From the balcony of their apartments, to the backyards, and also small plots most urban dwellers grow crops and other plants. Urban and Peri-urban agriculture is instrumental in providing food products such as grains, root crops, vegetables, mushrooms and also small animals like rabbits, goats, fish etc. as well as non-food items such as herbs, ornamental plants. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) does support urban and peri-urban agriculture. Most urbanites farmers are perplexed when the crops they love fall prey to pests and diseases, for example caterpillars...
This meeting is held within the CTA's transforming Africa's agriculture project, which aims to establish business-oriented and youth-led UAS service providers in countries where enabling UAV regulations are in place.
A promising practice on the use of ICTs in weather-data for farmers Many small holder farmers in developing countries have faced huge challenges as a result of climate change induced weather effects. Most of these farmers rely on traditional methods to understand weather predictions. Localised weather data is essential for farm based decisions such as when to plant, yet farmers can access reliable and usable weather data. If such information is available, the quality is poor or it’s inaccessible to the communities that need it most. In order to support Kenyan farmers, the Kenyan Agricultural...
Research findings by the youth at Mastercard Foundation Rome – Africa is in the height of a crisis and an opportunity. Africa’s population stands at 1,2 billion people and over 60% are below the age of 25. Yet most African youths are not employed, and according to the World Bank by 2035, 350 million new jobs will be needed . Africa’s population is growing faster than jobs are created. There is a potential for agriculture to create employment, however, African youths in Sub-Saharan Africa do not realize agriculture as a profitable opportunity for livelihood. There is a growing notion that the...
Location specific and timely advice to improve productivity and climate resilience among smallholder farmers Farmers in developing countries have a challenge of accessing localized weather data. Recently the e-Agriculture Team at FAO and aWhere published a Promising Practice that explains how aWhere can provide weather-based data and tips for smallholder farmers. aWhere delivers agricultural intelligence to farmers, crop consultants and researchers all over the world. How does aWhere achieve this? “The company aims at making agronomic and weather data available to farmers through...
The African Union, High Level Panel on Emerging Technologies (APET) and NEPAD have published a report entitled, Drones on the horizon: Transforming Africa’s Agriculture . The report explains how drones are a vital part of precision agriculture and how drones can be used to provide detailed and on-demand data that support decision making by farmers in Africa . The publication of this report is the second high-level commitment by AU to the use of drones in agriculture across the continent. Earlier this year, the African Union’s Executive Council requested the AU and Member States to harness...
Unleashing Africa's Next Generation of Digital Innovators The African Development Bank together with The Rockefeller Foundation, Microsoft, and Facebook have launched the Coding for Employment Program during the African Innovation Summit in Kigali, Rwanda. The program will prepare the youth for tomorrow's jobs through a demand-driven Information and Communication Technology (ICT) curriculum and then match graduates directly with ICT employers. This comes inline with African Development Bank Group (AfDB) Jobs for Youth in Africa (JfYA) strategy (2016-2025) . The bank targets that by 2025, the...
Cracking the Nut 18 : Promoting Agricultural Technology Adoption and Resilience Cracking the Nut 18 conference focuses on encouraging the uptake of new technologies for agriculture and access to finance in a way that promotes resilience. This two-day event will bring together approximately 300 of...
In the just ended European Development Days 2018, The Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA) sponsored a session on women’s access to ICTs for agriculture. Through this event and supporting women’s access to ICTs for agriculture, CTA is helping to close the gender gap and improve livelihoods. The question of ICTs and Women Within ICTs for development, this event comes heels after the 62nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women and its review on the role of ICTs in empowering rural women and girls encapsulated in the CSW47 Agreed Conclusions . Meanwhile, despite...
Drone European Platform (DEP) is a project co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union which realises that the use of drones offer a variety of interesting opportunities in the field of agriculture. The project focuses on the technical competences of students by strengthening current educational courses and develops strategies to support educational providers, educational managers and educational trainers. The objectives of the projects are : To include innovative technology in VET specifically in agriculture curriculum.- To develop a Drone Course at the European level. To...
This meeting is held within the CTA's transforming Africa's agriculture project, which aims to establish business-oriented and youth-led UAS service providers in countries where enabling UAV regulations are in place.
Cracking the Nut 18 : Promoting Agricultural Technology Adoption and Resilience Cracking the Nut 18 conference focuses on encouraging the uptake of new technologies for agriculture and access to finance in a way that promotes resilience. This two-day event will bring together approximately 300 of...