15th Infopoverty World Conference

Speaking Points

Ms Sharon Brennen-Haylock,

Director, FAO Liaison Office, New York

 

15th Infopoverty World Conference, 9-10 April 2015

United Nations, Conference Room 12

 

“Next Sustainable Development Goals: the challenge before the digital era”

 

E-Agriculture and ICTs Play Critical Role in Food Security, Rural Development and Eradication of Poverty

 

First of all, let me thank OCCAM, InfoPoverty and its partners for inviting the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to participate in this important discussion.  We have participated in the InfoPoverty conferences for quite a few years, and it has always been a rewarding experience to do so.

 

I also bring greetings from the FAO Director General, Jose Graziano da Silva, who is of the view that ICTs have an important role in achieving food security and eliminating hunger.  Indeed, under his leadership of FAO our work on ICTs has grown significantly. Much of this work has been done with various partners.

 

E-agriculture, ICTs and their applications in agriculture and rural development – can offer enormous support in combating hunger and malnutrition, building resilience and reducing food waste and losses.

 

FAO has been actively involved in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) from the outset. In fact, even before the WSIS 2003, FAO promoted the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for agriculture and food security, with a focus on rural communities and vulnerable populations.

 

Since the 2005 Tunis meeting, solid progress has been made in making ICTs available to farmers, rural communities, fisher folk and fishing communities and foresters providing them with up-to-date and reliable information to improve their livelihoods.  In areas where Internet connectivity remains challenging, mobile devices have enabled rural stakeholders to leverage these technologies to their advantage.

 

What this means for example is that we:

 

• Facilitated Governments in making E-Agriculture part of national ICT strategies.

• Fostered collaboration and knowledge sharing in agriculture via electronic communities of practice.

• Promoted the creation and adaptation of content including in local languages and contexts from reliable and trusted sources, including, to ensure equitable and timely access to agricultural knowledge by resource-poor men and women farmers, foresters and fisher folk in rural areas.

• Fostered digital literacy of institutions and communities in rural and remote areas taking into consideration local needs and constraints by providing appropriate learning opportunities for all which will enhance individual and collective decision making skills.

• Promoted the use of ICTs to reinforce the resilience capacity of states, communities and individuals to mitigate and adapt to natural and man-made disasters, food chain challenges, socio-economic and other crises, conflicts and transboundary threats, diseases, and environmental damages.

• Promoted public-private partnerships in cooperation with relevant CSOs/NGOs, cooperatives, farmer organizations, academia, research institutions in the agricultural sector (which also includes forestry and fishery) for inclusive, efficient, affordable and sustainable ICT services and initiatives in agriculture and rural development which will promote the wide scale use of ICT and foster sustainable agri-business models.

 

A few concrete examples of how E-agriculture and ICTs are being used:

 

• Pertaining to Value Chain - African Cashew Initiative (Ghana): Ghana is one of the five countries where the Initiative is promoting integration of cashew farmers in the value chain. Ghanaian cashew nut farmers are testing a smartphone app that improves efficiency in the supply chain.

• Pertaining to Forestry - Global Forest Watch: This project by the World Resources Institute aims at enhancing forest management systems and increasing public awareness by providing reliable, timely and open-access information about the status of forests worldwide. From the Web site www.globalforestwatch.org, users have access to a real-time mapping application which is based on satellite technology, open data and crowdsourcing. In addition to the real-time world maps, users can download, analyse and share forest data (disaggregated by country and area).

• Pertaining to Capacity Building - Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA), in partnership with national and international development agencies, organized a series of five-day training events (based on cost-sharing) in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific regions. These events are designed to raise awareness and stimulate the adoption of Web2.0 and social media learning

 

There is a robust E-agriculture community, facilitated by FAO that was launched in 2007 with 14 founding partners.  It now has more than 12 200 registered members, from 170 countries and territories.  Full use of all types of media is made to promote the work of E-agriculture, including social media, where we have 24 online forums, in collaboration with 60 Forum Partners.

 

The E-Agriculture community of practice was the winner of WSIS Project Prize 2012.

 

While substantial progress has been made in making ICTs available and accessible for rural, fishing and forestry communities, challenges remain in a number of critical areas, such as:

 

• Content, where issues of adaptation of content to local needs, languages and contexts remains challenging.

• Capacity development –how to strengthen the three dimensions: the enabling environment, the organizational capacity and individual’s capacity.

• The high price of access to ICTs (broadband and mobile services) in some countries which can be a barrier for most vulnerable groups, such as women, youth, older farmers and people living in most remote areas.

• Gender and diversity, where access and opportunities are not distributed equitably among users, creating asymmetries that must be addressed with specific policies targeting the source of the inequalities.

• In general equitable access and participation to ICTs is needed.

• Partnerships - Public-private partnerships are recognized as a critical factor in sustainable business models at the community level, but these do not always have to be with large corporate firms; small, local private companies, local producer organizations and community-based NGOs often have the social capital to provide trusted information and good quality services.

• Technologies – where we need to identify the right mix of technologies that are suitable to local needs and contexts.

• Economic, social and environmental sustainability - Scaling up pilot ICT projects to reach millions of smallholder farmers and identifying sustainable business models are still challenges.

 

In the new development agenda, data has already been identified as one of the important areas where work is needed to achieve the new goals.  Modern ICTs can play a crucial role in bridging information gaps for the vast number of people living on less than US$2 per day. The information needs of farmers increase as they have to make more complex decisions on land use, crop selection, choice of markets and other areas that impact the livelihoods of their families and communities. Having access to the right information at the right time and in the right form is no longer a luxury; it is a necessity essential for making informed decisions on critical issues. Indeed, agriculture is becoming increasingly knowledge intensive. This is most important for resource-poor farmers, foresters and fisher folk who live in rural areas. 

 

FAO will continue to promote the use of ICTs to reinforce the resilience capacity of states, communities and individuals. With the support of our partners, we will continue to foster collaboration and knowledge sharing, including through the e-Agriculture Community of Practice.

 

https://twitter.com/e_agriculture