We enjoyed working with you and sharing news related to ICTs for Agriculture in 2017. We wish you happy holidays. We invite you to review a selection of some of our 2017 activities e-Forum Discussions The Role of ICTs in Sustainable Crop Production Intensification (SCPI) of horticulture crop based system (mainly fruits, vegetables, roots and tubers) e-Forum on ICTs and Open Data in Agriculture and Nutrition e-Forum discussion on the Agriculture Open Data Package - AgPack.info e-Agriculture Webinars e-Agriculture Newsletters e -Agriculture Learning activity on drones in agriculture Good and...
SciDevNet published an article supported by the Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA). The article focuses on the various apps that are available in agriculture as curated by the Apps4Ag database . The example of Farmerline app is highlighted; this app gives smallholder farmers voice-based messages in their local langauges. Through this service farmers can get price related information; the use of insecticides and weather information. Other cited in the article that are popular in agriculture include the iCow – cattle information services in Kenya; Mrittikā – weather...
WSIS has announced the opening of the WSIS Prizes 2018 and they are encouraging all the stakeholders to SUBMIT their project descriptions to the WSIS Prizes contest from 11 September 2017 – 2 January 2018. The e-Agriculture team encourages eligible projects in agriculture to submit their projects for this prestigious award. WSIS Prizes are a major highlight of the WSIS Forum every year and they recognize outstanding initiatives by governments, private sector, and civil society that leverage the contributions of ICT for the benefit our society. Projects related to ICTs in Agriculture fall...
Rwanda and Estonia are reported to have started to create a professional network between ICT entrepreneurs that could benefit these countries bi-laterally. This follows a working visit by the President of Estonia Her Excellency Kersti Kaljulaid who expressed interest in ICT oriented partnerships in Estonia and Rwanda. She held talks with Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry and visited K-Lab (a center that provides an open space for IT entrepreneurs to collaborate and innovate). More information about the visit here ICTs in agriculture : The Rwanda situation This visit of the Estonian...
Digital Technologies for Resilience was the theme of a workshop organized by FHI 360 in Bangkok with funding and support from Rockefeller Foundation and USAID . The workshop intended to create a space and exchange mat for professionals who are using digital technologies to enhance resilience. The other objective was to help participants to scale up the digital technology for resilience efforts. “The workshop enabled actual collaboration… several actual project collaborations took place –with exchanging of MoUs and project proposals” noted one participant. The programme in retrospect The two...
Technology has been applied in various fields and new concepts are emerging in some areas to accommodate this infusion. The concept of digital agriculture is a fairly new one; what does this mean? According to the Project Breakthrough , Digital Agriculture is defined as “the use of new and advanced technologies, integrated into one system, to enable farmers and other stakeholders within the agriculture value chain to improve food production” In their discussion of this concept, they noted that with a digital agriculture system is one that gathers data periodically and accurately which is...
The European Union avails 100 million euros funding for digital research and innovation that is made available under The Horizon 2020 work programme 2018-2020 which ( inter alia ) seeks to advance the development and uptake of digital technologies in agriculture and rural areas. Digital technologies in agriculture pitch very high on the European Union’s agenda, for example the European policy makers recently at the Digitising agriculture and food value chains conference outlined policy developments in agricultural research and innovation and stated how digital technologies can bring forward...
What has ICTs to do with climate change? Malcolm Johnson the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Deputy Secretary General, answers this question in the published news items coinciding with the COP23 that was discussing The Paris Agreement . He positions ICTs as a solution to the current world climate challenges. These include the (i) reported increase in the concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, (ii) extreme weather induced events happening with increasing frequency. These disasters are estimated to have cost the global economy $520 billion a year and have pushed more...
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has released the " Measuring the Information Society Report 2017 ". This report was launched during the World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Symposium (WTIS) 2017 , in Hammamet, Tunisia. According to ITU, the Measuring the Information Society Report 2017 is a flagship publication widely recognized as the key reference point for the world's most reliable and impartial global data and analysis on the state of global ICT development. Brief notes on the Measuring the Information Society Report 2017 Abstract (as published in the official website)...
CGIAR scientists have presented a report with 10 innovations for climate action in agriculture. The publication aims to support developing countries to develop locally tailored adaptation strategies that will contribute to the achievement of SDGs. This report comes as the world leaders meet for the UNFCCC Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany, where it was launched. Watch the video : 10 innovations for climate action in agriculture Video credit: CGIAR Brief overview of the innovations Agriculture needs to produce 60% more food by 2050 to feed the growing world population yet agriculture...
