Practical knowledge and access to relevant information are prerequisites for sustainable social and economic development. It follows, then, that the rural population in developing countries needs adequate access to these services. Compared to urban areas, however, the rural communications infrastructure in the form of telephone and Internet is poor, and there are fewer services on offer in the fields of research, consultancy and training. This is one reason among many why area-wide provision of efficient services needs to be improved significantly in rural areas.

Improving training
Knowledge services raise qualification levels and stimulate development. They increase the productivity and competitiveness of local enterprises, and help them reduce costs and respond to the demands of new markets. Better training is crucial to enable farmers, processors, and other firms to invest usefully.

Knowledge service providers must be competent, cost-effective, flexible and within universal reach. For this reason, more local providers with adequate training and capacity are needed who are able to operate self-sufficiently, without subsidies from the government or other donors.

Key criteria: Client orientation and poverty reduction
The objective is to establish a self-regulating, transparent sector for knowledge services. It needs to function smoothly, have a broad impact and be financially self-sufficient. Together with its partners, GTZ works at a variety of levels to close the gap for providers of knowledge services in rural areas. In this regard, key criteria are that services should be client-oriented and poverty-focused.

Knowledge services encompass the following areas:

• applied research in agricultural and food science
• rural advisory services relating to production, processing, management, ecology, interest groups and financial systems
• information services to disseminate data on markets, means of production, weather, and for e-learning
• training institutions for the provision of non-formal vocational training.

A practical example:
In the BASED project in South Africa, the farmers themselves define the services they need. They organise themselves to be able, among other things, to use the requested services more effectively. The service providers must gradually undergo additional training to meet these higher expectations and ultimately seek accreditation from the district administration. The provincial administration supports this development by providing co-financing opportunities for service providers from the private sector and civil society.