As published on fao.org 5 May 2020, Rome – Ensuring people have access to food by keeping borders open for trade is critical during this period of COVID-19 and to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals , FAO Director-General QU Dongyu, said today during the first meeting of the Task Force on the impact of COVID-19 on Food Security and Nutrition in Africa. The meeting - co-convened by Qu and Angela Thoko Didiza, Minister for Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development of South Africa and Chair of the African Union Specialized Technical Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water...
The Digital Technologies for Resilience Workshop , which FHI 360 is organizing with support from the Rockefeller Foundation , will take place in Bangkok on November 27-28, 2018. This workshop follows the first similar workshop held in 2017. The workshop was set up as a space where participants within the developmental field can share with and learn from like-minded practitioners about how to sustainably scale digital technologies to enhance resilience. The workshop is funded by the Rockefeller Foundation and is organized by FHI 360 and Digital Impact Alliance (Dial) is a resource partner...
On the 17th of October 2018, CABI announced the PestSmart Diagnostics e-Learning course. The course is part of CABI PestSmart Diagnostic package , designed to help plant health practitioners and students to develop and improve their ability to recognize plant symptoms, relate them to causes and to identify what is causing the problem. The e-Learning course is derived from the Plantwise programme and the course is unique in two ways. It is the first plant health e-learning product and secondly, it is a rare example of a proven innovation developed from an aid sector into a commercial product...
Image credit : FAO/ART Project In Rwanda, one main constraint limiting the development of the potato value chain is related to a lack of reliable information on the prices of potatoes and quantities available in the market which makes forecasting costs of processors difficult, a constraint which is outside the direct control of the firm. Furthermore, the impact of climate change is putting unprecedented stress and threats on the livelihoods of potato farmers in north-western districts of the country. Reducing climatic risks require robust and innovative tools that can help producers and...
FOSS4g2018 meeting will take place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from the 27th of August to the 2nd of September 2018 and there will be a large GIS community in attendance. In this light, CGIAR, IFPRI, WeRobotics and Tanzania Flying Labs are organising a "Drones for Agriculture" Knowledge Sharing Day on Friday 24th of August in Dar es Salaam. Interested persons within the agriculture are invited to sign-up. Places are limited to 50 participants. Participants will be chosen based on their application. The event is free of charge, however travel & lodging needs to be paid by participants...
The application for the mobile for humanitarian innovation fund for Round 2 opened on the 16th of July 2018 and will close on the 10th of August 2018. Eligible e-Agriculture CoP members are encouraged to apply. The GSMA Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation Fund The GSMA Mobile for Humanitarian Innovation Fund aims to promote innovation in the use of mobile technology to address humanitarian challenges. The fundings will test new technical solutions, catalyse ideas to improve or transform institutional systems and to empower and assist individuals and communities affected by complex emergencies...
The Humanitarian UAV Network is inviting interested persons, entities and organizations within the International Humanitarian field to comment and contribute to the next version of the Humanitarian UAV/Drone Code of Conduct and Guidelines by the 1st of October 2018. Background to the call In May 2018, WeRobotics co-organized an Experts Meeting on Drones in Humanitarian Action . The Meeting amongst many other outcomes, revised the existing Humanitarian UAV/ Drone Code of Conduct considering developments in the use of drones in conflict zones and for cargo delivery. The sessions which were well...
News Release as published on FAO Website 25 June 2018, Rome - The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization and Pennsylvania State University joined forces to develop and launch an innovative, talking app - Nuru - to help African farmers recognize Fall Armyworm, a new and fast-spreading crop pest in sub-Saharan Africa, so that they can take immediate steps to destroy it and curb its spread. Fall Armyworm first appeared in Africa in 2016, in West Africa, and then rapidly spread across all countries in sub-Saharan Africa in 2017, infecting millions of hectares of maize, and threatening...
A promising practice on the use of ICTs in weather-data for farmers Many small holder farmers in developing countries have faced huge challenges as a result of climate change induced weather effects. Most of these farmers rely on traditional methods to understand weather predictions. Localised weather data is essential for farm based decisions such as when to plant, yet farmers can access reliable and usable weather data. If such information is available, the quality is poor or it’s inaccessible to the communities that need it most. In order to support Kenyan farmers, the Kenyan Agricultural...
On the 8-10th of May, 2018 all roads led to Lusaka for the 10th ICT4D conference which saw an attendance of more than 700 ICT experts, program managers and senior executives from 80 countries. The conference was held at Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka, Zambia. ICT4D Conferences are the largest event within the humanitarian development sector and are held annually it was founded in Nairobi in 2010. The 2018 edition sought to map out the path for technology to make maximize its impact on improving humanitarian relief and development work. The conference was comprised of...
