Data4Ag

Women-led agribusiness in Samoa reaches global markets

by Taaloga Apa , Isolina Boto , Chris Addison , Emil Jejov and Osseni Senou

Imagine a small women-led organisation in a remote Pacific island nation supplying products sold in more than 3,000 shops in 66 countries. Women in Business Development Incorporated (WIBDI), a non-profit organisation working with 1,000 farming families in Samoa is doing just that, and much more.

All Eyes on the Sky

Smallholders in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific are seeing their horizons broaden, as access to technology brings digital applications to agriculture. In Uganda, a project supported by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), has forged a partnership with Igara Tea Factory (IGTF) to transform cultivation through digital innovation.

Can access to data really transform agriculture for smallholders?

by Yanick Bakker , Jasmien Bronckaers , Fatma Ben Rejeb and Chris Addison

In order to feed 9 billion people by 2050, sustainable agricultural growth in needed, supporting an agricultural sector which produces enough food, which is inclusive and resilient, and which makes optimal use of innovation and digital solutions. Smallholder and family farmers must play a key role in achieving this. A 80% of the world’s food supply is produced by small-scale and family farmers, yet their full production potential is hardly reached.

Actions to turn the power of open data into real impact

by Sjoerd Croqué and Sander Janssen

At the third international workshop on the impact of open data for agriculture a new action agenda was discussed by a mix of organisations. They concluded that more focus is required on benefits for the less favoured actors, that open data should become a vehicle for multi-stakeholder collaborations, and that assessment of data driven organisational change is required.

Translating complex data into accessible articles

by Chris Addison

It sounds simple, open data is there for anyone to access. However, not all journalists are aware of the open data available to them or how to use it when writing about food security or the critical challenges facing agriculture. Good journalism is not based on opinions, it relies on evidence-based information.

Kenya opens up agricultural data

The Kenya government initiated the Open Data Initiative in 2011 on the idea that Kenya's information is a national asset. Agriculture is one of the main pillars, because food security and economic development can only move forward if decisions on agriculture are evidence-based. To be successful, data needs to be available, accurate, and open for all.

Leveraging ICT innovations to support farmers and farmers’ organisations

by Stéphane Boyera and Chris Addison

The data revolution is helping us make better decisions in all areas of our lives, and farmers are no exception. However, the smallholder farmer is being left behind as more data applications are developed for commercial farming. There is a need to better empower smallholder farmers to leverage information and communications technology (ICT) innovations for greater productivity and efficiency.

Farmer profiling: Making data work for smallholder farmers

by Stéphane Boyera , Chris Addison and Chipo Msengezi

The objective of this research is to understand the role of farmer organisations (FO) and cooperatives in the agriculture data ecosystem. It details for each stage of the crop cycle, the findings in terms of data use, needs, and challenges and contains a summary of the findings in the form of recommendations for farmer organisations and cooperatives in terms of farmer profiling activity.