The following news was published by Watani International and is shared for information purposes. CAIRO, 22 July 2019. The Food and Agriculture organization of the UN has launched in Egypt a digital model of agricultural extension to enhance agricultural productivity. The move comes within the programme signed between FAO and the Egyptian Government to boost information exchange and technology transfer in agriculture for the period 2018 – 2022. Ezz El-Din Abu-Steit, Egypt’s Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, stressed that digital technology had the potential of facing threats of...
The special event will launch The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2019 report, presenting the latest estimates for food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition at global and regional levels. The report’s findings are an important yardstick to measure the world’s progress towards...
The WFP Innovation Accelerator identifies, supports and scales high-potential solutions to hunger worldwide. Innovation is important in order for WFP (and other agencies) to deliver on the mandate to end hunger. The Innovation Accelerator offers financial support, training and access to WFP partners and technical experts. Selected teams get an opportunity to develop their projects and receive up to US$ 100 thousand. The 2019 Programme Dates There were 3 cohorts in 2019 and very soon the 3rd cohort will close on the 8th of July 2019 and all eligible start-ups are encouraged to apply. The...
A new publication by FAO that maps the adoption and use of digital innovations and technologies in agriculture has been published. The full report can be downloaded in the following links The full status report in English, link http://www.fao.org/3/ca4985en/ca4985en.pdf , The briefing paper in six UN languages through links below: http://www.fao.org/3/ca4887zh/ca4887zh.pdf (Chinese): http://www.fao.org/3/ca4887es/ca4887es.pdf (Spanish): http://www.fao.org/3/ca4887ru/ca4887ru.pdf (Russian) http://www.fao.org/3/ca4887fr/ca4887fr.pdf (French) http://www.fao.org/3/ca4887ar/ca4887ar.pdf (Arabic)...
The Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA) has published the digitalisation of African Agriculture Report . The report advocates for the digital agricultural transformation that can feed Africa. In his launch statement, the CTA Director, Michael Hailu stated, “at CTA, we know and understand the power to digitalise African agriculture. But we also understand that the evidence that will attract targeted investments to further develop D4Ag on the continent is lacking”. The emphasis towards digitalisation for agriculture (D4Ag) has been growing over the last decade. For...
Not so long ago the UN Secretary General instituted The High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation in July 2018 to identify good examples and propose modalities for working cooperatively across sectors, disciplines and borders to address challenges in the digital age. On the 10th of June 2019, the Panel launched its report, The Age of Digital Interdependence and presented it to the UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The report describes a world more deeply interconnected than ever before as a result of digital technology, yet struggling to manage the economic, social, cultural and political...
Cover photo: Irrigating rice fields in Sirajganj, Bangladesh. Photo: Haseeb Md. Irfanullah. This post was originally published by I NASP blog and is reposted here for information sharing purposes A research system is basically made up of four components: accessing, conducting, communicating, and...
The two-day International forum “Agroteh-2019 – Steps beyond the horizon,” was organized by the National Research University Higher School of Economics together with FAO and the Russian Ministry of Agriculture in Moscow, and it focused on innovation as the central driving force to transform food systems, lift family farmers out of poverty and help the world to achieve food security, sustainable agriculture and the SDGs. Global digital networks and smart farms, the latest achievements of genetics and breeding, molecular biology and biotechnology – all this comes en masse to the agricultural...
The GSMA has announced GSMA Innovation Fund for eight grants of £220,000 each to support projects for 24 months duration. The GSMA Innovation Fund for Digitisation of Agricultural Value Chains aims to scale digital solutions for the agricultural last mile and improve smallholders’ financial inclusion, livelihood and climate resilience. Grants are available across two categories of application Applications for funding across both categories are assessed through a two-stage application process. Concept Note: The first step will be to submit a Concept Note, which outlines the project objectives...
Cover photo: Irrigating rice fields in Sirajganj, Bangladesh. Photo: Haseeb Md. Irfanullah. This post was originally published by I NASP blog and is reposted here for information sharing purposes A research system is basically made up of four components: accessing, conducting, communicating, and utilizing research. While we often talk about the first three, use of our research in policy and practice is less frequently discussed in developing countries. Discussions at a recent workshop in Bangladesh about recent agricultural and biological science research projects revealed opportunities to...