KOAN and ELCI adopt blogging as a means of sharing project activities

By Bob Aston

The Kenya Organic Agricultural Network (KOAN) and Environmental Liaison Centre International (ELCI) have adopted blogging as a means of sharing their project activities. The two organizations were trained on blogging by Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN) on February 24, 2015 at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE), Nairobi.

Some members of KOAN and ELCI during the training

The training was conducted to complement an earlier training for United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Program (SGP) grantees from Laikipia County.

Mrs. Wanjiru Kamau from KOAN noted that they are planning to use the blog to promote the organic growth of tea tree and also promote organic farming in Kenya.

“I would sincerely like to thank ALIN for taking time to capacity build us on blogging. I appreciate the fact that we were trained from the basic level and now I can successfully create a blog. The information that we have learned will be put into good use at KOAN,” said Mrs. Kamau.

The work that the grantees are doing is expected to help enhance online visibility of UNDP GEF SGP project as well as helping in closing knowledge gaps, improving accessibility of indigenous knowledge as well as ensuring that the communities are better informed about Sustainable Land Management (SLM).

Some officials of KOAN and ELCI during the training

Dennis Ong’ech from ELCI said that they will seek to enhance their goals and values through online journalism.

“We will use this networking tool to share our experiences and what we do to strengthen environmental governance for enhanced livelihoods and sustainable development. Our appreciation goes to ALIN team for making that possible,” said Ong’ech.

ALIN has been training UNDP GEF SGP grantees from Laikipia County on news writing, creative writing, feature writing, photography, interviewing, blogging and media law and Ethics.

This has enabled the grantees to capture and document indigenous knowledge relevant to SLM practices for posterity. The trainings have also been helping in enhancing content creation for the quarterly newsletter called Laikipia Mali Asili which was started by the grantees.

In today’s internet-based society, having an online presence is one of the most powerful ways of sharing knowledge. Fostering a knowledge sharing culture among organizations will go a long way in enhancing synergy amongst different stakeholders involved in similar projects.