DEVECOL/Africa
is
an information resource packaged on CD media for use by field
workers in Africa equipped with desk top or lap top computers running
on Windows operating systems. It contains information about the soils
and climates of Africa and about documented development experiences
throughout Sub-Saharan Africa in agriculture, soil and water conservation,
forestry, biodiversity conservation, drought response, and other rural
initiatives undertaken over the past 15 to 20 years. The interface makes
it easy to bring up maps, find places where local experiences or research
have been documented, and view the abstracts or full text. No knowledge
of GIS or database programs is required to use the resources.
Begin
Devecol/Africa CD Tour
The
goal of DEVECOL/Africa is to provide development workers in Africa
with a portable information resource that affords them easy access to
the many projects and other experiences that have been documented, and
that helps them to assess the usefulness to their situation of documented
work at different sites – possibly in different countries.
Background
Until 1996, a PC-based information resource with interactive
maps and full text digital versions of studies was not possible. Since
then a convergence of improvements in PC performance, compact disks,
GIs software, scanning and authoring software, database applications,
and related programming tools has brought about dramatic changes.
Since 1996 digital base maps and digital maps of soils
and agroclimates of Africa prepared by FAO have become available. Prior
to 1995, these maps were available only in limited number as hard copy.
They are now available on compact disks. Base maps now available as
the Digital Chart of the World were produced for public use in 1995.
Also since 1995 PCs and laptops became more powerful and widely affordable
and Geographic Information Systems developed for these PCs make it possible
to use and display these digital maps.
In 1990 a demonstration for USAID's Bureau for Africa
was prepared by Peter Freeman & Associates that showed the usefulness
of geo-referencing project sites on digital base maps that had been
prepared for USAID's Family Early Warning System project in Africa.
However, no further work was done given the limitations at that time
in both computer hardware and software and the lack of digital maps
on a continental scale. In 1996 Peter Freeman & Associates resumed
work on the DEVECOL information resources, and in 1999, with support
from USAID's Africa Bureau and Bureau for Humanitarian Relief, additional
data were prepared. In late 1999 DEVECOL/Africa Ver. 1.0 was designed.
Mark
Champney and Associates, Herndon, Virginia, programmed the
interface and the CD installation program. In August 2000 a limited
number of Version 1.0 of DEVECOL/Africa was produced by Peter Freeman
& Associates for evaluation.
System Requirements, DEVECOL/Africa Ver. 1.0.
Laptop or desktop PC with a CD-ROMdrive
Windows 95 or 98. (has been loaded successfully
on Windows 2000)
Pentium 233 processor or faster. (will run on a 166 Mhz processor)
32MB RAM (64MB recommended)
650MB of free disk space; 80MB of this is the application installs on
the C drive.
Graphics card that dsiplays at least 65,536 colors and resolution of
at least 800 by 600.
