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...
The E-agriculture Solutions Forum 2018 was held from 15 to 17 November 2018 and was organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The meeting was hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the P.R. of China and in partnership with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Engineering (CAAE). This edition of the forum (read about previous solution here ) saw more than 250 participants from 40 countries and about 50 speakers in attendance from the agriculture and the ICT sector who are involved in developing and...
ITU invites interested authors to submit papers to be considered for the third issue of the publication " Capacity Building in a Changing ICT Environment 2019 ". The ITU online publication “Capacity Building in a Changing ICT Environment”, which is released annually, puts together scholarly articles with a focus on capacity building and skills development in the digital era. It covers a wide range of topics related to the ongoing discussions on how digital technologies are transforming job markets, determining new skills sets requirements and driving the digital economy requirements for re-...
On the sidelines of the International Symposium on Agricultural Innovation for Family Farming , FAO also hosted the Digital Innovation Youth Entrepreneurship Workshop which saw young entrepreneurs who won the #HackAgainstHunger/Africa participating. Below we share one of the innovation stories entitled “ How drones and smartphones are helping Ugandan farmers save their crops from pests and diseases ’ The Situation: Known as the “pearl of Africa”, the Republic of Uganda’s fertile soils and favourable climate conditions have contributed to the country’s success in agriculture - a sector that...
International Innovation Award for Sustainable Food and Agriculture The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Government of Switzerland have announced the call for nominations for the 1st International Innovation Award for the Sustainable Food and Agriculture. The call is targeted at individuals, private companies or institutions to submit a nomination for the following categories before the 28th of February 2019: Award for Digitalization and Innovation for Sustainable Food Systems (USD 40 000) – Innovations that impact more than one level of the supply chain and strengthen the link...
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,...
On Monday 19 November 2018, FAO is organizing a workshop on “ The development of a national e-agriculture strategy for Armeni a” within the framework of the EU-funded FAO project “ ENPARD Technical Assistance to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Armenia ”. The workshop will provide the opportunity to understand how Armenia can develop its national e-agriculture strategy. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have long been recognized as key enablers for bridging the digital divide and achieving the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic growth,...
The High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation has announced a call for contributions where they are seeking inputs from individuals, government, academic/research groups and various stakeholders to supply contributions that are to inform its deliberations and development of actionable recommendations for the report. Submissions should reflect one or the following aspects of digital cooperation:- what values and principles should underpin cooperation in the digital realm; how can stakeholders cooperate more effectively in the digital realm, including how can marginalized stakeholders be included...
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Member States have approved at new resolution that consolidate ITU’s mandate on matters relating to digital financial inclusion , reports ITU . The except of the news can be read below “Two billion adults worldwide do not have a bank account, but among them, 1.6 billion have a mobile phone. Developing countries are capitalizing on the widespread use of mobile phones and information and communication technologies (ICTs) to bring all people within reach of financial services and out of poverty. Digital financial services show great potential to...
