Back to Index

SADNET - End of Pilot Phase Evaluation Report
Southern Alliance for Indigenous Resources (SAFIRE)
January 2005

Download this document
- Word 97 version (165KB)
- Acrobat PDF version (404KB)
If you do not have the free Acrobat reader on your computer, download it from the Adobe website by clicking here.

Executive Summary
This report presents results from an evaluation of the SADNET pilot phase. These were directly discussed with communities working with partner institutions in the project. Information was however, validated with the relevant partners including the private sector and other service providers acknowledged by communities as development agencies within their areas.

Initially, the trial phase for the SADNET project was to run from July 2002 up to the 31st of March 2004. This could have been more ideal if the Zambian component was implemented at the same rate with Zimbabwe activities. Because of a number of factors, two, 6 months extension phases were separately granted by the funding agency and donors. Drawbacks in project implementation were equally detrimental in Zimbabwe. The impacts of both the political and economic challenges in Zimbabwe during the pilot phase increased the costs of project implementation. Combined with increased coincidences of dry spells in both pilot countries brought with it challenges in the participation of key partners in the project. Services provision under drought relief programmes meant less availability of partners from actively participation in the network especially. This was adverse at project inception where their input in the planning process was more critical.

This fact notwithstanding, however, the project continued to evolve and develop over in 2003. Progress was most encouraging. It became apparent that, though perhaps flawed in some of its detail, the overall project design and implementation was sound. At programme level the original project goals were indeed achieved. More important than this, though, is the fact that, as SADNET's lessons became clear community perceptions on progress and impacts need to be taken seriously. This is so, as they are the target beneficiaries of the project. Their perceptions and recommendations will not only inform the project but future projects and policies, within SADNET partner institutions, within the pilot countries (Zambia and Zimbabwe) and, quite possibly, elsewhere within the southern African region.

The search for alternative rural production systems has gained impetus. SADNET demonstrated that the promotion of appropriate technologies (indigenous knowledge systems -IKS) particularly in dryland areas was indeed an alternative contribution towards drought mitigation. Opportunities to capitalise and build on this knowledge were increasing rapidly. The time may well come when SADNET demonstrated that it will in the long term be the forerunner to many successful networking activities on drought mitigation initiatives. Already, there were a multitude of spin-off activities arising from the pilot phase (discussed in the report). At regional level, the project became known for its innovative and adaptive approach to the challenges of promoting ICTs for drought mitigation strategies in drought prone rural areas of Southern Africa.

The impacts
On the ground, the most promising indicators of SADNET achievements (as interpreted by communities) to date, of the 10 pilot communities include the following;

1. Have realised and utilised an expanded source of information (other communities, partner institutions, private companies, electronic sources including web based) for wide range of subject areas affecting their livelihoods.
2. Transformed documented information to production systems and increases in incomes on agricultural products.
3. Adopted technologies from other communities in Africa and improved food security on specific agricultural products (e.g. fresh milk preservation by use of cattle urine as preservative).
4. Information influenced decision making on production systems especially on varieties to be grown e.g. the Matabeleland communities who shifted from a medium season millet variety to a short season variety to mature within the forecasted rainfall period for 2003/2004 season.
5. Improved capacity of communities to lobby for better markets and marketing with the private sector. This was a result of more exposure on market trends through use of ICTs.
6. Information needs by different gender groups were met by the network.
7. Timeliness and relevance of information to rural communities was effective due to the active participation of members and their responsiveness to requests by communities were realised.
   

Recommendations
Recommendations include the following;

• The clientele base and outreach of the project should be expanded by offering appropriate capacity building support to its partners.
• To improve on the social and economic viability of the CIRCs, the SADNET project should provide backstopping support to partners and augment their efforts to improve their capacity to generate income or recover costs at centers.
• Support to existing CIRCs should continue.
• Documentation of experiences at local level using different media should frame the niche of the SADNET project.
• The SADNET project should continue to support both traditional and more modern technologies for effective communication.
• The SADNET project should continue to provide feedback, acknowledge its sources and keep promises especially at local level where interaction is limited due to accessibility factors.
• SADNET should continue to offer need based support. Strengthening of community institutions directly participating in the network should be a priority.
• To increase active participation and exploitation of available resources in the network, SADNET should also maximize skills from within the network. Priority should be given to members before outsourcing. This shall also facilitate circulation of resources within the network.

Conclusion
To conclude, the impacts were expected to be more elaborate in the longer term, and more substantially, it seems that SADNET's lessons and experiences will enable the development of a much more meaningful expanded phase. That will have genuine impact at the grassroots level, while simultaneously setting the standards for ICT policy and practice in Southern Africa.

Visit the SAFIRE fact sheet

Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.

TOP