-Sudan FP and some SNAIN/RAILS Sudan members has actively provide consultancy for the development, operation and activities of SENAS.

Sudanese Encyclopedia of Agricultural Science (SEANAS) SENAS has been well registered by the Sudan Agricultural Council and the website has been developed and officially launched in 17 th April 2013 and addressed by Director General ARC and attended by more than 300 agricultural research scientists and investment agencies. SENAS has its account at eRAILS Sudan country page and working to strengthening partnership with RAILS-Sudan to enhance the national capacities of agricultural knowledge sharing and management in the Sudan

Sudanese Knowledge Society (SKS) The workshop on Knowledge Management Capacity in Africa was held from 4 – 7 January, 2012 at Khartoum and co-organized by the University of Khartoum, Garden City College, the International Network on Appropriate Technology, and the Epidemiological Laboratory, The Sudanese Knowledge Society (SKS), the body that embraces the ideas of this community that organized the workshop on Knowledge Management Capacity in Africa began in 2011 and after the workshop the SKS has been continue its activities and registered at the Ministry of Culturehttp://sks.kmca2012.net SKS vision is to realizing the knowledge society in Sudan and comprised of a multidisciplinary and diverse group of individuals that includes academics, professionals, craftspeople, students, development workers, who aim to work for enabling institutions, organizations and the people of the Sudan to utilize the concepts, methods and values of the knowledge society

Achievements of SNAIN/RAILS-Sudan In the country :  Strengthening agricultural information and knowledge sharing  ICT support to national institutions  Support to national strategies  Implement projects and initiatives  Improved ICM/ICT, enhanced skills  Develop a platform for national agricultural information and learning systems In our institution :  Support to the rule of the ARC as NARIs of the Sudan to support national agricultural information and knowledge sharing strategies in the Sudan and at regional and international levels

Achievements of SNAIN/RAILS-Sudan For us as individuals:  Professional capabilities to implement projects and activities  Enhanced skills in ICM/ICT  Facilitate training workshops and meetings  Support national strategies and projects  Meetings with professionals and partners, exchange experience and lessons learning  Participation in national, regional and international activities of agricultural information and knowledge networks and societies  Stay updated with recent developments in the field of specialization through , Dgroups and social networks

Some major hindrances of SNAIN/RAILS-Sudan 1.Limited access to handheld computers for the field workers including farmers, extension services, agricultural producers 2.Limited access to high speed and broadband internet speed 3.Difficulties during the establishments due to number factors 4.Wide digital gab between urban and rural areas 5.Lack of inter-sector coordination and collaboration between agricultural secters 6.Lack of trusted databases 7.Resistance to change 8. Financial limitation

Conclusion and Recommendations RAILS is one of the two ASARECA/FARA initiatives supported by the AfDB (RAILS and DONATA), and highly supported agricultural information and knowledge sharing in the Sudan as well as the African countries. eRAILS has successfully improved access to information and the ability of African stakeholders to contribute to global agricultural knowledge. It is highly recommended to continue to support ICT and internet connectivity to facilitate updating and development of more websites at eRAILS to share agricultural information and knowledge It is recommended to implement DONATA project in the Sudan to support food security projects and strengthening the rule of eRAILS platform by generate more web page of research and reports and share it with other researchers

Thank You