The role of the mobile phone in accelerating Africa’s social and economic development was reflectedby the UCT Vice-Chancellor’s Inaugural Lecture , titled “ ICTs for development: the good intentions of the mobile phone ”. This lecture was delivered by Professor Rivett is the first woman to be appointed as a full professor at her department. While this address was academic, it provides an insight into the history and uptake of technology within the development and in the African context, in various fields. Some key excepts from the lecture :- “ One of the things the mobile phone allowed for...
This blog is shared as published on AGORA website Access to Global Online Research in Agriculture (AGORA) is one of the four Research4Life programmes that provides free or low cost access to major scientific journals in agriculture and related biological, environmental and social sciences to public institutions in developing countries. AGORA was launched in October 2003 and today, after more than 14 years, it provides access to up to 8200 journals from the world’s leading academic publishers. AGORA is led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and its goal is to...
The Government of Andhra Pradesh, in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dalberg Advisors and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), invites applications for a Pitch Competition to identify technology-based solutions that solve agricultural challenges faced by small and marginal farmers in Andhra Pradesh'' . - read more In this competition there are four themes in which each submission can be made under:- Technology-enabled Rural Advisory Services (RAS) v2.0. Technology-enabled market linkages. Digital Financial Services for agriculture. Data mining for agriculture Who...
The G7 Agriculture ministerial meeting took place in Bergamo, Italy, on 14 and 15 October. The Agriculture Ministers of the G7 Countries, the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Economy of the African Union , representatives of the European Union and international organizations such as FAO , OECD , IFAD and WFP attended the meeting. The Ministers discussed the protection of producers' income against market crises and emergencies related to natural disasters and climate change and the role of agricultural cooperation in migration management. Ministers acknowledged that the current...
The European Commission is offering to cover the travel and accommodation costs of 50 EU and 50 African based digital entrepreneurs to showcase their services and technology during the 6th EU-Africa Business Forum , on November 27th in Abidjan. The selected entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to showcase their services and technology to investors and decision makers during a Startup Fair and attend a number of side events dedicated to entrepreneurship, digital economy, energy and agriculture. The deadline for submissions is October 20th. The arrival in Abidjan is scheduled on November...
The Government of Andhra Pradesh in India in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Dalberg Advisors launched the #SmartFarming4AP – a Pitch Competition for AgTech companies around the globe to come up with innovative technology solutions to solve some of the most pressing agricultural challenges faced by small and marginal farmers in Andhra Pradesh. Finalists will gain the attendance to the Smart Farming, Sampanna Rythu Summit to be held in Visakhapatnam, India on November 16-17, 2017. The summit will se the participation of investorsa and government officials such as...
The USAID has launched the Gender and Information Communication Technology Survey Toolkit which was prepared in collaboration with its partners. It was noted that over 1.7 billion women in low and middle-income countries do not own mobile phones. Even in cases where women own mobile phones, they are less likely to make the full use of their full suite of services. The gender gap impacts greatly on the developmental work, for example the USAID and implementing partners are increasingly using mobile technology and lack of access by women posses a great challenge in the fullfilment of various...
Electronic Marketing Communication System (EMCS) is an sms service designed to improve communication and exchange for Maize, Soya Bean and Cassava in Cambodia. The service was designed to facilitate communication and exchange between farmers and traders in remote regions of the country. The EMS provided information on market price, pricing trends, potential buyers, product quantity and product quality useful to farmers and traders. The EMCS workflows The Electronic Marketing Communication System (EMCS) workflows were was described as shown below EMCS Workshop-Cambodia from STEM Education...
ITU has published its recent newsletter, the WSIS Flash which focuses mainly on the WSIS Forum 2018. This Issue reviews the WSIS Forum 2018 Open Consultation Process , outlining the preparatory process. The WSIS Forum is a unique event of its kind where the programme and agenda are completely crowdsourced. The organizers of the process are ITU, UNESCO,UNCTAD and UNDP. In this issue of their newsletter , one can read the following topics:- WSIS Forum 2018: Contribute to the Open Consultation Process WSIS Stocktaking Process: Call for New Entries and Regional Reports WSIS Prizes 2018: New Call...
ICTs have a huge potential in imporving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the developing world, especially in the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP). ICTs can give access to market and weather information, allow farmers to transfer money and negotiate prices with traders. Moreover, the use of mobile phones is rapidly incresing. But some obstacles remain, such as poor network connectivity in rural areas, non-existing information, or lack of technology knowledge by potential users. This article summarizes seven ICT4Ag projects developed in the context of CTA's ICT4Ag...
