News

• Communication experts from West Africa's National Agricultural Research Systems (NARS) have created a Community of Practice (CoP);
• This opens up a window of opportunity to learn together, with a view to further improving the communication of research results and positioning NARS with its key partners;  
• Launched by communications experts from eight countries, the long-term aim is to extend it to cover NARS in Central Africa. 

NARS communications experts from West African countries have agreed to create a community of best practice. This follows a three-day workshop on best practices in communications recently held in the Senegalese capital, Dakar. 

This CoP will be an informal group of NARS communications experts willing and committed to share their knowledge, learn together and focus on how to help NARS better disseminate their research results.

"Communication is important, and I've always believed in its power to take technologies out of the laboratory and into the hands of end-users. Communication contributes to technology adoption and, in turn, helps achieve food security and zero hunger," said Prof Abdulai Jalloh, Director of Research and Innovation at CORAF, at the closing ceremony of the three-day workshop.

What is the aim of this CoP?

Now that the principle has been established, the NARS communications specialists have decided to work together to promote the following:

• Stimulate interaction;
• Encouraging learning;
• Create new knowledge and;
• Identify and share best practices. 

A WhatsApp group will be the initial engagement channel under the leadership of communications experts from Benin and Ghana, representing West Africa's French-speaking and English-speaking constituencies. 

The Dakar meeting brought together some twenty participants from Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone. 

Based on an agreed action plan, another physical meeting will be considered in the future to include communication experts from Central African NARS. While CORAF will coordinate CoP activities remotely, leadership will rest with designated NARS leaders.