The workshop identifies critical areas of weakness and suggests how best to remedy them. These are discussed at a second national workshop. At the end of three years, networks are expected to become self-supporting. The first case studies were carried out in 1995 in Kenya and Ghana. Phase 1 workshops have been held in Ghana and Kenya and national networks have been formed in all six countries.
Diagnostic studies are currently under way in Cameroon, Ethiopia and Zambia.
Mozambique is about to embark on its diagnostic studies and network activities. The results of Phase I operations, including the performance of the networks, were shared in a Building Networks workshop sponsored by the World Bank in February 1996. The studies are yielding several common lessons to be integrated into the Action Research program. This will assist participating countries at different stages of the program, as well as those countries that are not a part of Action Research but where networks are already established and functioning. Services need to be identified by members and not driven by donors.