Reflections on the ICT-AGRI 2: ICTs and robotics for sustainable agriculture The use of new technologies in Europe has grown in the last decade, and this also true within agriculture. In fact, there is renewed expectation towards digitizing agriculture and food value chains. Can robotics adoption in agri-food systems change the current scene? Create new markets for data or lead to the creation of new global policies? ERA-NET ICT-AGRI Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda We visit the ICT-AGRI, which is an European Research Area NETwork (ERA-NET) which helps to coordinate European research...
Location specific and timely advice to improve productivity and climate resilience among smallholder farmers Farmers in developing countries have a challenge of accessing localized weather data. Recently the e-Agriculture Team at FAO and aWhere published a Promising Practice that explains how aWhere can provide weather-based data and tips for smallholder farmers. aWhere delivers agricultural intelligence to farmers, crop consultants and researchers all over the world. How does aWhere achieve this? “The company aims at making agronomic and weather data available to farmers through...
Quick read The world still need more food to feed the growing population Internet of Things (loT) is being used in agriculture Some advantages of Internet of Things (loT) Learn more about Internet of Things (loT) The Agricultural revolution of 1930s to 1960s focused on increasing agricultural production and mechanization; technology was at the center of its success. However, in reality 50 years later, there are still many people who are hungry, today 815 million people are chronically undernourished. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) predicted that the global...
What has ICTs to do with climate change? Malcolm Johnson the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Deputy Secretary General, answers this question in the published news items coinciding with the COP23 that was discussing The Paris Agreement . He positions ICTs as a solution to the current world climate challenges. These include the (i) reported increase in the concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, (ii) extreme weather induced events happening with increasing frequency. These disasters are estimated to have cost the global economy $520 billion a year and have pushed more...
Check out the latest case study on Dgroups: Using Dgroups to scale up online networking and communication in the Rural Water Supply Network. This item is based on an in-depth interview of Sean Furey (Skat/RWSN) by Saskia Harmsen. It includes a 4-page PDF and a video and full transcript of the interview . This case study describes why RWSN has chosen to use Dgroups as their main tool for communicating with partners and clients all over the world. It explains how they’ve been using Dgroups and what results it helped the network achieve. Finally, it presents the key lessons learned by RWSN on...
Wikifarmer is the greatest user generated online farming library. Its mission is to help all farmers across the globe to find valuable information regarding their existing or potential crops and livestock. Through the information it provides, Wikifarmer aims to give practical solutions to farmers. Contributions can be provided from professional or amateur farmers, beekepers, gardeners and professors sharing their knowledge and best practices. Users can submit a new article, edit an existing article, add pictures or videos, request a new article, ask a question about a related issue, or just...
Digital Green is a non-profit development organization that disseminates agricultural information to rural communities using digital video. The platform partners with local actors (public and private sector as well as civil society organizations) to share knowledge on agricultural practices, livelihoods, health and nutrition, using locally produced videos. Digital Green uses local social networks to connect farmers and experts, the thrill of appearing on screen motivates farmers, and homophily is exploited to minimize the distance between teacher and learner. Digital Green is currently...
Millions of underemployed skilled farmers and millions of hectares of underused arable land exhist all over the world, especially in developing countries. At the same time, the demand for high-quality organic food increases daily. According to FAO , our food production will have to increase dramatically to feed a growing population that will reach 9.7 billion in 2050. iGrow is a marketplace that helps underemployed farmers, under-utilized land, and investors to produce high-quality organic food and sustainable incomes through cloud-based agricultural management software. The online platform...
Four new videos on four different areas (mango seedlings, making soumbala from soya beans, sheep & goats, and pumpkins) have been posted on the platform www.accessagriculture.org . They are currently available in English and French for the one on soya while in English, French, and Bangla for the other three. They are freely downloadable, also in 3gp format for mobile phone viewing. Four new videos Grafting mango seedlings : The benefit of grafting is that from grafted trees we can get fruits within two to four years. Making condiment from soya beans : In West Africa, women prepare a...
