Padma, Bangladesh
By creating an Agricultural Knowledge Management System (AKMS) for marginalized rural farming communities, Faisal is improving their access to knowledge on sustainable resources management and livelihoods security.
1. The new idea
In response to the gap between information haves and have nots in Bangladesh and in order to fill it, Padma proposes a digital revolution in southwest rural areas of the country. The originality of Padma?s activities resides in the use of knowledge brokering, a strategy to close the ?know-do gap?. This interactive process relies on strong linkages with various agricultural actors that enable farmers at the grassroots to share information with national and global expertise. The knowledge provided responds to local farmers? particular needs in an understandable local language.
2. The problem
Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world. A combination of mutually reinforced causes as frequent natural disasters, internal political strife, corruption, gender discrimination, environmental degradation and poor infrastructure affects the people?s struggle to rise above the poverty line. In the district of Jhenidah, southwest part of Bangladesh, almost 85 % of the people are dependent on agriculture. The traditional indigenous technology for agriculture is no more well in sync with the actual food demand. Modern agriculture technology led to a process of marginalization. The problem is fundamentally one of a real lack of coordination between researcher and local farmer. Adopting modern agricultural tools is not possible for these people mainly because of illiteracy. Farmers need less academic feedbacks than the one they get from agricultural research institutes.
Even if ICT based development initiatives have emerged in some social development aspects in Bangladesh, no initiative has been taken for the improvement of the agricultural sector especially for the rural and marginalised farming community.
3. The strategy
Padma, derived from the name of a major river in Bangladesh, was set up in 2000. Faisal and his collaborators are developing AKMS in the piloting area of Jhenidah. This democratic digital dissemination that helps farmers to adapt and face the challenging demands of globalization is based on knowledge management and knowledge brokering.
The efficiency of Padma lies on a re-directional feedback mechanism. The idea is to avoid one way communication and create a mechanism where information returns and can best meet local farmers? needs. Easily understandable technical terms and the use of local language are also essential points to take into account. This is the best way to provide the right information, to the right person, at the right time. Information and Communication Technologies facilitate the dissemination of knowledge to the wider community with the advantage of being cost-effective. Padma enables farmers to overcome the barrier of accessing ICT and thus open a share of information and communication at a local, national and international level. At this stage, farmers of 15 villages have been enrolled in the program, representing approximately 15,000 households.
Besides, Padma is promoting economic empowerment of women. The organization is working for capacity building of women communities under the program ?Increase accessibility to Information and Knowledge Management for the socially disadvantaged women community?. Groups of educated and less educated women who don?t have access to IT or Knowledge Management system are formed and offered training under Padma. Besides the prospect of a better occupation, the program aims to raise women awareness for their fundamental and basic rights as well as their duties and responsibilities to society.
Cooperation is essential in Padma?s strategy. In addition to various partnerships with national or international organizations like Coastal Development partnership, Global Fund for Women, One World South Asia, Path Finder, etc. Faisal and his team set up ?Padma network? that gathers 30 NGOs in the Ganges Dependent Area of Bangladesh and seeks to ensure peoples? participation in all major river/water management and other development projects in the region.
At present, the number of full time staff is 15, part-time 7 and 36 volunteers as information and knowledge brokers.
4. The person
Faisal was born in 1979 in Bangladesh. After studying engineering, he started to work as a volunteer in social development organizations in 1999. Faisal wants to bring an institutional shape of indigenous knowledge, especially on agriculture. He also plans to establish a university for indigenous knowledge promotion.
