In preparation for the two workshops, members of the WorldAgInfo Design Team carried out site visits to Asia (India and Sri Lanka) and Africa (Mali and Zambia). These included visits to agricultural universities, research institutions, extension organizations and farming communities.

The objective of these visits was to incorporate input from African and South Asian partners early on and to assist the team in identifying key elements and components of a collaborative agricultural information system, such as:

1. Outlining and identifying particular problems with access to quality agriculture information;
2. Identifying if there are critical knowledge gaps in agriculture;
3. Who should be the target audience initially and could benefit most from access to this information; and
4. What are the different technical environments across the Asian and African regions that must be accommodated.

The purpose of these visits was also to test local reaction at all levels, including government, private sector, higher education, extension, and small farmers, to some of the basic strategies to be considered during the workshops. These strategies include modular curriculum delivered via a variety of technological alternatives and developing more integral community-based knowledge systems. A full report for each site visit is available here.

Additional materials and an archive of the project web site can be found on the Internet Archive here.