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...
An interesting article appeared in The Guardian and reports that Dutch scientists say they can create millions of bee-like drones to take over if the insects die out. This comes at a timely moment when bees and other pollinators are reported to be under threat. In a recent report the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations noted that “present species extinction rates are 100 to 1 000 times higher than normal due to human impacts”. The solution of robotic bees by scientists at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands is an example of using ICTs to tackle world’s...
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...
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...
Youth Employment in Agriculture as a Solid Solution to ending Hunger and Poverty in Africa conference started on a high note in Kigali, Uganda with key participation from the government of Rwanda, African Union (AU) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The conference brings a number of stakeholders with an interest in creating employment in agriculture and exploring how the ICTs can also be used. The conference is structured with discussions, exhibitions, and hackathons and networking sessions, see the conference page for more information The e-Agriculture, is part of the FAO...
The 14th International Conference on Precision Agriculture is being held in Montreal, QC Canada and is organised by the International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) which is a non-profit professional scientific organization. The final Oral and Poster programs are posted on the 14th ICPA...
The Issue No.189 of the SPORE magazine is now available and if focuses on the ICT4Ag start-ups as avenues to build better E-Agribusiness. Within the African, Caribbean and the Pacific countries young people have shown an enthusiasm for innovation in ICTs for Agriculture (ICT4Ag). There is a burning urge by young people to use ICTs to solve agriculture problems or to improve agricultural productivity. Highlights of SPORE Magazine This current edition of the SPORE magazine overviews some innovation and ICT solutions in the region, and these include: The Feed Calculator – a Dutch firm (Single...
Nevena Alexandrova , is the Agricultural Research and Biotechnology Officer based in the Regional Office for Europe and Central Asia (REU). Nevena has worked in support to FAO’s agricultural innovation and knowledge sharing and believes all farmers deserve a chance to use technology to improve their productivity and thereby fighting hunger and malnutrition. Recently, FAO together with the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the Bulgarian Ministry of Agriculture and the Institute for Agrostrategies and Innovation organized the “2gether 4 Strong Digital Agriculture ” (...
The ICT4D conference agenda has been published and with a number of presentation and talks in ICTs for Agriculture and the environment, browse the full programme here . The conference has more than 200 panels, keynotes, case studies, and workshops in core ICT4D disciplines. The agenda is rich with a variety of topics, some of the exciting topics for e-Agriculture CoP include:- Digital Agriculture: Scale and Sustainability through Government Partnership and Ownership Driving Digital and Financial Inclusion that leaves no one behind From Satellites to stalk borers: using earth observation to...
For commercial agriculture to succeed, an investment into cash crops and investing in traditional agriculture is essential, also using information and communication technology (ICT). Mountain Hazelnuts is a company established with funding from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank , to develop innovative uses of ICT for its commercial agriculture operations. The company has helped farmers integrate ICTs within each step of the Mountain Hazelnuts business model. Furthermore, about 150 staff provide extension support to farmers and also use smart phones and ICTs to communicate with...
The 14th International Conference on Precision Agriculture is being held in Montreal, QC Canada and is organised by the International Society of Precision Agriculture (ISPA) which is a non-profit professional scientific organization. The final Oral and Poster programs are posted on the 14th ICPA...
