Practical Answers: Technical Enquiries Service of Practical Action Final Report: August 2007 – March 2009

Abstract

The purpose of the project was to ensure that Practical Action has a thorough understanding of how to deliver Practical Answers, (i.e. an improved, sustainable Technical Information Service responding to demand for knowledge in poor communities). The achievements, outputs and impact of the project are reported against the 3 major outputs:

  1. Improved understanding of the demand for technical information for poverty reduction and the effectiveness of different marketing approaches.

  2. Greater understanding of the impact of technical information provision.

  3. Continued delivery of an ever improving Technical Information Service with a measurable impact on poverty.

Project activities were carried out in 7 country/regional offices (Bangladesh, Kenya, Nepal, Peru, Sri Lanka, Sudan, and Zimbabwe) and UK HQ office. In the period August 2007 – March 2009: the total of 8,201 enquiries has been answered, the total of 374,790 downloads (technical briefs and other materials) downloads have been done from Practical Answers' websites (UK, Peru, Sri Lanka). The estimated number of beneficiaries of these services is over 1,000,000.

This report is based on detailed reports from country and HQ offices, external evaluation conducted in January-March 2009, and the 'Report on Learning - Practical Answers'.

Citation

Practical Action. Practical Answers: Technical Enquiries Service of Practical Action Final Report: August 2007 – March 2009. (2009) 14 pp.

Practical Answers: Technical Enquiries Service of Practical Action Final Report: August 2007 – March 2009

Published 1 January 2009