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...
Drones can have multiple uses in agriculture, from mapping to spraying. Here is a short list of how can drones help in agriculture. Precision agriculture uses information technology to ensure that the crops and soil receive exactly what they need for optimum health and productivity. Drones are an essential tool in precision agriculture, as they allow farmers to constantly monitor crop and livestock conditions by air. Mapping : With new drone models, the user only needs to draw around the area he needs to cover as drones come equipped with flight planning software allowing it to follow an...
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 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 Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum) was launched in 2007 as a dialogue platform that cuts across borders and disciplines in support of a world free of food insecurity and malnutrition. On the 10th of October 2017, at the FAO headquarters, the FSN Forum team held a luncheon to celebrate the 10 year of existence. Today the FSN Forum stands as one of the most inclusive, multilingual platform that hosts discussions related to food security and nutrition issues. The FSN approach to online discussions have attracted a wider range of stakeholders and members from the civic...
The FAO Director-General, Mr. Jose Graziano da Silva launched one of the FAO flagship publication, " The State of Food and Agriculture ", which this year focuses on leveraging food systems for inclusive rural transformation. The publication was launched during the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) which started on the 9th of October 2017 in FAO headquarters, in Rome. He noted that some 815 million people suffered from hunger in 2016. Key messages of the report The State of Food and Agriculture aims at bringing to a wider audience balanced science-based assessments of important issues in...
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...
This workshop, which will take place from 9 to 11 October 2017 in Rhenen, Netherlands, will discuss and identify key issues to improve access to capital for youth-led e-agriculture businesses and develop a better understanding of the perspectives of 3D printing and blockchain technology for the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) agricultural development sector. Three specific topics have been selected for this workshop. On the one hand, e-agriculture entrepreneurship has emerged as an important area of social entrepreneurship and agribusiness. Access to finance for...
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...
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...