The e-Agriculture and Aerobotics invite interested individuals to participate in this webinar below:- Title: The impact of Technology on sustainable agriculture Date : 7th of February 2019 Time : 16:00 hrs (Rome Time) [ What time is this? ] Register here Abstract Annually, farmers lose 15% of yield due to pests and diseases, for example this would equate to more than $300 million in South Africa alone. The rise of precision agriculture can not only reduce this loss and increase yields but also ensure that action is taken in a sustainable manner. How can modern technologies such as drones and...
You might be wondering, What is E-KOKARI? E-KOKARI is an interactive voice responsive (IVR) platform developed in Niger and it allows farmers, breeders and buyers to access information, advice, warnings and market prices in the field of agriculture and livestock. E-KOKARI allows farming communities in Niger to access timely and accurate information they need on the farm. In Niger, like in many parts of Africa, the use of mobile phones have increased and while French is a common language – not every farmer prefers it. Hence, E-KOKARI was developed to help farmers to access needed information...
The CTA led project, ‘ Transforming Africa’s Agriculture: Eyes in the Sky, Smart Techs on the ground ’ has been nominated for voting under the WSIS Prizes 2019, category AL C7 – E-agriculture. This projects seeks to create employment opportunities for young graduates and the youth in rural areas, and aptly it states, “CTA’s transforming Africa’s agriculture project aims to establish business-oriented and youth-led UAS service providers in countries where enabling UAV regulations are already in place”. This project, CTA’s project will run from 2017 to 2019 will support the UAS service sector...
Utilizing the Power of Digital Innovations for youth, smallholders and family farmers. The Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA) is organized by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Germany) and is hosted by the European Commission and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). FAO is sponsoring a high level panel on, Utilizing the Power of Digital Innovations for youth, smallholders and family farmers Background to the highlevel panel The world faces unprecedented challenges affecting the sustainability of agriculture and the livelihood of millions of...
Serge Auguste Zaonogo from Burkina Faso won the Radio France Internationale (RFI) Challenge App Africa for his invention ‘Saagga’ - an electronic mapping system that optimizes irrigation in the agricultural sector, permitting management while on-the-move. In a recent article , FAO noted that in addition to the prize, Serge Auguste Zaonogo will be offered an Internship with FAO in one of its innovation units. The RFI Challenge App Africa aims to support and promote the integration of new, innovative technologies in the field of sustainable development in Francophone Africa. Read this news here...
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...
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...
The partnership will support efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 – a world with zero hunger . Alibaba and The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) have entered into a strategic partnership to achieve a world with zero hunger – which is Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2. Under the framework agreement, Alibaba will provide its leading technology and resources to support the digital transformation of WFP’s operations. Alibaba operates the Alibaba Cloud and will avail this infrastructure and collaborate with WFP to develop a digital ‘World Hunger Map’ to monitor...
A presentation made at the ICT4D Conference by Abdelaziz Lawani Drones have grown to be widely accepted in agriculture. Current evidence shows that UAVs are effective in evaluating land use, land cover, assessing the impacts of disasters, securing property rights and have great potential for increasing agricultural productivity. At the last ICT4D 2018 Conference , Abdelaziz Lawani made a presentation on the use of drones in agriculture. An interesting focus of this presentation was; Does the adoption of UAVs or drones in agricultural practices make the farming activities more efficient or...
