Participants Satisfied with Global Experience Sharing Event in Mali

The video explains what a Cross Country Learning Event is and how partners from different projects, countries and continents manage to learn from each other. The video also includes footage of a field visit of the participants to a shea butter producing company in Mali. The women who produce shea butter received ICT training and made a shea database in the information centres. This database is open to producers, researchers and students. The women also broadcast radio programmes about shea related topics such as the multiple use of shea and protection of shea trees. During the field visit, this project was explained to the Cross Country Learning Event participants.

Participating project partners were interviewed after the four day event and all are enthusiastic about the way that they were able to work together with their peers from different countries or even different continents. One of the project partners that was interviewed is Carola Sangueza. She is the project manager of a livelihoods project in Bolivia that allows farmers to gain access to information and knowledge on new markets for their crops through the internet. The project aims at increasing decision-making powers of producers.

“To me this Cross Country Learning Event showed that if we work together in a coordinated way by sharing experiences, we can help a lot of people.” - Carola Sangueza, Bolivia

The video of the Livelhoods Cross Country learning Event 2008 is now available on IICD’s website at the video section of IICD's homepage and a larger version of the video is available on youtube.