Nano Ganesh - a mobile based remote control for water pumps and water tanks - developed by the Ossian Agro Automation , will be demonstrated at the Mobile World Congress , Barcelona, Spain, taking place from February 27th to March 2nd 2017. The electronic device will be part of the Mobile for Development in the Innovation City in the Mobile World Congress. GSMA has constructed a small grass plot irrigated by sprinklers controlled live by visitors with a mobile phone with the help of Nano Ganesh device. Nano Ganesh is a GSM Mobile based remote control system exclusively for the use with water...
After a two-year ban of unmanned aereal vehicles for non-military reasons in Kenya, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) has approved draft regulations on the commercial use of drones in the country. The law will be released soon, according to governemnt officials. Kenya is the second African nation after Rwanda to grant the permission to fly drones for commercial use. An article released in May 2016 by the Daily Nation newspaper, Kenya's largest, reported that more than 1,000 applicants were already seeking regulatory approvals to operate drone-based transport services in Kenya. Among...
Agricultural insurance is essential for smallholder farmers, as plots of land are small and the consequences of crop diseases and climate change effects can be disastrous. Yeld loss and damage monitoring and verification can be long and laborious task, causing huge delays in settlements. Although new technologies have been applied, drones, micro-satellites, digital photography can help improve the monitoring of crops and yelds for smallholders and insurance companies. Remote sensing can be a key tool for farmers to prove their crop and harvest loss to insurance companies. At the same time,...
The Food and Agriculture Policy Decision Analysis (FAPDA) promotes evidence-based decision making by collecting and disseminating information on policy information through a freely accessible web-based tool. The FAPDA tool provides an electronic repository for food and agriculture policies in over 130 countries. The repository presents itself as a map with the different countries coloured according to the coverage of their policies. A free text search is also available. The policies in the repository can be filtered by Country/region , Date , Policy decision and Policy framework . For each...
The Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition ( GODAN ), has launched a new working group on Soil Data Working Group, in cooperation with the Research Data Alliance and the Global Soil Partnership . The working group was initially conceptualized during GODAN Summit 2016.The working group will closely interact with other initiatives related to the development of open soil standards promoting the exchange of digital soil data (OGC, ISO), and support and utilize these. This Soil Data Working Group joins other existing working groups within the GODAN. The objectives of the Soil Data Working...
Rural mobile connectivity is still poor in Africa, according to the GSMA Mobile Economy Africa 2016 Report. Mobile connectivity can help smallholders get access to relevant market information and financial services, which are essential for their development. Affordability is another key issue, as the report states that in countries such as Chad and Niger, for example, "mobile broadband represents around 200% of the annual income of the bottom 20% of the population." Nevertheless, mobile financial services are hugely important in sub-saharan Africa, with the region representing 63% of active...
Today, the 13th of February is World Radio Day? What is this day all about? World Radio Day is about celebrating radio, a day to remember the unique power of radio to touch lives and bring together people from all over the world. This day was proclaimed by the UNESCO’s 36th General Conference in 2011 and has been celebrated in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 by the UN Member States . World Radio Day: 2017 Celebrations The theme of World Radio Day 2017 is Radio is You , highlighting the importance of listener dialogue and feedback to good radio. UNESCO has issued a statement from its Director-...
