Perhaps the name sounds negative, but not until you dig deeper. The rate of technology change has affected many people, processes and sectors. With regards to agriculture, our colleagues published an article, ' digital disruption in agriculture ’. They premise that, the pace of digital disruption over the last two decades has been breathtaking, transforming every sector of the global economy, including agriculture. By using diverse technologies – smartphones, GPS, satellite imagery, big data, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things – farmers can optimize crop growth and farm...
Serge Auguste Zaonogo from Burkina Faso won the Radio France Internationale (RFI) Challenge App Africa for his invention ‘Saagga’ - an electronic mapping system that optimizes irrigation in the agricultural sector, permitting management while on-the-move. In a recent article , FAO noted that in addition to the prize, Serge Auguste Zaonogo will be offered an Internship with FAO in one of its innovation units. The RFI Challenge App Africa aims to support and promote the integration of new, innovative technologies in the field of sustainable development in Francophone Africa. Read this news here...
This news item is reproduced for the benefit of e-Agriculture CoP members on behalf of the Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA) In collaboration with Dalberg Advisors , the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) has launched a sector-defining research on the state of Digitalisation for Agriculture (D4Ag) in Africa. This research will explore the commercial potential of D4Ag, the progress made towards that potential to date, enablers and barriers along the pathway leading to D4Ags’ success in the next decade. To gather data on Digital Deployments...
ITU invites interested authors to submit papers to be considered for the third issue of the publication " Capacity Building in a Changing ICT Environment 2019 ". The ITU online publication “Capacity Building in a Changing ICT Environment”, which is released annually, puts together scholarly articles with a focus on capacity building and skills development in the digital era. It covers a wide range of topics related to the ongoing discussions on how digital technologies are transforming job markets, determining new skills sets requirements and driving the digital economy requirements for re-...
On the sidelines of the International Symposium on Agricultural Innovation for Family Farming , FAO also hosted the Digital Innovation Youth Entrepreneurship Workshop which saw young entrepreneurs who won the #HackAgainstHunger/Africa participating. Below we share one of the innovation stories entitled “ How drones and smartphones are helping Ugandan farmers save their crops from pests and diseases ’ The Situation: Known as the “pearl of Africa”, the Republic of Uganda’s fertile soils and favourable climate conditions have contributed to the country’s success in agriculture - a sector that...
You are invited to participate in the interactive session with youth during the first International Symposium on agricultural innovation for family farmers. The event, organized in collaboration with Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD), is bringing together youth representatives and innovators around the world – both online and in-person – to interact with experts, present the key drivers behind their innovations, share their ideas and contribute their inputs to the outcomes of the symposium. Among the participants are four YPARD members: Nikki Pilania and Alpha Sennon (...
International Innovation Award for Sustainable Food and Agriculture The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Government of Switzerland have announced the call for nominations for the 1st International Innovation Award for the Sustainable Food and Agriculture. The call is targeted at individuals, private companies or institutions to submit a nomination for the following categories before the 28th of February 2019: Award for Digitalization and Innovation for Sustainable Food Systems (USD 40 000) – Innovations that impact more than one level of the supply chain and strengthen the link...
The FAO headquarters in Rome was this morning abuzz with delegates and participants to the much anticipated International Symposium on Agricultural Innovation for Family Farmers , which runs from the 21st to the 23rd of November 2018. The theme of this symposium is ‘unlocking the potential of agricultural innovation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals ”. This theme was chosen amidst the global challenges facing the world which have affected the sustainability of food and agricultural systems, affecting livelihoods of millions of family farmers worldwide. Hence, innovation is the...
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,...
