1000 Digital Villages technical conference and exchange organised by FAO brought together delegates from Latin America and the Caribbean
In the framework of the project "Response and recovery to the impact of Covid19 in rural areas and food systems in the countries of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, through South-South Cooperation, a new "1000 Digital Villages Technical and Exchange Day" was held on 24 October.
Family farmers
©FAO
Santiago de Chile- In the framework of the project "Response and recovery to the impact of Covid19 in rural areas and food systems in the countries of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, through South-South Cooperation, a new "1000 Digital Villages Technical and Exchange Day" was held on 24 October.
The event was designed to strengthen the digitalisation knowledge of various focal points designated by the Ministries of Agriculture of Chile, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Cuba, Panama, Suriname, Uruguay and Trinidad and Tobago; and to advance in the relationship with the governments considering their perspective for the generation of work plans in each country.
The activity showcased the experience of the Ecuadorian team in the context of the "1000 Digital Villages" initiative and presented the methodologies and working criteria applied for the diagnostic phase of the project to create a digital ecosystem.
Development of the event
After taking the floor, Ximena Quezada, expert in rural development and project management, explained that the "1000 Digital Villages" initiative seeks to contribute to the digital transformation of rural territories and agri-food systems.
"In the rural world, users are looking to go digital, despite the difficulties of connectivity. Economic activity and entrepreneurship are the driving forces behind this need for digital tools", said Quezada, who assured that "digitalisation strategies must be approached progressively, providing connectivity, intelligent equipment and basic and advanced digital capacities".
For the expert, it is essential for the success of this task to "consider the digital ecosystem, the strategic context, governance and the work route".
The diagnostic process in Ecuador was presented by Natalia Molina, who first contextualised the "Andean Landscapes" project and its role in the "1000 Digital Villages" initiative.
"Then, territories were pre-selected according to these criteria and in a second stage, more detailed evaluation activities were carried out, defining a specific pilot area. The working methodology was presented and the main advantages and disadvantages of its application were shown, taking into account the interaction of different actors and limitations of working time or available information," Molina explained.
Subsequently, the coordinator of digitalisation initiatives of the Ministry of Agriculture of Chile, Héctor Oyarce, explained that the priority of his country's government is focused on areas that lack connectivity and detailed the work being done to improve the existing gaps.
In this sense, the specialist Leonel Tapia, technical coordinator of the project for FAO, took the floor, who emphasised the importance of having "a practical analysis of the connectivity and skills gaps of the target population, as well as understanding what resources will be needed for both training and equipment and the need for complementarity with the State for the implementation, which is expected to be carried out in 2023".