Knowledge marketplaces: enhancing knowledge creation and diffusion amongst national civil society organisations in developing countries

In spite of their potential to launch locally-relevant programmes, national civil society organisations (CSOs) in developing countries are overshadowed by their international counterparts which receive the largest portions of donor funding available in developing countries. The preference of donors to channel funds through international CSOs is largely attributed to the lack of institutional and technical capacity of local CSOs to implement large-scale development programmes. A number of initiatives have been launched to respond to this challenge. Some of these initiatives include the issuing of capacity-building grants, development of capacity-building toolkits and implementation of capacity-building programmes such as training and mentorship as well as technical assistance. Most of these capacity-building programmes have not yielded the desired results.

The persistence of capacity challenges among national CSOs in developing countries is a clear indication of the ineffectiveness of the conventional capacity building models. The objectives of this study were to describe the concept of knowledge marketplace; explore the types of knowledge marketplaces currently deployed by national CSOs in developing countries; ascertain the benefits CSOs derive from knowledge marketplaces; and assess the effectiveness of knowledge marketplaces as platforms for knowledge creation, validation and diffusion amongst CSOs in developing countries. Primary data was collected using Delphi technique from seven experts from Kenya, Zambia and Belarus. Additional data was collected through literature review. The findings indicate that knowledge marketplaces are effective in facilitating the creation and diffusion of locally-relevant knowledge amongst national CSOs in developing countries.