Network development

Iram runs and coordinates different networks concerned with institutional and technical support for agriculture and local economic development in the South, drawing on its practical experience and expertise to inform the thinking, discussions and debates within these networks.

Improving development policies through networks

Many networks involving people from different geographic, institutional and disciplinary backgrounds have been set up since the 1990s. They are generally structured around thematic issues (land, food security, energy, etc.) or methodological questions (institutional support, research and development, and so on).

By providing spaces for members to discuss, debate, disseminate and develop information and experiences, these networks help build new synergies in approaches to institutional and technical support for rural development in the South, and can ultimately contribute to better development policies.

Expertise

Iram supports, runs and coordinates networks that enable institutional actors in developing countries – technical ministries, administrations, territorial authorities, professional agricultural organisations – and field operators in the North and South to discuss, debate and build on their experiences in formulating agricultural and rural development policies. Through these networks, Iram helps members:

  • disseminate and discuss information and experiences through the different materials produced by the institute – briefing notes, capitalisation documents, reading notes and thematic papers
  • consolidate technical, socio-economic and methodological frames of reference
  • develop and share knowledge and experiences
  • discuss and debate specific questions and access adapted tools and methods via websites, discussion forums, blogs and shared platforms or libraries.

Iram also encourages users in the North and South to appropriate these networks, through seminars, thematic groupwork, hosting websites, etc. The emphasis is on communication tools and dissemination products that are adapted to the networks’ objectives, the realities on the ground and the target audiences.