e-Agriculture Newsletter June, 2017
FOCUS ON e-FORUM ON ICTs AND OPEN DATA IN AGRICULTURE & NUTRITION and e-FORUM DISCUSSION ON THE AGRICULTURE OPEN DATA PACKAGE
In the month of June and July, the e-Agriculture platform will host two forum discussions, the first is the ‘e-forum on ICTs and Open Data in Agriculture and Nutrition’ and the second is the ‘e-forum discussion on the Agriculture Open Data Package’. These forums are open to any persons interested in the respective topics, in this leading article we provide a brief summary of each of these planned forums.In order to participate in any e-Agriculture forums one must be a registered member of e-Agriculture.
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e-Forum on ICTs and Open Data in Agriculture and Nutrition This online debate seeks to explore the interaction between the use of ICTs in agriculture and issues around open data in agriculture and nutrition. The debate will center on establishing what benefits accrue to farmers, especially family farmers, and the vulnerable groups such as the youth and women in developing countries when technology and open data intersects. To structure this debate three specific sub-questions are designed to pace the discussion, the first will look at the role ICTs play in using Open Data in Agriculture and Nutrition for family farmers, the second the case studies that demonstrate the benefits and dangers of using ICTs and Open Data, and thirdly the investments that are needed to reap open data benefits and measures that must be adopted to protect farmers from open data. This forum is organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with the Global Data on Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN);the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and the World Bank. e-Forum discussion on the GODAN Agriculture Open Data Package
In May 2016, a proposal for the AgPack was approved by the GODAN Charter Technical Working Group and later the beta version was developed by the GODAN network and Open Data Institute (ODI) in a participatory process of workshop, expert interviews and internet consultations. Hence the purpose of this discussion is to reach out to the e-Agriculture Community of Practice (CoP) and interested individuals to get feedback on the AgPack and its usability. The AgPack suggests 6 policy areas where open data can support the agricultural sector and identifies 14 data categories based on a participatory process with politicians, agricultural experts and the open data community. The AgPack also highlights 10 examples of open data in action demonstrating how governments are harnessing data to address sustainable agriculture and food security around the world. This forum discussion will be around three sections of AgPack,Open Data for Agriculture and Policy,Towards Open Data Infrastructure for Agriculture and,Implementation Issues. In each of these section, guiding questions have been prepared to structure the debate. The discussion will run from the 10 to 24 July 2017 as a continuation of the above forum. The feedback received from the participants will help fine-tune the AgPack ; providing the most useful resource possible for individuals and governments anywhere in their open data journey. |
The hypothesis of this discussion is that availability and accessibility of data through ICTs can offer more benefits for family farmers and rural communities by making them precise in their farming practices. An example of the successful open data use in agriculture includes utilizing open available weather data in agriculture to provide farmers with early warnings against adverse farming conditions and precautions. Yet despite the positive use of data, open data can harm and bring losses to some within a community – especially the economically, politically, socially and technologically weak and less powerful.
The second forum is also around open data. The Agriculture Open Data Package (AgPack) provides a roadmap for governments publishing open data that they have generated or collected.e-AGRICULTURE CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES
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The recordings for the past webinars are now available. Did you miss any of the sessions? Tune in to the recordings as shown below. The recordings are available in English, French and Spanish.
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e-FORUMS |
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As reported in the leading article two forums are up coming in the months of June and July, one after the other. Meanwhile, the summary report of forum - The role of ICTs for Sustainable Crop Production Intensification of Horticulture Crop-Based Systems - is now available. |
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Upcoming Forum Title: e-Forum on ICTs and Open Data in Agriculture and Nutrition Dates: 19 June to 14 July 2017 Organizers: FAO of the United Nations, WorldBank, GODAN and CTA |
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Upcoming Forum Title: e-Forum discussion on the Agriculture Open Data Package Dates: 10 July to 24 July 2017 Organizers: GODAN and FAO of the United Nations |
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Previous Forum Report The role of ICTs for Sustainable Crop Production Intensification of Horticulture Crop-Based Systems This discussion summary outlines the contributions made during the online discussion on the role of ICTs for Sustainable Crop Production Intensification (SCPI) of horticulture crop-based systems held from 6 March to 4 April 2017 on the e-Agriculture platform. The discussions brought together experts from different backgrounds, who shared their vision regarding three pre-designed questions. The forum was well received by the participants as evidenced by the quality and quantity of contributions submitted. It was widely acknowledged that, to sustainably increase horticulture crop production there is a need of embracing ICT, as it offers and promises a multitude of advantages for producing more with less as highlighted above. ICT, is just a part of the bigger puzzle, there is need to incorporate ICTs into the already existing integrated and innovative, save and grow practices for SCPI, which includes conservation agriculture, good agricultural practices, organic agriculture and integrated crop management. |
e-AGRICULTURE PARTNER'S NEWSThe following is a selection of the news and ICT activities from e-Agriculture partners. The full listing of e-Agriculture partners can be found here |
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World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) |
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Image credits: wsis
