In sub-Saharan Africa, smallholder farmers are vulnerable to risks associated with changing weather patterns. In Uganda, the SUM-Africa project provides satellite based drought Index Insurance to protect farmers. The SUM-Africa project is supported by the G4AW program of Netherlands Space Office (NSO) and recently a Dutch Company (EARS) signed a long term contract with Uganda Agro Insurance Consortium (AIC) to continue this service. What are agricultural index insurance? Agricultural index insurance products are linked to an index, such as temperature, rainfall, crop yield or...
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 Secretariat of the High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation has shared the Digital Cooperation Survey to interested persons to gather views on how to improve digital cooperation across sectors and regions. The surveys comes after the widespread use of digital technologies across regions and disciplines. The preamble acknowledges that ‘digital technologies have enabled profound changes in societies around the world, empowering people, allowing them to communicate cheaply, and spurring new businesses’. The survey calls participation from, individuals, governments, the private sector, civil...
The Humanitarian Hackathon is a two-day event, taking place in Egmont Palace. It is designed to create technology-driven solutions for the most pressing humanitarian challenges. International and Belgian humanitarian organisations, donors, large companies, startups, scientists and engineers will be...
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...
The EIP-AGRI seminar “ Multi-level strategies for digitising agriculture and rural areas ” roared into life today and seeks to provide a platform that will stimulate debate on digitisation of agriculture and rural areas – combining European, national, regional and local levels. This event is organised by the EIP-AGRI network with the contribution of the European Network for Rural Development and of the Broadband Competencies Offices Network and is supported by the Flemish Rural Network . The seminar is held in Antwerp, Belgium starting today, Wednesday 12th of December and concluded on the...
Perhaps the name sounds negative, but not until you dig deeper. The rate of technology change has affected many people, processes and sectors. With regards to agriculture, our colleagues published an article, ' digital disruption in agriculture ’. They premise that, the pace of digital disruption over the last two decades has been breathtaking, transforming every sector of the global economy, including agriculture. By using diverse technologies – smartphones, GPS, satellite imagery, big data, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things – farmers can optimize crop growth and farm...
The FAO headquarters in Rome was this morning abuzz with delegates and participants to the much anticipated International Symposium on Agricultural Innovation for Family Farmers , which runs from the 21st to the 23rd of November 2018. The theme of this symposium is ‘unlocking the potential of agricultural innovation to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals ”. This theme was chosen amidst the global challenges facing the world which have affected the sustainability of food and agricultural systems, affecting livelihoods of millions of family farmers worldwide. Hence, innovation is the...
In 2018, FAO launched multiple open innovation challenge to find high-potential digital solutions to address challenges faced by food and agriculture and improve livelihoods. Participants benefited from the specific know-how and skill sets of FAO and private sector experts in IT development, food and agriculture, business model canvas and pitching, culminating in a final pitch sessions and awards for the most innovative, scalable, impactful and financially sustainable start-ups or solutions. From 19-20 August, 24 entrepreneurs, 8 teams across 7 countries in Africa came together in Kigali,...
A one-size-fits-all approach to agricultural finance and insufficient resources make it difficult for smallholder farmers to become profitable, despite the pivotal role they play in agricultural production. Over the last four years, Grameen Foundation and Musoni Microfinance Kenya have built a...
The Humanitarian Hackathon is a two-day event, taking place in Egmont Palace. It is designed to create technology-driven solutions for the most pressing humanitarian challenges. International and Belgian humanitarian organisations, donors, large companies, startups, scientists and engineers will be...
A one-size-fits-all approach to agricultural finance and insufficient resources make it difficult for smallholder farmers to become profitable, despite the pivotal role they play in agricultural production. Over the last four years, Grameen Foundation and Musoni Microfinance Kenya have built a...