FAO is using drones to fight hunger, improve nutrition and counter the effects of climate change and extreme weather events. A documentary from Asia and the Pacific Office of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization shows collaboration with countries to leverage the used of ICTs using drones. Philippines is a country prone to typhoons, aerial drones are used to map out the risk areas of agricultural land to mitigate the risk. This ensures that once a disaster strikes farmers affected can get assistance quicker. Drones have an advantage of wider coverage and since they are remotely...
For commercial agriculture to succeed, an investment into cash crops and investing in traditional agriculture is essential, also using information and communication technology (ICT). Mountain Hazelnuts is a company established with funding from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank , to develop innovative uses of ICT for its commercial agriculture operations. The company has helped farmers integrate ICTs within each step of the Mountain Hazelnuts business model. Furthermore, about 150 staff provide extension support to farmers and also use smart phones and ICTs to communicate with...
The recently ended Berlin Agriculture Ministers’ Conference under the auspices of the 10th Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (organized by Federal Ministry of Agriculture ) held in Germany affirmed to the role of ICT technologies as an important tool to agriculture, for example in improving water-use efficiency. The theme of the meeting as “ Agriculture and Water – Key to Feeding the World ”, and pointed out that climate change, land degradation and many trends such as urbanisation, population growth, migration have increased the competition for the demand of water, resulting in the need...
Highlights Blockchain and ICT4D Blockchain use cases in ICT4D Opportunities for blockchain In the past month within the ICT4D, blockchain is probably the most popular topic. The question that l feel resonates with many colleagues in the agricultural sector (and ICT4D) is that, what is this technology, and does it offer any value in international development work? It is with this self-inquisitiveness that l read the GSMA report entitled, ‘ Blockchain for Development: Emerging Opportunities for Mobile, Identity and Aid ”. My initial interest was to get practical applications and use cases of...
The Palawija Forum article reports on the implementation of ICTs to support agriculture in Indonesia. Agriculture is a key sector which accounts for 31.7% the country’s labour-force. Therefore, the investment in ICT in the agricultural sector supports the economic development and poverty reduction as well as a strategy for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The article notes that ICTs play a role in crop production within the following stages, (i) pre-cultivation; (ii) crop cultivation and harvesting; and (iii) post-harvest. This is particularly important for Indonesian...
Highlights: Why do we need the digital principles? What are these principles? How have they been implemented? The developmental world has seen an investment into platforms and infrastructure to support information and knowledge sharing, and lately hackathons, contest and apps galore have mushroomed. While these efforts are commendable and justifiable, there is an obvious result, systems and platforms are developed in silos. In some cases even duplicating efforts. The situation l just described above explains why the donor agencies and multilateral organisation thought of best practices in the...
The 6th International Conference on Sustainable Development (6th ICSD 2018) will be held in Rome,Congress Center, Piazza della Pilotta, 4, Rome, Italy Wednesday 12 to Thursday 13 September, 2018. The conference is organized by the European Center of Sustainable Development in collaboration with CIT...
Image credit: JavaCoin News A recent study on blockchain for Food and Agriculture by GODAN partners TNO and Wageningen UR explored the use of blockchain technology (BCT). The study was conducted amidst the growth of bitcon and other crypto currencies and their acceptance in many other fields. In comparison, blockchain technology is believed by some to have a much wider application also within food and agriculture. For example 'bitcoin-derived applications have improved mobile payments, and credit and supply chain transaction administration, blockchain in agriculture and food is believed to...
UNESCO and ITU have announced the ‘ Mobile Learning Week 2018 ’ which is a flagship ICT in education conference. The event will be held from 26 to 30 March 2018 at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.The details of this conference can also be interests to e-Agriculture CoP. The theme of the event is, “Skills for a connected world” will examine the type of skills needed in a connected network and will focus on digital skills and competencies. The meeting will also review strategies and skills in the context of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) The Objectives Mobile Learning Week 2018 has been...
Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) and Vegetalia , an ICT startup, have joined forces to provide solutions for the Japanese agricultural sector. This is an example where private sector investing in agriculture. The challenge in Japan is that the Japanese farming population is ageing and decreasing. ICT solutions, hence, could be leveraged to help modernize the sector. Therefore, to help solve this Mitsubishi invested in Vegetalia which uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) to solve agriculture’s problems. An extract from the press statement states , ‘Vegetalia is a next-...
The 6th International Conference on Sustainable Development (6th ICSD 2018) will be held in Rome,Congress Center, Piazza della Pilotta, 4, Rome, Italy Wednesday 12 to Thursday 13 September, 2018. The conference is organized by the European Center of Sustainable Development in collaboration with CIT...