INFORMATION AND COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTRE (ICRC)
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| The new Information and Community Resource Center |
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MHAC Information and Community Resource Centre (ICRC)
The newly remodeled library will now function as an Information and Community Resource Centre (ICRC) to coordinate the implementation and management of Internet centers being established at community mini-training Centers. These outlying Internet Farmer Resource Centres (FRCs) will be based in rural areas where there is neither electricity nor telephone lines. Each FRC will be equipped with a computer, a printer, a cell phone and a world space satellite radio, with power supplied by solar power equipment. The FRCs will enable farmers in the rural areas to access websites from which they will obtain useful information to apply to their farming needs.
In this way, resource-poor small-scale farmers will be introduced to modern information technologies that allow them to access information helpful in planning, decision making, and implementing a successful agricultural enterprise, such as marketing information, availability of equipment and facilities they may need, meteorological information, soil conditions within their area and other relevant information that will be at their fingertips.
As an example of how this will be useful, one resource of interest is will be the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) website www.oisat.org (OISAT), which is very well equipped with information on non-pesticide alternatives for controlling insect pests and diseases. Farmer trainers will be identified and trained to use the information from the OISAT website using the installed equipment in their local FRC in order to acquire the necessary skills to use the internet as a continuous farming resource.
In addition to coordinating the implementation of FRC project, the central ICRC at MHAC will re-package information from OISAT and other websites and disseminate it widely using newsletters, pamphlets, etc. The ICRC will also help to compare the efficiency of the world space radio, the cell phone and the conventional systems for accessing the Internet in the rural areas.
MHAC expects eventually to upgrade its ICRC to a National Resource Centre that will package and disseminate research based and experiential information on sustainable agriculture and community development. This will be achieved in partnership with the following:
• National research institutes including Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), International Center for Insect Physiology and Entomology (ICIPE) and International Center for Research in Agro-forestry (ICRAF)
• National universities including Moi, Egerton, and Jomo Kenyatta
• Key partners in development from the civil society organizations including Vi Agroforestry, Anglican Church of Kenya, the PELUM network, Baraka Agricultural Training Institute, and others.
• International partners in development including Ecology Action, Kilili Self Help Project, and the University of Wyoming.
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