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The World Summit on the Information Society Forum (WSIS) 2017 Dates: 12 to 16 June 2017 Venue: Geneva, Switzerland. About this event: WSIS 2017 theme is 'Information and Knowledge Societies for SDGs', and is comprised of high-level tracks, special tracks and includes broader participation representing the Government, Private Sector, Civil Society, Academia and International Organizations. The World Summit on the Information Society Forum (WSIS) is a global multi-stakeholder platform facilitating the implementation of the WSIS Action Lines for advancing sustainable development. WSIS 2017 will serve as a key platform for discussing the role of ICTs as a means of implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and targets, with due regard to the global mechanism for follow-up and review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. read more
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| WSIS Agenda items related to e-Agriculture | |
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The following are a sample of e-agriculture related activities lined-up in the upcoming WSIS Forum 2017 introduced above:- Building capacity to leverage e-agriculture applications and services This session is co-hosted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) who are cooperating to promote the use of ICTs in agriculture.ICTs play a key role in supporting the achievement of SDG 2, in that ICTs provide access to digital information services and online education to farmers, extension agents, and many service providers in the agricultural production and delivery services within the value chain. read more Measurement of progress towards the SDGs through ICT indicators : Partnership on Measuring ICT for Development This session will highlight the measurement of progress towards the SDGs through ICT indicators, beyond the SDG Indicators Monitoring Framework.An initial mapping of ICT indicators to the SDGs based on the Partnership's core list of ICT indicators will be presented, followed by a country example. The presented indicators will be open to feedback from the WSIS stakeholders, during and after the WSIS Forum 2017. read more Action line C7: e-agriculture This session is facilitated by the FAO and ITU and is entitled, "Democratizing Digital Innovation in Agriculture". The session will detail the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can help many areas of rural development, food security and climate change. The panel discussion will bring together experts from the public and private sector and international organizations who will explore the opportunities to raise awareness about Digital Innovation on Agriculture. read more eKrishok: Making ICT Works for Agricultural Sector to Empower Farmers and Agro-SMEs The Bangladesh Institute of ICTs in Development (BIID) will share eKrishok experiences on how ICT can facilitate business development services to the farmers and agr-businesses, primarily small & medium sized enterprises and foster growth.A2I/PMO, Bangladesh will also present a brief on the ongoing initiatives in the field of e-Agriculture. Anyone interested is invited to join and participate. Remore participation is possible.read more Browse the agenda here |
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©FAO/Alessia Pierdomenico/FAO
e-AGRICULTURE NEWS FROM THE REGIONS
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The e-Agriculture activities are co-ordinated from the FAO Headquarters, however, there are a lot of activities happening in the regions.Below we provide some news and events happening in the FAO regional offices. |
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Image credits: FAO Flicker |
Asia and the Pacific Region FAO Myanmar promotes the use of drones to enhance disaster risk reduction FAO Myanmar is promoting the usage of drones to enhance disaster risk reduction and disaster risk management in the agriculture sector. The project is conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation (MOALI) of Myanmar and the Myanmar Aerospace Engineering University (MAEU) of the Ministry of Education. read more Event(s) from this region
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Near East and North Africa Region Official Launching and Awareness workshop on AMAN APP (Avian-Diseases Monitoring and Awareness Network) AMAN is a digital early warning system for control of poultry diseases in Egypt that includes Mobile Android App and Web Platforms with identical functionalities and performance. The AMAN App is available on Google Play for download. Venue: Egypt
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© emtvonline |
North America and America Region FAO and ITU meet with Papua New Guinea's government to consult on the e-Agriculture strategy Papua New Guinea's Department of Agriculture & Livestock (DAL), the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), among other partners working on ICTs for agriculture, met in Port Moresby on May 30th, 2017 to consult on the e-agriculture strategy for Papua New Guinea. The aim of the meeting was to advance in the implementation and adoption of ICTs in the agricultural sector. read more |
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HIGHLIGHTS
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Below we highlight a selection of news published on e-Agriculture, these include news articles on ICTs, activities in the agriculture and rural development. The full news listing can be read here.
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SELECTED e-AGRICULTURE AUDIO-VISUALS
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Below you will find selected audio-visuals from FAO resources and related partners. For more audio-visual content in e-Agriculture browse this section |
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Image credits: FAO Flicker |
FAO in emergencies App Summary This flickr album shows screenshots of the FAO in emergencies App.This app allows users to connect to the FAO Emergency website and also to learn more on various emergency projects that are initiated within the scope of FAO emergency and partners.The App shows various open projects in emergencies,various appeals on ongoing emergencies. Browse this album available on FAO Flickr account. read more |
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Interview with FAO- Rural Radios and ICTs Summary Agritools interview, Riccardo Del Castello, FAO Communication Development Officer, about the evolution of rural radios in the ICT age.Riccardo is one of the coordinator of Communication for Development at FAO, a programme that aims to enhance experience sharing, advocacy and collaboration among practitioners and projects engaged in communication for rural development through different tools and methods. Three regional web based platforms have been created in Africa (YenKasa), Asia (ComDevAsia) and Latin America (Onda Rural). view this video |
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CGIAR Platform for Big Data in Agriculture Summary CGIAR recently presented their Big Data in Agriculture platform at the ICT4D 2017 Conference by Andy Jarvis, Director - Decision and Policy Analysis Research Area. The platform was designed to Organize, Convene and Inspire. CGIAR realises that smart and effective |
