Digitalisation

Blockchain summit spurs uptake of digital innovations for agriculture

The Strike Two summit, a series of events showcasing digital innovations for the food system, has given CTA and partners a launchpad to demonstrate the transformative potential of blockchain for small-scale agriculture, and establish a growing global community that aims to accelerate its adoption.

Shaping agricultural policy and outcomes with open data

In collaboration with the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition project, CTA is identifying open data champions and enabling new policies on open data for agriculture and nutrition, with the aim of combatting global hunger.

Africa’s Eyes in the Sky

“Most of Africa missed out on the Green Revolution that transformed agriculture in South and East Asia, but we’re not going to miss the digital revolution,” says Dr Abdelaziz Lawani, Professor of Agribusiness at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU). Dr Lawani is also the founder of Global Partners, a Benin-based start-up which uses unmanned aerial vehicles – or drones – to provide a range of services to farmers and others.

Promoting agritourism in Barbados

Like many Caribbean nations, Barbados faces two distinct crises. On the one hand, the island now imports almost 90% of the food consumed. On the other, levels of obesity and associated diseases have risen, largely because people are eating processed products and calorie-dense foods, most of which are imported. Agritourism, which links farmers and agribusinesses to the tourist market, could play a significant role in tackling both these problems and CTA is working closely with local partners to encourage the growth of the local food market.

Young ICT innovators snap up 2018 Pacific AgriHack Lab awards

Three Pacific entrepreneurs based in Fiji and the Solomon Islands have been declared winners of the 2018 Pacific AgriHack Lab competition and awarded €5,000 grants to help further develop their agriculture-oriented innovations.

New index to tackle food safety scourge and threat to African health and trade

Dakar, Senegal, October 2. The African Food Safety Index (AFSI) launched today will help to tackle the burden of foodborne diseases that a recent global assessment found to be comparable to that of malaria, HIV/AIDs or tuberculosis.

Innovative agribusiness project promises bright future for Kenya’s youth

Nairobi, Kenya, 29 August 2018 – A new project launched today in Nairobi will boost business and employment opportunities for thousands of young people in the agricultural sector in Kalifi and Nakuru counties, Kenya.

Project calls for women entrepreneurs in Africa to build region’s first intelligence network

Wageningen, The Netherlands, 27 July 2018: VALUE4HER a new CTA project will empower women entrepreneurs working in the agricultural sector – agripreneurs – by giving them the skills, knowledge and access to markets, finance and services they need to build their businesses. The project is calling for women-led agribusinesses to register to become part of the first intelligence network targeting women-led agribusinesses in Africa.

GODAN Action: Digital capacity building

by Chipo Msengezi

Increased availability of agricultural data could help overcome key challenges for the sector, however many stakeholders still struggle to access and interpret agri-data. GODAN’s Action project aims to tackle this issue.

Data4Ag impacts for farmers and for policy

by Chris Addison

CTA’s Data4Ag project has introduced digital solutions in Africa to assist farmers’ organisations in registering their members to offer targeted agricultural services. Whilst impacts from the field have been impressive, questions have been raised around the collection and use of farmer data, and the need for policy development.

Drone-based services taking off to transform Africa’s agriculture

by Giacomo Rambaldi

Africa’s agriculture sector is being progressively transformed into a high-tech industry through digital services. Decisions are being based on real-time gathering and processing of data, feeding into increasingly effective decision support systems. Unmanned aerial systems (UAS) are an integral part of this digital revolution.

Ten key success drivers of young digital start-ups servicing the agri-food sector

by Ken Lohento

Ken Lohento, Senior ICT for Agriculture Programme Coordinator at CTA, discusses ten key strategies to help young digital ag-tech start-ups achieve ‘business success’.

Innovations reshaping smallholders’ market access

Technical solutions to food tracking, traceability and distribution are enabling agribusinesses along the value chain to better manage and expand their operations. Such innovations also help farmers and farmer organisations to establish and strengthen links with buyers.

Profiling presents opportunities for smallholders

by Sophie Reeve

Aggregating information about farm location and production in farmer profiles helps companies to tailor their support for smallholders, but how can this data be securely managed and transferred to rural farmers for their benefit?

Data on all levels is very valuable to the value chain

The Executive Director of the Secretariat for Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) is André Laperrière. Here, he describes what GODAN have to do to raise awareness about the potential of agricultural data and how to get policymakers and donors on-board.

Farm mapping increases incomes for tea farmers

To ensure improved operations of a smallholder tea company in Uganda, and boost yields for farmers, an innovative garden geo-referencing project is working to gather local data.