Open Tenure is an open source software designed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to help communities to better govern their natural resources. It uses handheld tablets, and a community server allows community members to map and collect data on land tenure claims in their community. The data can then be viewed and moderated, and important documents and photos can be stored electronically for safekeeping. This video presents the Open Tenure trial with a community forestry group in northwest Cambodia during 16-20 February 2016. The participants were quick to...
The G20 Agriculture Ministers’ Declaration 2017 "Towards food and water security: Fostering sustainability, advancing innovation" published after the meeting held on January 22nd 2017 in Berlin, acknowledges the importance of ICTs for agricultural development, following the discussion on ICT in agriculture initiated at the G20 Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting in Xi’an in 2016. The Agriculture Ministers acknowledged the potential of ICTs for improved food chain efficiency, productivity and sustainability of agriculture, improved animal husbandry practices and for adaptation and mitigation...
Nano Ganesh - a mobile based remote control for water pumps and water tanks - developed by the Ossian Agro Automation , will be demonstrated at the Mobile World Congress , Barcelona, Spain, taking place from February 27th to March 2nd 2017. The electronic device will be part of the Mobile for Development in the Innovation City in the Mobile World Congress. GSMA has constructed a small grass plot irrigated by sprinklers controlled live by visitors with a mobile phone with the help of Nano Ganesh device. Nano Ganesh is a GSM Mobile based remote control system exclusively for the use with water...
In Summary ICTs are very useful in agricultural extension and advisory services and in facilitating reaching out to family farmers Extension and Advisory services play a crucial role in promoting agricultural productivity, increasing food security, improving rural livelihoods How have ICTs been applied in extension services M ost of the family farmers in developing countries live rural areas and are in most cases divorced from technology and vital agricultural support services needed to carry out farming activities. Extension and advisory services are relevant to smallholder farmers, who...
After a two-year ban of unmanned aereal vehicles for non-military reasons in Kenya, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) has approved draft regulations on the commercial use of drones in the country. The law will be released soon, according to governemnt officials. Kenya is the second African nation after Rwanda to grant the permission to fly drones for commercial use. An article released in May 2016 by the Daily Nation newspaper, Kenya's largest, reported that more than 1,000 applicants were already seeking regulatory approvals to operate drone-based transport services in Kenya. Among...
Agricultural insurance is essential for smallholder farmers, as plots of land are small and the consequences of crop diseases and climate change effects can be disastrous. Yeld loss and damage monitoring and verification can be long and laborious task, causing huge delays in settlements. Although new technologies have been applied, drones, micro-satellites, digital photography can help improve the monitoring of crops and yelds for smallholders and insurance companies. Remote sensing can be a key tool for farmers to prove their crop and harvest loss to insurance companies. At the same time,...
One of the main challenges for development of smallholder farmers' livelihoods is access to market information and financial services. Smallholder farmers are the most underserved group in the world by financial services, with women and youth at a particular disadvantage. Arifu is a platform that provides customer capability-building through mobile technology. The Kenya-based platform tests, refines, and hosts content developed by various educational organizations via SMS on mobile phones. Arifu has a team of digital learning experts who work with providers to design and develop behaviorally-...
KrishiSuchak is a WhatsApp-like app developed by Bangalore-based startup Nubesol Technologies to permit smallholders to message agricultural scientist to ask them for advice on their yields, thus eliminating spatial barriers between extension services. Farmers can send their queries either as text, a photo or a record of their voices to the extension officers. Farmers can now get advice via Krishi Shuchak from agronomists by sending only a picture of the damaged crop. The scientist then responds to the query by identifying the problem and then giving advice on the pests to use in order to...
Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) have revolutionised how farming is done over the years. In Africa, in particular, technology has improved the efficiency of data collection and monitoring and evaluation - especially through mobile technology and mobile apps. E-Agriculture has in past held global discussions in conjuction with W orldBank where experts from various fields and organisations around the world shared their experiences and discussed the ways in which they were using mobilephones, tables,application and software - to collect data in the field, and to perfom monitoring...
