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...
In this blog post, Ajit Maru describes all the requirements an ICT product has to have to be usable for the farmer: the hardware, the software, connectivity, skills, content, security and safety in use, privacy and a profitable and productive environment. But, he points out, some problems can rise up: for example, in many countries women are frowned upon or even prohibited to have a smartphone. Another problem is the cost: for a smallholder farmer in India earning about INR 60.000 per year, a smartphone costs no less than INR 5.000, and connectivity costs around INR 100 per month. According...
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will strenghten their partnership to boost the the usage of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in agricultural development and by doing so, supporting the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals . FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva and ITU Secretary General Houlin Zhao signed on September 18th in New York a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote the development of e-Agriculture policies...
"Empower women and girls through digital technology" was the call to action in the high-level multi-stakeholder meeting of EQUALS Partners that took place on 16 September in New York City on the eve of United Nations General Assembly meetings. EQUALS is a global initiative founded by a network partnership of businesses, governments, non-profit organizations, foundations, academia, media and individuals around the world working together to bridge the digital gender divide. The main areas of work of EQUALS are: Addressing the divide between men and women’s access to digital tech resources...
The Youth Ag- Summit Date October 8–12, 2017 Location Brussels, Belgium Description During the Summit, delegates share their diverse experiences and work together to generate innovative, sustainable and actionable solutions to global food security challenges. Across five days, they undertake group...
The flagship report," The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2017 " was launched on the 15th of September 2017 at FAO headquarters by FAO,IFAD, WFP, UNICEF and WHO, which marked an expanded partnership than the previous years. The major finding of the report is that after a prolonged decline, estimates indicate that global hunger increased in 2016 and affected 815 million people, and in some parts of the world hunger levels rose sharply - for example, with a famine declared in areas such as South Sudan in early 2017 and will alerts issued in northeast Nigeria, Somalia and Yemen...
Esoko, the platform that sends market prices and agricultural tips to farmers will soon retire its brand. After having begun with professional tips sent to farmers through SMS, the Esoko team started to explore innovations on mobile finance for smallholder farmers. In November 2016, Esoko developed a mobile commerce platform that allows farmers to save and borrow toward the purchase of inputs and to sell their crops. Two very different products were now developed, and the team started to face the first challenges. "Our limited management resources were being stretched thin and neither...
The-Agriculture would like to know from you what you know about the Principles for Digital Development and how they are applied when using ICTs for agriculture and rural development. Would you be interested to learn more about the principles, examples of their application and the difficulties in applying them and how to overcome them, and where to find resources? Let us know by filling in this short survey and we will use your replies to organize an activity on the topic on our platform! Looking forward to hear from you what you already know about the principles and what you would like to...
Wikifarmer is the greatest user generated online farming library. Its mission is to help all farmers across the globe to find valuable information regarding their existing or potential crops and livestock. Through the information it provides, Wikifarmer aims to give practical solutions to farmers. Contributions can be provided from professional or amateur farmers, beekepers, gardeners and professors sharing their knowledge and best practices. Users can submit a new article, edit an existing article, add pictures or videos, request a new article, ask a question about a related issue, or just...
eLearning Africa 2017, which will take place in Mauritius from 27 to 29 of September, is Africa's largest and most comprehensive knowledge sharing event on ICTs for development, education and training. Attendees will be able to learn about the latest trends in technology education and training and meet the most important ICT related decision-makers and practicioners. eLearning Africa will host African participants working in education, technology and development. This year, eLearning Africa will partner with UNESCO to celebrate the International Day for Universal Access to Information (IDUAI...
The Youth Ag- Summit Date October 8–12, 2017 Location Brussels, Belgium Description During the Summit, delegates share their diverse experiences and work together to generate innovative, sustainable and actionable solutions to global food security challenges. Across five days, they undertake group...