The Wall Street Journal reported that Walmart will request suppliers of leafy greens – lettuce, spinach and other greens to join its food-tracking Blockchain by the 31st of January 2019. In addition farmers, logistics firms and business partners have been mandated to join blockchain by 30 September 2019. This could be a turning point on the use of blockchain in the tracking of food and also in the food retail industry. This directives comes after 18 months of testing the blockchain system to trace berries, mangoes, chickens and other foods on the IBM Food Trust blockchain. Walmart joins other...
In a recent press release, UN Women and the World Food Programmw (WFP)have announced that they are breaking new ground by using blockchain to assist Syrian refugee women participating in UN Women’s cash for work programmes at the Za’atari and Azraq refugee camps in Jordan. Before adopting this technology, WFP has been doing cash transfer to refugees via third-party financial service providers such as banks. However, through blockchain, UN women and WFP are exploring the possibility of providing female refugee with cash back at WFP-contracted supermarkets or pay for thier purchases directly...
Blockchain or distributed ledger technologies are relatively new technologies and have been adopted in a number of sectors. The recent ICT update explains what blockchains are and their applications in agriculture. The most appealing aspect of this technology is its focus on trust, transparency of transactions, immutability and incorruptibility of transactions, low operating and transactional costs and distributed governance in a large network. In light of these reasons, one of the article cites the following applications in agriculture Value Chain Blockchains can allow consumers to track and...
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) have published a new book on the application of Blockchain in the Agri-food industry. The publication comes after the spread of Blockchains application in a number of industries and sectors. Distributed ledger Technologies (DLTs) are poised to transform the global food industry and also the humanitarian work in food and agriculture. Some low hanging gains on the use of blockchain technology are efficiency gains along value chains, and improving trust, transparency and...
Image credit : FAO/ART Project In Rwanda, one main constraint limiting the development of the potato value chain is related to a lack of reliable information on the prices of potatoes and quantities available in the market which makes forecasting costs of processors difficult, a constraint which is outside the direct control of the firm. Furthermore, the impact of climate change is putting unprecedented stress and threats on the livelihoods of potato farmers in north-western districts of the country. Reducing climatic risks require robust and innovative tools that can help producers and...
An audio-visual podcast by MicroSave provides an insight into how Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML) and drone technology have a potential to improve access to finance for smallholder farmers in East Africa. MicroSave is an international financial inclusion consulting firm operating in eleven offices across Asia and Africa. While strengthening the capacity of local institutions, the firm designs and implement market-led solutions for financial services and most importantly designs a variety of financial inclusion models. In the above referred podcast entitled, “ Drones...
The conference aims to foster an exchange among stakeholders on knowledge and best practices regarding the interfaces between agriculture, youth employment, entrepreneurship, ICT innovations, leading to prioritizing interventions going forward.
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.
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 conference aims to foster an exchange among stakeholders on knowledge and best practices regarding the interfaces between agriculture, youth employment, entrepreneurship, ICT innovations, leading to prioritizing interventions going forward.
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.