Smart Toolkit for evaluating information projects, products and services

As part of Round 3 of the Gender, Agriculture and Rural Development in the Information Society (GenARDIS) programme of activities, a final workshop was held in March of this year, in Johannesburg, South Africa. GenARDIS, a small grants fund, was established to support innovative activities that contribute to the gender-sensitive application of ICTs in agriculture and rural development and the understanding of gender issues in ICTs.

The theme of the workshop was knowledge sharing and the development of knowledge products. Ms Oumy Ndiaye, Manager, Communication Services Department, CTA gave a presentation on the Smart toolkit and its relevance to the GenDARIS initiative. She sensitised the group to key aspects of the toolkit and highlighted the important role that monitoring and evaluation can play in demonstrating that the work of the group was having an impact. The need to be able to communicate this message effectively to others was also emphasised. Ms Ndiaye received positive feedback from group, especially in relation to the rural radio tool. The participants expressed the hope that consideration would be given to the development of other tools, particularly relevant to gender, ICTs and agriculture, like the mobile phone and look forward to receiving a copy of the French version of the toolkit when it becomes available.