A new publication by FAO that maps the adoption and use of digital innovations and technologies in agriculture has been published. The full report can be downloaded in the following links The full status report in English, link http://www.fao.org/3/ca4985en/ca4985en.pdf , The briefing paper in six UN languages through links below: http://www.fao.org/3/ca4887zh/ca4887zh.pdf (Chinese): http://www.fao.org/3/ca4887es/ca4887es.pdf (Spanish): http://www.fao.org/3/ca4887ru/ca4887ru.pdf (Russian) http://www.fao.org/3/ca4887fr/ca4887fr.pdf (French) http://www.fao.org/3/ca4887ar/ca4887ar.pdf (Arabic)...
The Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA) has published the digitalisation of African Agriculture Report . The report advocates for the digital agricultural transformation that can feed Africa. In his launch statement, the CTA Director, Michael Hailu stated, “at CTA, we know and understand the power to digitalise African agriculture. But we also understand that the evidence that will attract targeted investments to further develop D4Ag on the continent is lacking”. The emphasis towards digitalisation for agriculture (D4Ag) has been growing over the last decade. For...
Not so long ago the UN Secretary General instituted The High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation in July 2018 to identify good examples and propose modalities for working cooperatively across sectors, disciplines and borders to address challenges in the digital age. On the 10th of June 2019, the Panel launched its report, The Age of Digital Interdependence and presented it to the UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The report describes a world more deeply interconnected than ever before as a result of digital technology, yet struggling to manage the economic, social, cultural and political...
Cover photo: Irrigating rice fields in Sirajganj, Bangladesh. Photo: Haseeb Md. Irfanullah. This post was originally published by I NASP blog and is reposted here for information sharing purposes A research system is basically made up of four components: accessing, conducting, communicating, and...
The two-day International forum “Agroteh-2019 – Steps beyond the horizon,” was organized by the National Research University Higher School of Economics together with FAO and the Russian Ministry of Agriculture in Moscow, and it focused on innovation as the central driving force to transform food systems, lift family farmers out of poverty and help the world to achieve food security, sustainable agriculture and the SDGs. Global digital networks and smart farms, the latest achievements of genetics and breeding, molecular biology and biotechnology – all this comes en masse to the agricultural...
The GSMA has announced GSMA Innovation Fund for eight grants of £220,000 each to support projects for 24 months duration. The GSMA Innovation Fund for Digitisation of Agricultural Value Chains aims to scale digital solutions for the agricultural last mile and improve smallholders’ financial inclusion, livelihood and climate resilience. Grants are available across two categories of application Applications for funding across both categories are assessed through a two-stage application process. Concept Note: The first step will be to submit a Concept Note, which outlines the project objectives...
Cover photo: Irrigating rice fields in Sirajganj, Bangladesh. Photo: Haseeb Md. Irfanullah. This post was originally published by I NASP blog and is reposted here for information sharing purposes A research system is basically made up of four components: accessing, conducting, communicating, and utilizing research. While we often talk about the first three, use of our research in policy and practice is less frequently discussed in developing countries. Discussions at a recent workshop in Bangladesh about recent agricultural and biological science research projects revealed opportunities to...
APPLY NOW: CGIAR’s 2019 Inspire Challenge awarding up to 750,000 USD for innovative big data solutions that transform lives of smallholder farmers The 2019 launch of CGIAR’s Inspire Challenge is great news for innovators looking to transform the agriculture sector, with smallholder farmers in the lead. The CGIAR Inspire Challenge is the innovation process of the Platform for Big Data in Agriculture and seeks to source and foster new solutions for digital agriculture in developing economies. The Challenge Grant The CGIAR is challenging partners, universities, and others to use CGIAR data to...
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has organized the Digital Agriculture Transformation Seminar which will be held on the 12th and 13th of June, 2019. The theme of the seminar is 'The challenges to be addressed'. The two day seminar will focus on the transformational digital technologies such as smart phones, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud-based services, and smart and prediction technologies such as artificial technologies and interconnected data-driven systems such as blockchain technologies. The purpose of the seminar is to foster an exchange among stakeholders (policy-makers,...
Pitch AgriHack, the annual competition that awards young entrepreneurs in ICTs for agriculture (ICT4Ag) is open for applications . Now in its fourth year, Pitch AgriHack is an initiative by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) that supports ICT4Ag entrepreneurs through capacity building and funding to accelerate youth employment and agricultural transformation. Pitch AgriHack 2019 involves: a competition followed by a pitching session in Accra a partnership and investment readiness training boot cam p for finalist start-ups; grants and facilitation of access to...