KM4Dev Harare Gathering – 25 and 26 July 2017

A KM4Dev Harare event.

Location

Monomotapa Crown Plaza Hotel, Harare - https://www.visitzim.com/hotel/crowne-plaza-hotel-monomotapa/

Focus

Learning from Invisible CoPs: The role of informal actors and relationships in African food systems

More than 70 percent of African food passes through informal people’s markets from farmers to consumers. These markets have become powerful sources of knowledge for farmers, traders and other actors. During the Harare KM4Dev event (25 – 26th July 2017), participants will be immersed in Mbare Informal food market in Harare where more than a dozen knowledge pathways have been identified: farmer to farmer; farmer to trader; trader to farmer; trader to trader; farmer to transporter; transporter to farmer; trader to transporter; consumer to farmer; consumer to trader; trader to financier and many others. In addition to touring and learning from Mbare informal food market, participants will grapple with the following questions:

1. How can the development sector harness informal knowledge sharing pathways that are used by the majority of African food producers and suppliers to make decisions?
2. What can we learn from the way knowledge travels through informal food supply models?
3. How can we recognize invisible CoPs that make informal agriculture markets resilient?
4. How can we use the KM4Dev toolkit and other approaches to learn from the informal food market?

When the event is over, our collective achievements should include the following:

• We will have discovered new and immediately useful sources of agricultural knowledge that is all around us.
• We will have explored and applied the Wenger-Trayner value creation framework with a local knowledge perspective.

Organizers

• Knowledge Transfer Africa – www.knowledgetransafrica.com / www.emkambo.co.zw
• The African Capacity Building Foundation – www.acbf-pact.org

Event Structure

Day 1: 25 July 2017

• Introductions and why we are hear?
• Learning visit to Mbare Informal Agricultural People’s market.
• Reflections.
• Experiences from Uganda – John Kaganga
• Test-drive Wenger-Trayner Value Creation framework

Day 2: 26th July 2017

• Recap of Day 1
• Story-telling (weaving food stories and local music) – Renowned Poet and Story teller: Chirikure Chirikure and Mbira music from local female Mbira musician – Hope Masike; story about how the local Mbira music instrument is a conveyor of knowledge from generation to generation.
• How can the notion of Big Data and Social Media surface knowledge in Informal Agriculture markets? – Open Space Discussion led by the African Capacity Building Foundation.
• Tying loose ends and conclusions.

For more information contact Charles Dhewa