ICT Update is a regular newsletter from CTA that focuses on topical issues in ICT for agriculture. The latest issue focuses on Precision Agriculture for Smallholder Farmers. This issue is hinged on the estimates that it is projected that by 2050 the population growth will have outgrown food production . The issue centers on this theme through the Market-led, User-owned ICT4Ag Enabled Information Service (MUIIS) a project funded by the Netherlands Space Office and implemented by CTA with partners. The goals of this project are to increase crop yield, farmers’ income, the use of agri-inputs and...
This announcement is shared for informational purpose to the e-Agriculture Community as announced by CTA in dgroups . CTA is looking for articles for the forthcoming issue of ICT Update , which will deal with blockchain in agricultur e Blockchain can be defined as a digital ledger that allows storage and exchange of information in a decentralized, immutable, autonomous and trustworthy manner. It allows actors engaged in a transaction to quickly share information, which can include financial data, without a central authority. No single actor can damage the records. Blockchain technology is...
#HackAgainstHunger is hackathon challenge promoted by FAO and ITU ( and partners) based on end hunger and food security topics. Do you have an idea to ensure food security, decrease malnutrition or prevent famine? Join the #HacAgainstHunger! When? Sunday 18th and Monday19th of March 2018, Where? ITU Headquarters in Geneva Please note that two regional phases (Africa and Caribbean) will precede the global one, which will take place in Geneva on March 18th and 19th during the WSIS Forum 2018 75% of the world's poor live in rural areas and 2.5 billion people derive their livelihoods from...
SciDevNet published an article supported by the Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA). The article focuses on the various apps that are available in agriculture as curated by the Apps4Ag database . The example of Farmerline app is highlighted; this app gives smallholder farmers voice-based messages in their local langauges. Through this service farmers can get price related information; the use of insecticides and weather information. Other cited in the article that are popular in agriculture include the iCow – cattle information services in Kenya; Mrittikā – weather...
According to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has projected that the number of mobile subscription stands at 7.74 billion now exceeds the global population. Similarly, the number of apps were reported to be on the increase , for example, as of March 2017 the number of apps available for download on Android stood at 2.8 million apps while Apple’s Apps store recorded 2.2 million apps. While the figures for apps related to agriculture is not readily known, the verity is that equally numbers are on the rise. This has led many to predict that mobile technologies are poised to...
***Text as announced on the event page*** CTA is partnering with the United Nations Development Programme, host of the event, for the organisation of the Social Good Summit (SGS) Geneva. The event will open with speeches notably by the Director of the Geneva office of UNDP and the CTA director and...
CTA workshop on perspectives for ICT and Agribusiness in ACP countries: Start-up financing, 3D printing and blockchain Date 9 to 11 October 2017 Location Rhenen, Netherlands Description The objectives of the workshop are to: Identify key issues and avenues relating to improving access to capital...
The new ICT Update, Issue 85 is now available online. The issue is entitled "Applications for Agricultue" reporting CTA's work in covering the growth and proliferation of digital and mobile phone technologies for agriculture. CTA is now moving forward by developing the Apps4Ag database - which is envisaged as a comprehensive, up-to-date and responsive database of ICTs including mobile, web, animation, audio, and video applications involved in the food value chains. CTA has a clear approach in integrating ICTs into the food value chains and is now working on building a sustainable platform for...
The Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA) just published their annual report for 2016. This report focuses on the following thematic areas, (i) promoting agribusiness, (ii) ICTs for Agriculture, (iii) communication and knowledge sharing, (iv) policy engagement, (v) climate smart-mart agriculture, and (vi) developing value chains.In this news item we summarise the ICTs for Agriculture, section of this report In this section 2 of the report, CTA reports four specific articles on Satellite-based Crop Advice Market-led, user-owned ICT4Ag-enabled Information Service (MUIIS)...
The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) just released its 2016 online annual report. The articles in this annual review focus on CTA’s projects aimed at smallholder farmers and concerns innovations in agribusiness, finance, ICTs, climate-smart agriculture, agro-tourism, communications and knowledge management. This issue starts presenting the key figures from 2016 on CTA communication products and on-the-ground projects. The issue is then divided in 6 chapters, including "Promoting Agribusiness", "ICTs for Agriculture", "Communication and Knowledge-Sharing", "...
***Text as announced on the event page*** CTA is partnering with the United Nations Development Programme, host of the event, for the organisation of the Social Good Summit (SGS) Geneva. The event will open with speeches notably by the Director of the Geneva office of UNDP and the CTA director and...