The International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the Dutch Knowledge Platform on Inclusive Development Policies, and the International Labour Organization ( ILO) have launched a call for concept notes for research to boost decent employment for young African men and women. The call supports action-oriented research that will help design effective and innovative interventions to develop soft skills and digital skills among youth and offer apprenticeships and mentorships in Africa. Nested within the Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth, the call aims to provide key insights,...
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 20th and 21st of August was a hive of activity at the Kigali Conference Centre, where the youth from more than 40 countries, their ministers, government officials and international developmental partners led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations participated in the youth in employment conference. This conference was co-organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (Republic of Rwanda), the Food and Agriculture Organization and the African Union (AU). The conference comes as facts indicate that over 60% of Africa’s estimated 1,2 billion people are...
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 e-Agriculture Community is invited to participate to the ‘ Youth Employment in Africa as a Solid Solution to ending Hunger and Poverty in Africa ’ online discussion hosted on FSN Forum Africa. Members in Africa and/or who work or are knowledgeable to the issues under debate are welcome to participate. The discussion is part of the conference " Youth Employment in Agriculture as a Solid Solution to ending Hunger and Poverty in Africa: Engaging through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and Entrepreneurship ". This online discussion is held to collect views around the three...
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 Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA) has announced the 26 finalists for the Pitch AgriHack 2018, where the 53% of the finalists are companies led by women founders or co-founders . The Pitch AgriHack was launched by CTA with the support of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and in collaboration with the African Green Revolution Forum (AGRA), Women in Tech Africa , Wennovation Hub (Nigeria) and Suguba Africa. The 2018 edition was held under the theme, Women entrepreneurs innovate for agricultural transformation in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. The final...
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.
Small holder farmers are increasingly being exposed to loss of crop due to climate related risks caused by climate change. In this light, Weather Based Crop Insurance Schemes (WBCIS) were created with an intention to provide protection to the farmers against adverse weather incidence. When a disaster strikes, one important aspect is assessing the loss at farm level. Can technology help, well we just learnt that the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) has developed WheatCam, a picture-based insurance (PBI) app that farmers can download on their smartphones. The Indian...
News Release as published on FAO Website 25 June 2018, Rome - The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization and Pennsylvania State University joined forces to develop and launch an innovative, talking app - Nuru - to help African farmers recognize Fall Armyworm, a new and fast-spreading crop pest in sub-Saharan Africa, so that they can take immediate steps to destroy it and curb its spread. Fall Armyworm first appeared in Africa in 2016, in West Africa, and then rapidly spread across all countries in sub-Saharan Africa in 2017, infecting millions of hectares of maize, and threatening...
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.
