Evidence have shown that technology has the potential to improve agricultural productivity. Specifically ICTs can help governments and developmental organizations to enhance food security and improve rural livelihoods through both knowledge and skills transfer. In most cases also improve the capacities of communities in agricultural productivity, pests control and easier access to markets. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) adopts innovations in information and communication technology (ICT) for agriculture and rural development. In a recent article by its President,...
The FAO Technical Network on Sustainable Crop Production and Agroecology will hold a Seminar on FAO’s Farmer Field Schools programme and Global Platform on Wednesday in FAO HQ with remote participation online at http://www.fao.org/webcast/en/ . All interested e-Agriculture CoP members can participate remotely The Farmer Field Schools (FFS) was pioneered by FAO in 1989 as an approach to integrated pest management in rice production in Asia. The advantage of the FFS is that they offer a hands-on learning that allows agricultural knowledge to be applied to promote sustainable agriculture...
GFAR recently announced a series of webinars on farmers' rights to data and this is a follow-up to the face-to-face course on Farmers Access to Data that was held in Centurion (Pretoria), South Africa in November 2017. According to the GFAR website ,the webinars will be co-convened together with GODAN and CTA and will be conducted by the very same trainers who so successfully handled the course in Centurion: Dan Berne, Stephen Kalyesubula, Nicolene Fourie and Anneliza Collett. The two webinars will be held on the 22 and 28 February at 4pm CET , and a recording of each respective webinar will...
African Union publishes a Decision EX . CL/Dec. 986-1007 (XXXII), the Executive Council of the African Union (AU), requests the AU and Member States to harness drones for agriculture as one of three emerging technologies of relevance for African development. The recently held African Union saw its Executive Council of the African Union requesting the AU and Member States to harness drones for agriculture. Drones or the Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been in existence for decades and initially used in the military. Today drones have permeated the development world and has been applied in...
This two-day business forum is designed to provide leading discussion and debate around how to leverage technology, climate-smart agriculture and cross-sector collaborations to improve sustainable farming, deliver against company objectives and balance positive impact for farmers, businesses and...
A review of research on how information services based on mobile phone technology can improve the lives of smallholder farmers has found only patchy evidence of success. The study conducted through an exploratory literature review focused on the impact of mobile phone-enabled services on farmers. They looked at 23 studies of such services in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The study was conducted against a commonly held notion that these services hold a promise for developing world farmers and that these mobile services can improve their yields. Mobile phone services for farmers covered...
Does your agricultural ministry still use paper for filing documents and submissions? How can technology help? The e-service support to farmers in Latvia is a good example of how technology can help in these situations. The Electronic Application System (EAS) of the Rural Support Service of the Republic of Latvia was created to electronically submit different types of applications for EU and Latvia’s state support for agriculture, fisheries, forestry, rural areas development, fishermen and rural entrepreneurs. The EAS system held in administration of the ministry and the implementation of...
This two-day business forum is designed to provide leading discussion and debate around how to leverage technology, climate-smart agriculture and cross-sector collaborations to improve sustainable farming, deliver against company objectives and balance positive impact for farmers, businesses and...