FAO bets on a smart future for the rural communities of Latin America and the Caribbean
August 5th, 2019. Montevideo, Uruguay - In the coming years, the arrival of technologies such as 5G cellphone connectivity, Artificial Intelligence and Big Data, among others, will revolutionize the rural world, changing the way we produce food and allowing the creation of new markets in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) wants to bring these and other innovations to the rural world, to boost sustainable agricultural production and the eradication of poverty and malnutrition.
To that end, the Innovation Week in Montevideo, Uruguay, will bring together all the stakeholders related with the digital and technological progress supporting the SDGs, including companies such as Cacao móvil, Colun, Huawei, Microsoft, Maser, Practical Action and Telefónica, as well as government representatives, R&D centers and cooperatives.
The event is organized by FAO, the National Telecommunications Administration of Uruguay (ANTEL, in Spanish) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), and will be held from August 5th to 8th in Montevideo.
“Digital innovation in agriculture represents a great opportunity to eradicate poverty and hunger, and to mitigate the effects of climate change”, explained FAO's Policy Officer for Rural Development in Latin America and the Caribbean, Luiz Beduschi.
Promoting agricultural development through digital and technological innovation
The Innovation Week will promote key innovation strategies to move towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The new FAO Director-General, QU Donyu, has urged all stakeholders to take urgent measures to achieve Zero Hunger and poverty eradication, while promoting sustainable agricultural and rural development through innovation, including digital innovation.
In the coming years, FAO will work intensively with rural communities so that they can integrate innovation into their agricultural practices and modernize agriculture to eradicate rural poverty.
Challenges for innovation in rural territories
According to the FAO, digitalization will modify all aspects of the agrifood production chain, since hyper connectivity and real time processing of large amounts of information will allow for more efficient work and greater social impact.
However, implementing these changes requires that the governments of the region strengthen rural infrastructure and promote the development of rural communities, so that they are able to adopt and implement innovative solutions.
"We do not only need farmers prepared for these new changes, but also governments to promote these experiences hand in hand with a wide variety of partners, such as private investors, impact investment funds, NGOs, among many others”, said Beduschi, stressing that the role of FAO will be strategic to facilitate cooperative work between companies, farmers and governments.
"The international community has begun to design a series of models and solutions for digital agriculture that guarantee more effective governance, healthier development and greater benefits," said the new FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu.