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Showing posts from November, 2012

SATNET resolves to provide local content to telecentres in Southern Africa

SATNET (Southern Africa Telecentre Network) as a regional telecentre network is a great channel and fertile platform for the establishment of local content and services through coordinated efforts with national telecentre networks and individual telecentres. Telecentres have continued to play an important role in the realization of sustainable community development. However, the effective achievement of this, to a large extent depends on the appropriateness, dynamicity, relevance, and authenticity of content and services. “There is an increasing recognition that networks can leverage content and services development, including the creation, packaging, training and provision of support services. Those content and services activities can then be replicated and distributed at the local and international level (such as through other TCNs). Herein lies the power of a telecentre network.” States the Guidebook for Managing Telecentre Networks-Content and Services. As telecentres transform ...

Southern Africa Telecentres run towards being Agricultural Knowledge Hubs

Farmers in Southern Africa, like elsewhere in Africa, are faced with problems of how to access timely and up-to-date technical agricultural information. This is mainly due to, among other reasons, a lack of adequate frontline agricultural extension officers, poor flow of information to and from farmers, and inadequate communication between research institutions and extension services. This is one of the major challenges the agricultural sector is facing in Southern Africa. Agricultural sector in Southern Africa Agriculture plays an important role to the economies of Southern African countries. Agriculture contributes significantly to about 35% of the gross domestic product (GDP) of most SADC member states. In addition, agricultural exports are a major foreign exchange earner, contributing on average 13 per cent to total export earnings and constituting about 66 per cent of the value of intra- regional trade. In countries like Zambia, the sector absorbs about 67% of the labour force ...