Agriculture
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At the 2012 G-8 Summit, G-8 leaders committed to the , the next phase of a shared commitment to achieving global food security. As part of this commitment, they agreed to “share relevant agricultural data available from G-8 countries with African partners and convene an international conference on Open Data for Agriculture, to develop options for the establishment of a global platform to make reliable agricultural and related information available to African farmers, researchers and policymakers, taking into account existing agricultural data systems.” [1] Obtain commitment and action from nations and relevant stakeholders to promote policies and invest in projects that open access to publicly funded global agriculturally relevant data streams, making such data readily accessible to users in Africa and world-wide, and ultimately supporting a sustainable increase in food security in developed and developing countries.
G8 Open Data for Agriculture
The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) has published the “Information and Communication Management (ICM) - Strategy Development: (i) Faciltators’ Manual and (ii) User's Guide”. The Guide and Manual have been developed to meet a need expressed by agriculture and rural development organisations in African, Pacific and Caribbean (ACP) countries highlighted in the needs assessment studies conducted from 2003-2012 by CTA . The Guide & Manual primarily aim to meet the need for building ICM strategy development skills of agriculture and rural development organisations in ACP countries. These organisations range from small NGOs to medium-sized organisations, to large government departments or research institutes. The suggestions the publications contains can be adapted to local conditions.
Building ICM strategy development skills of agriculture and rural development organisations in ACP countries
[News] The CGIAR programme on Policies, institutions and markets launched its Agrifood Chain Toolkit yesterday. There are too few links existing between value chain researchers and value chain practitioners.
Launch of the CGIAR Agrifood chain toolkit
What role for ICT after 2015? We encourage the e-Agriculture Community of Practice to participate in this e-Consultation . Sharing your thoughts and experience will insure that good practices in the use of ICTs for food and nutrition security are recognized, and taken into account for the elaboration of a post 2015 global development agenda. As the target date for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) approaches, a number of processes have been put in place to seek inputs from country, regional and global levels, to the “Post-2015 Development Agenda and Fr amework” .
e-Consultation on Hunger, Food and Nutrition Security
Webinar: Mobile Finance in Agricultural Value Chains on Monday, November 26th | ICT to Enhance Impact of Agriculture Development
This event already happened. To watch a recording, visit https://ictforag.adobeconnect.com/_a1140345908/p1vqvjasiv8/ Overview USAID's FACET project is hosting a webinar that will look at how mobile finance (mobile money, mobile banking and mobile phone based applications) is changing the understanding of value chain finance and the benefits it can bring to all stakeholders along the value chain, specifically agribusinesses and unbanked smallholder farmers.[News] Project 17 is strategically situated to bridge the agriculture and technology gap, due to its proximity with Silicon Valley and the research institutions in the region like the University of California at Davis’s agricultural research programs. The Monterey Bay area grows leafy greens, artichokes, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and strawberries, among other products. The Project 17 Agricultural Technology cluster was created in 2010 and aims to support the growth of agricultural industry and technologies that advance higher-paying agricultural jobs, national food security, food and agricultural-technology exports and investment in agriculture and advanced agricultural technologies in the region of the Monterrey Bar Area. Project 17 is part of a two-year-old Small Business Administration pilot program designed to spark innovation and get small businesses growing again.
An Agricultural Tech Cluster in Monterrey Bay, California
My name is Andrea Jimenez, and I am currently an Intern with the e-Agriculture team, based at FAO headquarters in Rome, Italy. A few months ago I supported the e-Agriculture Community as a volunteer, working remotely from London, ( here are my first thoughts ) and now I will be assisting with the facilitation of the English and Spanish interfaces of the e-Agriculture Community. I have recently completed a Master's degree in Sustainable Development with a focus in Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D) at Royal Holloway University of London.
