There are 10 Maarifa Centres, eight in Kenya, one in Tanzania, and one in Uganda. The centres have been established to increase access to information on the part of rural communities, enabling them to turn their experiences into knowledge and lessons learnt. Each centre is equipped with basic ICT tools (computers and internet access) to enable information generation, access, and dissemination. The centres have a resource area containing materials such as newspapers, journals, books, research reports, electronically stored information (CD-ROMs), audiovisual materials (DVDs), compendiums, and all types of web-based resources. At the Maarifa Centres, community members can access and share information on how to improve their livelihoods through new technologies for farming, livestock keeping, coping with environment and climate change, and current marketing information. The centres also offer information related to health, gender, and HIV and AIDS.

The centres offer basic ICT training to community members, often young people who have graduated from secondary schools as well as primary school pupils, many of whom have formed information clubs. The centres also act as information access points for community development workers who provide agricultural and related extension services in the region. They use the centres to acquire free (online) development information and to send weekly reports to their ministries or organisations, but also benefit from basic office services such as typing, photocopying, and free internet access.

A typical Maarifa Centre is managed by a selected advisory committee of about 5-8 members drawn from local community stakeholders. According to ALIN, the selection process ensures that the membership is gender-balanced, represents interests of special groups, and has diverse background. ALIN's volunteer programme supports the running of the centres. The volunteers work at the centre for one year and are supervised by local host partner organisations. They are generally young graduates in mass communication, agriculture, environmental studies, or community development. The volunteers manage the centre's activities, coordinating the collection of development-oriented local knowledge and experiences and training local communities on the use of ICT tools. The information collected and submitted by community development workers, community members, or volunteers is shared through the Open Knowledge Network (OKN) platform [1] which links all the CKCs and is accessible across the ALIN network. To ensure continuity and effective knowledge transfer, the volunteers work with a local person who acts as a Community Knowledge Facilitator (CKF) representing local interests.

The Maarifa Centres also support the active involvement of women. In order to enhance the capacity of women to play an active role in development initiatives and to reverse the trend of their insufficient inclusion, especially in the dry land areas, ALIN promotes the integration of women in development and information support.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Natural Resource Management.