The inclusive rural transformation led by Local Champions and shared through the Learning Routes in Asia
The ROUTASIA II Programme, implemented by PROCASUR in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam with IFAD support ended its activities in 2016, and the Final Completion Report was just published.
The programme enhanced learning and the sharing of knowledge within the Asia and the Pacific Region (APR), and the scaling-up of field-tested and validated practical solutions while having provided support for the scaling-up of processes that were proven successful during the first phase, based upon three core elements: 1) Documenting and then disseminating innovations; 2) Building the capacity of IFAD-supported projects and institutions to maximize Learning Route outcomes; 3) Providing space for Local Champions (LC) to be partners in development and key actors in knowledge management.
All ROUTASIA activities were organized in partnership with private and public organizations. This allowed them to upgrade their technical and institutional capacities for implementing Learning Routes, and for the design, financing and development of knowledge management and capacity building initiatives. Six partner organizations should be highlighted. They trained, coached and were recognized as KM services providers to IFAD. The partners organizations were: Nepal Agriculture Co-operative Central Federation Ltd. (NACCFL) in Nepal; International Network of Alternative Financial Institutions (INAFI) in Bangladesh; Management Consulting Group (MCG) in Vietnam; Fresh Solutions in Cambodia; Asian Farmers Association (AFA) in the Philippines; and Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) in Thailand.
All projects that received ROUTASIA’s KM training developed skills to identify, capture and share knowledge. At least 476 new LCs were trained by IFAD-supported projects, and national and local institutions as result of the ROUTASIA Local Champion engagement.
54 of the Local Champions supported by ROUTASIA in Nepal, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Cambodia trained approximately 11,284 farmers from 2014 to 2016, of which 4,859 adopted all of the techniques as taught (43%).
According to the survey realized among them, the key factors for this high adoption rate are: 1) Teaching tested and validated techniques have a proven impact on increasing income levels; 2) Local availability of inputs and materials necessary to adopt new techniques; and 3) The opportunity to share their experience in the adoption of new productive techniques in a context of self-sufficiency and access to markets.
52 Innovation Plans (IP) benefited more than 47,000 households
33 IFAD-supported projects have improved Knowledge Management through training and 15 IFAD-supported operations have mainstreamed the use of the Learning Routes into their AWPB and KM strategy
According to the staff of IFAD-supported projects in Nepal and Vietnam, and IFAD project directors in four countries, Cambodia, Nepal, Vietnam and Bangladesh, 1,280 people participated in activities related to knowledge management, where the new skills were observed. Specific areas of improvement include: i.) Empowerment of women and minority groups; ii.) Adoption of new skills by small farmers, projects and staff from public institutions; iii.) Use of Local Champions expertise to share knowledge and learn together in their communities and outside it, iv.) Understanding other perspectives, and v.) Team-work.
ROUTASIA developed the capacity of six organizations to implement Learning Routes and strengthened their links with the IFAD portfolio. They have been chosen to work alongside the ICOs and the project implementation agencies. Two of the partner organizations are private companies, two are networks and one is an NGO. The NGO partner organization continues to work closely with government ministries and farmer organizations.
Individuals trained during the ToT shared their experiences and guided 195 project staff (mostly government officials) in the process of designing, Subsequently, staff members in projects in Vietnam, and regional agriculture offices in Cambodia and Nepal, used their training to independently implement Learning Routes and Farmer-to-Farmer tools. In these countries, staff and project managers/directors recognized the value of Learning Routes methodology, especially in increasing these countries institutional capacity to scale-up processes to efficiently transfer knowledge and good practices to farmers.
The value added by ROUTASIA II reflects a combination of technical and social innovation with the opening up of a market of alternative service provision by local learning agents. This synergy greatly contributed to inclusive Rural Transformation in the areas covered by the IFAD projects. The ownership over the learning tools mainstreamed into larger loan projects and public institutions and provided positive prospects for the sustainability of effective alternative service provision on the ground.
The employment of recognized local change agents, i.e. the Local Champions, committed to learning and sharing solutions in their cultural setting, and who remain in their local region thus gaining respect based on merit, compares favorably with the coming and going of out-of-region staff from public extension services who enjoy hierarchical respect. This makes the local alternative more sustainable. Cultural fit was secured by using the region’s appreciation for recognition and respect and at the public level.
Building knowledge in a participatory and bottom-up way.
Peer-to-peer transfer of knowledge has been recognized as an asset to facilitate the incorporation of new concepts and methods in the rural milieu. For example, the composition of mixed working teams (composed by IFAD stakeholders and project staff and/or partners) is demonstrated to be a successful practice to improve communication and collaboration among different actors to benefit from different competencies, knowledge and abilities, and to improve team-working skills, supporting the creation of enabling environments for knowledge sharing at a project level.
Furthermore, the active involvement of IFAD project staff and stakeholders in the development of the learning initiatives generated higher degrees of ownership over the KM activities and results, such as the Innovation Plans and the certification of Local Champions.