Andrea Jimenez- New intern in the e-Agriculture team
Second Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD2)
[Event] From 29/10/2012 to 01/11/2012 Location: Punta del Este, Uruguay GCARD2 will focus on the ways to implement the tasks identified in the GCARD RoadMap with special attention to "Foresight and partnership for innovation and impact on small-holder livelihoods". Find the programme and read more at http://www.egfar.org/gcard-2012 See also the GCARD2 Uruguayan website at http://www.gcard2012.uy
¡Da una voz a la juventud a GCARD2 a través de los medios sociales! | YPARD
Involucra a los jóvenes en la GCARD2! ¿Has oído hablar de la Segunda Conferencia Mundial sobre Investigación Agrícola para el Desarrollo (GCARD 2) que se celebrará en Punta del Este, Uruguay, entre el 29 de octubre y el 1 de noviembre 2012? La GCARD 2 se centrará en las formas de implementar las tareas identificadas en una hoja de ruta de la GCARD que busca mejorar la investigación agrícola para el desarrollo, con atención especial a la prospección, las alianzas y la creación de capacidades para la innovación y su impacto en los medios de vida de los pequeños propietarios. El propósito de la conferencia es construir una sólida cooperación en torno a agendas clave de futuro, basadas en los avances y lecciones aprendidas de la experiencia, y planificar acciones conjuntas entre todas las partes interesadas. Descubre más sobre GCARD2 .Emerging voices in ICT and agriculture in the ACP (New publication)
The new booklet published by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA ACP-EU) features 20 young people and three organizations, that have been involved in the CTA youth project called ARDYIS (Agriculture Rural Development and Youth in the Information Society). In addition to portraying authors and highlighting their perspectives on youth involvement in agriculture using ICTs, the document presents summaries of best essays submitted for the contest « Youth finding solutions to challenges in agriculture and rural development using ICTs! », organised in 2010; it also presents the results of the Youth in Agriculture Blog Competition (YoBloCo Awards) completed in 2012. Submissions received demonstrated that many young people are ready to strengthen their involvement in agriculture and are using ICTs to contribute to enhance it.
Highlights of Question 1 - Forum on ICTs for Agricultural Innovation Systems
Today, Thursday 20th September, is the fourth day of the ongoing Online Forum " Using ICT to enable Agricultural Innovation Systems for smallholders " and the discussion continues to benefit from the active participation of people in over 100 countries. The first question, "What ICT innovations are being used for farmers to access and exchange the information they need, and for service providers to provide information to farmers?" has received ample feedback. I have started a summary of the various innovations mentioned by participants.Getting Youth involved at the GCARD2! Have you ever heard about the Second Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development (GCARD 2) to be held in Punta del Este, Uruguay, 29 October – 1 November 2012? The GCARD 2 will focus on the ways to implement the tasks identified in the GCARD RoadMap for enhancing agricultural research for development, with special attention to foresight, partnership and capacity building for innovation and impact on small-holder livelihoods . The purpose of the conference is to build strong cooperation around key forward-looking agendas , based on progress and lessons learned from experience, and plan joint actions among all stakeholders. Learn more about GCARD2 .
Give a Youth voice at GCARD2 through Social Media! | YPARD
Youth perceptions on agriculture and ICT - Express your views on Twitter this week
[News] The FANRPAN Annual High Level Regional Food Security Policy Dialogue will be held this September in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania with the theme "From Policy to Practice: Advocating for the Active Engagement of Youth in Agriculture Value Chains" . As part of this event, six Country Case Studies conducted by youth representatives will be synthesised into a Regional Report, that will give an overview of the current situation, identifying gaps and better target interventions. The role of ICT should be highlighted as an important element for youth and agriculture during the event. Here is an opportunity for you to share your own thoughts and experiences about ICT, youth and agriculture. J oin the Twitter campaign (a Tweetchat) that FANRPAN is running from 1 to 31 August.Hot on the heels of our recent story about Abbey Parks’ i-Grow program in the UK comes word of another remote farming offering, this time in Bulgaria. Now gearing up for its official launch, Farmhopping is a network of operating farms that users can part-own and manage using an interactive web platform. Targeting both would-be virtual farmers and already-operating real-world farmers with sustainable farms to share, Farmhopping allows users to buy animals online from its network of farms around the world. Then, as owners of the animals, they get to make key farm-management decisions such as when to milk the animals or sell their wool, for example, and whether to keep or sell to other users the young animals that are born over the course of the year. Farmhopping features a game-like interface that teaches about farm management through an interactive and engaging routine based on farming activities carried out in the real world.