On Monday 19 November 2018, FAO is organizing a workshop on “ The development of a national e-agriculture strategy for Armeni a” within the framework of the EU-funded FAO project “ ENPARD Technical Assistance to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Armenia ”. The workshop will provide the opportunity to understand how Armenia can develop its national e-agriculture strategy. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have long been recognized as key enablers for bridging the digital divide and achieving the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic growth,...
The High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation has announced a call for contributions where they are seeking inputs from individuals, government, academic/research groups and various stakeholders to supply contributions that are to inform its deliberations and development of actionable recommendations for the report. Submissions should reflect one or the following aspects of digital cooperation:- what values and principles should underpin cooperation in the digital realm; how can stakeholders cooperate more effectively in the digital realm, including how can marginalized stakeholders be included...
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Member States have approved at new resolution that consolidate ITU’s mandate on matters relating to digital financial inclusion , reports ITU . The except of the news can be read below “Two billion adults worldwide do not have a bank account, but among them, 1.6 billion have a mobile phone. Developing countries are capitalizing on the widespread use of mobile phones and information and communication technologies (ICTs) to bring all people within reach of financial services and out of poverty. Digital financial services show great potential to...
The WSIS Prize 2019 is calling for submissions from interested and qualifying projects. The deadline for the submission is the 30th of November 2018. The submissions can be made in English, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, French and Russian. To submit your project click here . WSIS Prizes is a unique international contest developed in response to requests from the WSIS stakeholders to create an effective mechanism to evaluate and recognize individuals, governments, civil society, local, regional and international agencies, research institutions and private-sector companies for outstanding success...
A one-size-fits-all approach to agricultural finance and insufficient resources make it difficult for smallholder farmers to become profitable, despite the pivotal role they play in agricultural production. Over the last four years, Grameen Foundation and Musoni Microfinance Kenya have built a...
e-Agriculture caught up with the new YPARD Director Mr. Yemi Adeyeye and interviewed him on a number of issues affecting the youth in agriculture and especially in Africa. e-Agriculture: Congratulations for the appointment to Director YPARD,could you briefly introduce yourself? Yemi : First, many thanks for granting me this interview opportunity. My name is Yemi Adeyeye, a Nigerian national. My education and professional background focus on partnership relations and multi-stakeholder engagement in resources governance in the context of forest and agricultural landscapes with a keen emphasis...
ICT 2018 will take place in Vienna on 4-6 December 2018. This research and innovation event will focus on the European Union’s priorities in the digital transformation of society and industry. It will present an opportunity for the people involved in this transformation to share their experience...
The online e-consultation on Youth employment in agriculture as a solid solution to ending hunger and poverty in Africa was held on the 16th of July to the 10th of August 2018 on the FAO FSN Forum. The e-consultation took four weeks and saw participants from 33 countries who shared 90 contributions. This e-consultation was organized to gather views of youths (especially those who could not attend) the 20-21 August regional conference whose theme was “ Youth Employment in Agriculture as a Solid Solution to Ending Hunger and Poverty in Africa: Engaging through Information and Communication...
Tiny automated machines could soon take care of the entire growing process (Source: The Guardian) The Guardian reports that in the rural Hampshire, a robot called Rachel is pootling around an overgrown field. Rachel has four USB ports, a disc-like GPS receiver and the nuts and bolts of a system called Lidar, through which she can move and orient herself using laser beams. As she moves she is taking close-up photograph of the plants and soils around her which is sent to a central database. The data she collects will be used into a forensic map of the field and the wider farm beyond. Rachel was...
Can mobile money transform women's lives? The digital revolution has spread in many developing countries and mobile telephony is readily available and has penetrated areas not yet reached by other prior inventions. In Africa for example, the mobile adaption has grown in recent years and in 2017 overall subscriber penetration was recorded at 44% . However, women still face a challenge or ‘triple divide’ –that is digital, rural and gender divide ( FAO, 2018:5 ). The Mobile Gender Gap Report of 2018 established that mobile connectivity is not spreading its gains equally across gender. Some...