Most of us are familiar with Wikipedia, which is a free online encyclopedia, created and edited by volunteers around the world and hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. What about Wikifarmer ? Similarly, it is a user created online farming library. Wikifarmer helps all farmers across the planet find valuable information regarding their existing or potential crops and livestock. The resource is designed to give practical solutions that can be applied by the average farmer. Wikifarmer is available in 8 languages: English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Portuguese, Russian, Greek and Hindi. Users can...
In 2018, FAO launched multiple open innovation challenge to find high-potential digital solutions to address challenges faced by food and agriculture and improve livelihoods. Participants benefited from the specific know-how and skill sets of FAO and private sector experts in IT development, food and agriculture, business model canvas and pitching, culminating in a final pitch sessions and awards for the most innovative, scalable, impactful and financially sustainable start-ups or solutions. From 19-20 August, 24 entrepreneurs, 8 teams across 7 countries in Africa came together in Kigali,...
e-Agriculture caught up with the new YPARD Director Mr. Yemi Adeyeye and interviewed him on a number of issues affecting the youth in agriculture and especially in Africa. e-Agriculture: Congratulations for the appointment to Director YPARD,could you briefly introduce yourself? Yemi : First, many thanks for granting me this interview opportunity. My name is Yemi Adeyeye, a Nigerian national. My education and professional background focus on partnership relations and multi-stakeholder engagement in resources governance in the context of forest and agricultural landscapes with a keen emphasis...
The online e-consultation on Youth employment in agriculture as a solid solution to ending hunger and poverty in Africa was held on the 16th of July to the 10th of August 2018 on the FAO FSN Forum. The e-consultation took four weeks and saw participants from 33 countries who shared 90 contributions. This e-consultation was organized to gather views of youths (especially those who could not attend) the 20-21 August regional conference whose theme was “ Youth Employment in Agriculture as a Solid Solution to Ending Hunger and Poverty in Africa: Engaging through Information and Communication...
Can mobile money transform women's lives? The digital revolution has spread in many developing countries and mobile telephony is readily available and has penetrated areas not yet reached by other prior inventions. In Africa for example, the mobile adaption has grown in recent years and in 2017 overall subscriber penetration was recorded at 44% . However, women still face a challenge or ‘triple divide’ –that is digital, rural and gender divide ( FAO, 2018:5 ). The Mobile Gender Gap Report of 2018 established that mobile connectivity is not spreading its gains equally across gender. Some...
The ICT4D Conference organising committee is pleased to announce the "Call for Speakers" to the 11th ICT4D conference which will take place on April 30th to May 3rd 2019 in Kampala, Uganda. ICT4D conference is a yearly gathering that bring together public, private and civil society organizations from across the humanitarian and international development community. Participants share how they have used innovations in technology to solve today's humanitarian and developmental issues and also how ICTs increase impact of their work. Conference themes for 2019 Agriculture Digital Financial...
Access to Agriculture (a video platform with agricultural videos) won the ‘Digital for Development’ Prize. Access Agriculture was selected as the winner of ‘iStandOut’ category at the biannual Prize Digital for Development (D4D). Access to Agriculture seeks to promote innovations in sustainable agriculture and rural enterprises through capacity development and South-South exchange through farmer-to-farmer video trainings. In many countries, farmers use local languages (and cannot speak English, French or Spanish). Access agriculture has trained local partners to translate videos into their...
The GSMA today announced a new Innovative Fund for Rural Connectivity seeking to expand digital inclusion in Ghana and Uganda. The Fund will provide grants up to £300,000 and is open to eligible companies who can deploy solutions in Uganda or Ghana and is implemented in partnership with MTN Uganda and Vodafone Ghana respectively. Projects eligible for funding should employ innovative ways to deploy mobile broadband networks in rural areas with partnerships with a mobile operator and projects should be commercially viable and scalable in similar environments. The Innovation Fund for Rural...
The e-Agriculture community is now above 14,000 users . e-Agriculture is a global community of practice, where people from all over the world exchange information, ideas, and resources related to the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for sustainable agriculture and rural development. Becoming a member of e-Agriculture Community of Practice provides possibilities to: Connect with other community members and share experiences Follow news and blogs published on the e-Agriculture platform Shar e good practices in the use of ICTs in agriculture Learn about new digital trends...
In a recent press release, UN Women and the World Food Programmw (WFP)have announced that they are breaking new ground by using blockchain to assist Syrian refugee women participating in UN Women’s cash for work programmes at the Za’atari and Azraq refugee camps in Jordan. Before adopting this technology, WFP has been doing cash transfer to refugees via third-party financial service providers such as banks. However, through blockchain, UN women and WFP are exploring the possibility of providing female refugee with cash back at WFP-contracted supermarkets or pay for thier purchases directly...
