In Agricultural Information Systems projects! projects! CARICOM countries are no strangers to projects to develop information systems in agriculture. We have had many national, subregional, regional projects; projects managed by Ministries of Agriculture, by development organisations, such as IICA and CARDI, by private sector agencies. This is the final in the 8bulletin series. The There have been many! This current effort is just one of many recent initiatives. Its objective is not to solve all the information problems in agriculture in CARICOM. Rather, its objective is to stimulate a new thinking, outside the box even, of how we should approach the issue of building information systems in agriculture in CARICOM. This is especially given the new context for agriculture and the need to think and act in an integrated and systemic manner. aimed at promoting wider appreciation of information and knowledge management for agricultural development generally and specifically, support for the IICA/CTA project on building a monitoring and evaluation information system - MEAgrISys. Are we making genuine progress? Consider this! In 2008, after many, many externally financed projects, needs assessments, and systems we are still listing “lack of information systems” as a major and binding constraint to competitive and sustainable agriculture in CARICOM. Farmers complain that they are not getting market information quick enough to make good decisions. Policy makers complain that they are not getting information from the private sector to feed the policy process. Many the banks and financial institutions admit that they are getting very little proposals for agricultural credits and loans, and they even if they did, they did not have the ‘information base’ to effectively assess the viability of these proposals. #8 of 2008 a collaborative effort of: Naitram Ramnanan CaRAPN member and: Diana Francis Trade Policies and Negotiations Programme IICA Caribbean Region policy? Is the process backed by strong policy? ‘Lack of national information policy’, ‘limited value placed on information’ and ‘unwillingness to share information’ are often listed among the major limitations to developing information systems in agriculture in CARICOM. This is aside from the usual constraint of limited technical (human and information technology) capacity. Strong and enabling policy sends a powerful signal. It gives all a sense that the particular issue, target, industry or sector is important. It mobilises individuals to action! It provides a framework for organising institutions, securing resources and implementing projects. Weak, ambiguous or no policy at all, also sends a powerful signal! This matter is not sufficiently important to warrant attention. It can be left up to its own devices or market forces. Is this how we value information generally and specifically, information for agricultural development? Then what have the many successive and often simultaneously implemented information projects hoped to achieve? enabled by: Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA –ACP) The Views expressed herein are not necessarily those of the CTA and IICA Can progress still be made in such an environment?
