Accessing and sharing knowledge resources for soil health research in Africa.

摘要

Agricultural researchers and practitioners throughout Africa are conducting soil health-related research and applying the results, though many are not accessing or sharing available knowledge resources effectively. During 2007, 73 respondents (primarily researchers and educators with an interest in soil fertility) in 23 African countries were surveyed to identify: (1) where and how they access soil health and other agricultural information; (2) their use of libraries and agricultural networks; and (3) potential improved pathways for African soil health researchers to locate and share knowledge resources. The survey results suggest that building (1) librarians' capacity for outreach and accessing knowledge resources, and (2) network staff capacity for proactive knowledge brokering could be useful avenues to increase access, sharing and use of soil health research in Africa. Further study of networks and network membership will help determine the potential benefits of increasing inter-network links to share information more effectively among soil health researchers and between scientists and both practitioners and policymakers. Increasing support for collaborative efforts including low or no-cost information resources such as The Essential Electronic Agricultural Library (TEEAL) and AGORA (Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture) and promoting information sources on frequently-visited websites and at conferences could also improve access to soil health knowledge resources in Africa.