FAO's Digital Innovation highlighted in the 'Innovation in the UN – Quarterly Update'

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has contributed its innovative initiatives with the broader 17 UN agencies on how it is using innovative technology and digital solutions to assure food security and end hunger in middle-and lower-income countries.

This contribution was published by the UN Innovative Network (UNIN) in their Q2 Quarterly Update on Innovation. UNIN is an informal collaborative network of UN Agencies innovation teams, the teams seek to find new innovative approaches and technologies as well as challenges in developing innovative ideas.

FAO’s innovative approaches in food and agriculture

We re-publish the FAO submission in three bullets below

• FAO’s Fall Armyworm Monitoring and Early Warning System (FAMEWS) app that helps farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa fight Fall Armyworm. Data uploaded by farmers is transferred to a global web-based platform and analysed to give real-time situation reports, calculate infestation levels and suggests measures to reduce impact. More info
• In partnership with Telefonica, FAO launched four pilots in the Central American Dry Corridor applying specialized hardware, loT and AI to improve water management. The findings will be made available to local farmers to help them make decisions about irrigation and crop management. More info
• FAO is developing proof of concepts to mainstream innovative approaches to improve rural livelihoods across the organisation.Highlights include FishID, an app using machine learning for image recognition to provide information on fish species and nutrition by taking a photo, and Blockchain to support rights for pastoralists by registering utilisation of shared resources, such as land and corridors.

The 2nd Quarter Update has interesting development within the broader 17 UNIN members. Read the update here