The ICT4Ag: The new technologies that will achieve food security, is part of an ongoing series around ICT4D, that is exploring new ICT innovations. The webinar will take place on Tuesday, October 17, 2017 6:00 AM PDT (Pacific Daylight Time). The participants will discuss the challenges of acceptance and distribution of those technologies in agricultural programs. The expert panel will discuss which ICT technologies are more useful to each participan't project. The factors taken in consideration are: research and big data, push vs pull technologies and user-friendly designs and sustainability...
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...
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...
Farmerline is a social software company with the mission to transform millions of farmers into successful entrepreneurs. Farmerline connects farmers to markets, finance, weather forecast, new farming tips, inputs dealers and equipment services. Farmerline has an information service that sends SMS and voice messages on weather forecasts, market prices, new farming techniques, agrochemical applications, and finance directly to the mobile phones of farmers in local languages. Through their mobile phones, farmers can also connect to global markets and buy farm inpunts and services. Farmers using...
ICT4Ag: The New Technologies That Will Achieve Food Security Date Tue, October 17, 2017 6:00 AM – 7:00 AM PDT Description This webinar, ICT4Ag: The New Technologies That Will Achieve Food Security, is part of an ongoing series around ICT4D, that is exploring new ICT innovations. The participants...
A team under the CGIAR Research Program on Roots, Tubers and Bananas (RTB) has developed a mobile app that uses artificial intelligence to accurately diagnose crop diseases in the field. The team has won a $US100,000 award to help expand their project to help millions of small-scale farmers across Africa. The app provides advice on all major diseases and pests of root, tuber and banana crops, sends SMS alerts to farmers about potential diseases for their crops and pinpoints the location of the nearest agricultural extension support for farmers. “Smartphones are becoming more and more common...
Harvesting is a Silicon Valley based growing startup driving financial inclusion for farmers. Harvesting uses cutting edge remote sensing & machine learning based approach to help large financial institutions lend small farm holders. Harvesting is now looking for a full time remote sensing scientist to join its growing team and drive its mission. Requirements: Degree in physical geography/Geomatics or allied fields Must have done extensive research on cropland monitoring, crop yield models, crop type detection in Semi-arid regions, which is published in reputed publication Must have...
In Kenya, in the region of Turkana County, a severe drought is threatening people's livelihoods and livestock. Agricultural production is close to none as the rainy season going from March to June remained a vain hope. The nearest borehole is sometimes walking days away and not all of the population is fit enough to make it, so many were forced to relocate. However, Turkana County happens to have a large source of ground water. The problem is that if a well breaks, the reparation time is too long. Repairs used to come after a notification through mobile phone, but the majority of villagers...
The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) has recently published the issue Number 186 of Spore magazine , which focuses on Big data and climate insurance: Redusing risks and maximizing revenues. Spore Magazine aims to give the reader a global perspective on agribusiness and agricultural development. The topics covered in this issue include the role of ICTs in enhancing agricultural productivity, creating jobs and increasing incomes for young farmers, and the role of ICTs in climate smart agriculture and early warning systems. The following articles are of interest:...
The World Bank Group, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI), with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched a new global programme to advance research in digital finance and accelerate digital financial inclusion in developing countries: the Financial Inclusion Global Initiative. The program is composed of two different but complementary work streams: operational and knowledge. The operational work stream supports governments in improving access to financial services and digital financial inclusion...
ICT4Ag: The New Technologies That Will Achieve Food Security Date Tue, October 17, 2017 6:00 AM – 7:00 AM PDT Description This webinar, ICT4Ag: The New Technologies That Will Achieve Food Security, is part of an ongoing series around ICT4D, that is exploring new ICT innovations. The participants...