Visiting the 2010 AgKnowledge Share Fair, Fueled by Ethiopian coffee

The Microlinks team was on the move for the 2010 AgKnowledge Share Fair in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia October 18-21. The Share Fair brought together an international audience of practitioners with a strong emphasis on agricultural development and knowledge management.

East Africa was highly represented, with exciting and innovative projects being showcased from Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, as well as the rest of the continent. A pre-event day of hands-on training and learning was followed by three-days of intensive focus groups and sharing project experiences. Caffeine-fueled and ready to learn, thanks to a perfectly brewed and never-ending supply of Ethiopian coffee, or bunna, I set off.

It was fantastic to see how our colleagues throughout Africa are capturing and sharing their learning experiences for greater development impact, from virtual libraries to village roundtables, and community radio to comics. Presentations on social media, geo-data mapping and "making knowledge travel" highlighted the widespread use of these tools, and just how many people are getting it right with accessible, innovative approaches. The long days were capped by excited emails to my just-waking colleagues back in Washington, saying "You won't believe what they're doing in Ethiopia... we have to try this!"

Microlinks was showcased during the Share Fair's Online Platforms focus group discussion. The attendees were given the opportunity to see some of the Beta site's community features, robust resource library and Good Practice Center. The interactive session gave us the chance to hear feedback from our colleagues based in the field, giving us new insights about Microlinks' content and features that will feed into continued improvement throughout the Beta period. I was also excited about the opportunity to build new networks for collaboration and participation with our colleagues in East Africa.

Just as I adjusted to the time difference, it was back to the airport. Back in DC—and still sorting through a mountain of scribbled notes, brochures and business cards—I'm reminded of the handshakes and warm smiles of the innovators behind each one. They are having such a profound impact across development sectors and there are so many lessons we have to learn from each other. Thank you all for the experience, welcome to the Microlinks community, and I know we'll be in touch.