Mobile money is a service that allows monetary value to be stored on a mobile phone and sent to other users via text messages. Mobile money was first introduced in South Africa and the Philippines about 10 years ago. In Kenya, this service was introduced in March 2007 and was called “M-PESA” (M is for mobile, “pesa” is Swahili for “money”), which became the country’s dominant mobile money service. M-PESA has since been celebrated internationally as an innovation that can bring the unbanked population into the formal financial system, with associated impacts on economic well-being and welfare...
The Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition (BCFN) is a center for analysis, study and proposals. Its objective is the in-depth study of significant topics linked to food and nutrition on a global scale. The BCFN Foundation focuses on young talents by supporting higher education and interdisciplinary research, to advance the knowledge base in food and sustainability. The BCFN YES! Research Grant Competition offers the opportunity to put into action concrete proposals that will have the objective of making more sustainable the agri-food system (in terms of environmental, social, health and/or...
Mobile Learning Week is UNESCO's flagship ICT in education conference. Held annually at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, the event convenes experts from around the world to share how affordable and powerful mobile technology – from basic handsets to the newest tablet computers – can accelerate learning for all, particularly people living in disadvantaged communities. Co-organized by UNESCO and UNHCR Mobile Learning Week 2017 will be held under the theme ‘Education in emergencies and crises’ from 20 to 24 March in Paris. The five-day event programme features over 70 presentations, 16 workshops, 8...
Date 20-24 March 2017 Location Paris, France Description The five-day event programme features over 70 presentations, 16 workshops, 8 strategy labs, live demonstrations of learning solutions, art and photo exhibitions, and a Policy Forum that will be attended by Ministers of Education and Ministers...
The market-led, user-owned ICT4Ag-enabled Information Service (MUIIS) Service Bundle was officially launched at the CTA Uganda country office on 8 March 2017. MUIIS is an innovative project that harnesses the power of satellite data to support extension and advisory services to farmers in Uganda. The MUIIS Service Bundle consists of a series of context-specific weather alerts, agronomic tips and index-based insurance throughout the season and covers four agricultural commodities: maize, beans, sesame and soybeans. To access these services farmers must be profiled and once profiled, dial short...
March 21 is the International Day of Forests (IDF) and was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 2012.On this day, the world celebrates and raises awarenes of the importance of all types of woodlands and trees in sustaining livelihoods. The management of forestry resources has also been reinforced by the United Nations, for example,sustainable development goal (SDG) 15 aims to “protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss”...
The World Summit Awards announced its 40 winners of 2016 selected out of 451 submissions. The different winners represent a diversity of innovating mobile applications from around the world and accross different sectors: health, education, refugees, culture and of course agriculture. Among the 40 selected submissions there are a few specific agriculture oriented applications. Click on the links to learn more about the different projects. Farmdrive : Farmdrive unlocks financial services for over 50 million smallholder farmers in Africa. Farmdrive aims at closing the information gap that keeps...
The forum discussion on The Role of ICTs in Sustainable Crop Production Intensification (SCPI) of horticulture crop based systems ( mainly on fruits, vegetables, roots and tubers) is still on-going. Below we provide the summaries for the second week, you can read the summaries for the first week here . The question for week 2 was:- Do you have any concrete examples of successful use of ICTs in sustainable intensification of horticulture crop based systems? Summary of participation As envisaged, this was yet another interesting and exciting week of learning, a number of promising and...
The forestry sector plays an essential role in Vietnam's economic development. About 25 million people are living in or near forests, particularly in mountainous regions, with many of them being poor and belonging to ethnic minority groups who depend on forests. Reliable data on the soil and water protective function of forest can help sustainable forest management for water security and sediment- and water-related disaster resilience in developing countries. Application of modern ICT offers huge benefits in terms of improved cost-effectiveness and transparency in forestry. Finland has been...
ICT for Social Good is a grant for local innovators in low-income countries. The grant will be for projects, realities and innovative ideas using digital technology for social aims, and most importantly, created with a bottom-up approach. The general goal of the grant is to sustain, as much as possible, local innovators in low-income countries but also to inform the development sector about local innovations. Often, these ideas are not fully recognised and they face difficulties in being involved in international development projects. However, they represent a good starting point to build a...
Date 20-24 March 2017 Location Paris, France Description The five-day event programme features over 70 presentations, 16 workshops, 8 strategy labs, live demonstrations of learning solutions, art and photo exhibitions, and a Policy Forum that will be attended by Ministers of Education and Ministers...