Mission & Vision
The Knowledge Access for Rural Inter‐connected Areas Network or KariaNet is a regional network for the management and sharing of knowledge, information and experience in agriculture and rural development in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. KariaNet builds on ESDU’s long experience in knowledge sharing and management.
This Network, inspired by ‘open access principles’, seeks to empower its members, through the use of ICT and non-ICT tools, to make knowledge available to development practitioners, government agencies, researchers, private sector, national and regional NGOs involved in rural development and small scale farmers.
KariaNet aims to link up the knowledge providers and knowledge brokers with knowledge seekers (two-way knowledge flow) through three main themes: a) knowledge management systems and practices in agriculture and rural development, b) food security, and c) rural enterprise development, with reference to best practices in the following fields: Local Food Systems, ICT, Renewable Energy, Finance and Food Security crisis in conflicts. KariaNet facilitates and supports demand driven capacity building activities, action research and networking activities across the MENA region. KariaNet aims to enhance the overall performance and effectiveness of development projects in MENA, to enable the rural poor to overcome their poverty.
KariaNet overall objective is to mainstream Knowledge Management/Knowledge Sharing (KM/KS) on Local Food Systems (LFS) and give smallholder farmers, especially rural women and youth, access to information on best practices, funding opportunities, etc. and also enable rural and agricultural development practitioners across Middle East North Africa to improve the performance of projects across the region through enabling systems at the local, national and regional level that support smallholder farming, sustainable agricultural practices and local economic development.
This Network, inspired by ‘open access principles’, seeks to empower its members, through the use of ICT and non-ICT tools, to make knowledge available to development practitioners, government agencies, researchers, private sector, national and regional NGOs involved in rural development and small scale farmers.
KariaNet aims to link up the knowledge providers and knowledge brokers with knowledge seekers (two-way knowledge flow) through three main themes: a) knowledge management systems and practices in agriculture and rural development, b) food security, and c) rural enterprise development, with reference to best practices in the following fields: Local Food Systems, ICT, Renewable Energy, Finance and Food Security crisis in conflicts. KariaNet facilitates and supports demand driven capacity building activities, action research and networking activities across the MENA region. KariaNet aims to enhance the overall performance and effectiveness of development projects in MENA, to enable the rural poor to overcome their poverty.
KariaNet overall objective is to mainstream Knowledge Management/Knowledge Sharing (KM/KS) on Local Food Systems (LFS) and give smallholder farmers, especially rural women and youth, access to information on best practices, funding opportunities, etc. and also enable rural and agricultural development practitioners across Middle East North Africa to improve the performance of projects across the region through enabling systems at the local, national and regional level that support smallholder farming, sustainable agricultural practices and local economic development.