by Tom Price, Independent Writer for ICT4D Conference Humans have been farming the African landscape for thousands of years, and not a great deal has changed over the many centuries. The slow rhythms of the agricultural seasons are what really drive this continent with more than 60 percent of the population working on the land. But change is afoot. Digital technology is introducing remarkable innovations to agriculture through accessible mechanization, improving farmers resilience to shocks like floods, and identifying land improvements. The mechanical power of the tractor revolutionized...
The 3rd African Youth Agripreneur Forum (AYAF) Conference and AgriPitch Competition will be held in Cape town, South Africa from 24th – 28th June 2019 under the theme: “ Climate Smart Agriculture: Business and Employment Opportunities for Africa’s Youth ”. This year the AYAF will be held in...
Today is the EU Digital Day and the EU Member States signed three Declarations to pool efforts and resources for accelerating digital developments in key areas that are expected to bring tangible benefits to states economies and societies. Digital Day is a unique event intended to enable the EU and interested Member States to pool efforts and resources with a view to accelerating digital developments in key areas that can bring tangible benefits to our economies and our societies. #DigitalDay2019 The digital day "brings Member States and EU institutions together with partners from industry,...
To mark its tenth anniversary, the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2019 will convene under the theme, ‘Information and Communication Technologies for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals’.WSIS is the world’ s largest annual gathering of the information and communications...
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in conjunction with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) are organizing a parallel session during the WSIS 2019. The session is entitled ‘ Communities of Practices and Digital Integrated Platforms ’ and will be held on the 8th of April 2019 in Geneva, Swirtzerland with a possibility of online participation Details of the Session 16:30 - 18:15 on Monday the 8th of April 2019 Room K2, ITU Montbrillant Remote participate online click here About the session: Communities of Practices and Digital Integrated Platforms By 2050,...
The Government of Japan and FAO have handed over to the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement a project that is aimed at strengthening small farmers overcome bird flu and fall armyworm (FAW). Amongst other things the project provided the following tools - For HPAI, an active surveillance system consisting of two Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) machines will be used for the rapid detection of influenza viruses. Whereas for FAW, 340 government extension officers will be provided with smartphones equipped with the FAW Monitoring and Early Warning...
The Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA) is conducting a study on "digitalisation for agriculture in Africa: UAS-assisted land demarcation". Are you aware of one or more ongoing or completed initiatives / projects focusing on land demarcation and where unmanned aerial systems (UAS) or drone-based systems were / are used in the process? The survey can be accessed here Should you have any questions, directly contact CTA, Giacomo Rambaldi Senior Programme Coordinator , ICT4AgCTA | P.O. Box 380 | 6700AJ Wageningen |The Netherlands | www.cta.int
In an opinion piece on CNN Business , the WorldBank Group CEO and interim presidents noted that automation and artificial intelligence (and other disruptive technologies) could revolutionize the industrialized world, and with great potential to the developing world. O n her tweeter account , Ms Kristalina Georgieva noted in order to support Africa’s digital transformation, the WorldBank Group will invest $25 billion between now and 2030 and is aiming to mobilize $25 billion more from the private sector. How can African countries leapfrog themselves for this challenge? In the above mentioned...
The sixty-third session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW63) will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 11 to 22 March 2019. Representatives of Member States, UN entities, and ECOSOC-accredited non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from all regions of the world...
The International Award “ Innovative Ideas and Technologies in Agribusiness ” is organized by UNIDO ITPO Italy in collaboration with the Future Food Institute . The international contest is aimed at identifying worldwide the most innovative ideas in the foodtech & agtech sectors from startups, think tanks, universities, incubators, research and technology centers, that could lead to social, environmental and economic improvements in Developing Countries. Applications must be received by 31st March 2019, at the following link: https://www.unido.it/award2019 The award ceremony will be held...