Vote now! Reward the outstanding free services offered by the Digital Agri Hub to support the transformation of the agricultural sector

 

The Digital Agri Hub run by the Wageningen University and Research (WUR) has been nominated as a potential candidate awardee for the UN / ITU WSIS 2024 prize in the Category 13 - AL C7 E-agriculture. 

The Hub offers free access to a dashboard with over 1200 digital solutions for agriculture in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and to digital communities hosted on community platforms. 

The winners of the WSIS 2024 prizes will be selected based on the result of a public voting process.

How to vote:

• Only registered members of the WSIS Stocktaking Platform (STK) with requested complete information may vote for/appreciate a project. The information should contain organization details: name, type, country and user details: username and e-mail.
• Members may only vote for one project in each category 
• Voters are encouraged but not required to cast votes for one project in each of categories.

Voting – step by step (for new STK members):

1. Register https://www.itu.int/net4/wsis/stocktaking/Account/ 
2. Confirm your registration via the confirmation email you will have received in your inbox
3. Login
4. Select Prizes on the top navigation bar.
5. Select “Vote” > “Vote ->”
6. Select: “Voting form”
7. Select: AL C7. E-agriculture on the drop-down menu.
8. Scroll down, look for Digital Agri Hub and click on “Vote for this Project”
9. Optional: Select other categories of your interest and express your preferences as well.

Voting – step by step (for already registered STK members)

1. Follow this link: https://www.itu.int/net4/wsis/stocktaking/Prizes/2024 
2. Select “Vote” > “Vote ->”
3. Login
4. Select: “Voting form”
5. Select: AL C7. E-agriculture on the drop-down menu.
6. Scroll down, look for Digital Agri Hub and click on “Vote for this Project”
7. Optional: Select other categories of your interest and express your preferences as well.

Developing Institutions and Inter-Organizational Synergies through Digitalization and Youth Engagement in African Agriculture: The Case of “Africa Goes Digital”

As digitalization increasingly gains attention in the agriculture sector, many African youths are seizing the opportunity provided by digital technologies to engage in agriculture. 

While prior studies have started examining the intricacies of digitalization in agriculture, they have paid less attention to its implications for fostering institutions and inter-organizational synergies that can support and sustain the businesses of youth enterprises engaging with Africa’s agriculture. Against this backdrop, the authors undertook a qualitative case study to shed light on the development of a community of practice comprising youth enterprises engaging in agriculture through digitalization. Thus, they studied Africa Goes Digital (AFGD), a consortium of young African enterprises that rely on digital technologies and solutions to provide services to farmers across the African continent. 

Africa Goes Digital - Transforming Africa into #TheAfricaWeWant from Federico Rambaldi on Vimeo.

The results showed that: (1) the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) played a pioneering role as a development agency in supporting enterprises with drones and training for agriculture, which led to the formation of AFGD; (2) two prevalent themes characterized the services offered by AFGD members; (3) AFGD brings members under one platform where they leverage WhatsApp for communication and knowledge sharing and Twitter to showcase success stories and form partnerships with each other to execute certain development projects with governments and development agencies; (4) the lack of regulations or the restrictive regulations on the use of drones are still problems that some members face, and the high costs of sensors and related drones are challenges for the members. 

Building on the results, the authors discuss the implications of digitalization for supporting African governments in meeting sustainability goals and conclude by describing the theoretical contribution of their study and promising future research directions.

Authors: Matthew Ayamga , Abdelaziz Lawani, Selorm Akaba and Arsene Birindwa

Read and download the full article.

Is gender inclusion in the framework of D4Ag projects a genuine need based on objective assessments, or an indispensable component to satisfy donors’ expectations? | Join the e-conversation on Starting on Monday 17 April, 2023

Digital technologies and solutions are increasingly important in revolutionizing agriculture food systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The drive towards promoting digitalization for agriculture (D4Ag) among small-scale producers in LMICs is relentless. Therefore, it is crucial to take a factual, objective, and measured approach to identify and possibly overcome potential stereotypes.

On Monday 17 April, the Digital Agri Hub is launching the 4th of a series of e-conversations on what it considers as potential clichés in the D4Ag domain.  The exchanges are hosted on the Digitalisation for Agriculture or D4Ag dgroup which you are welcome to join.

The outcome of the exchanges may lead to a more objective, prudent and realistic attitude on how to approach and present gender inclusion in D4Ag projects in LMICs. It can also open new avenues which could help solving issues that are at the basis of potential stereotypes.

The 3rd e-conversation on whether “smart farming is raising justifiable expectations” has come to an end, and its summary is now available on the D4Ag dgroup’s wiki (login required) or on The Hub events’ page.

The forthcoming e-conversation Starting on Monday 17 April, 2023, will address the following question: “Is gender inclusion in the framework of D4Ag projects a genuine need based on objective assessments, or an indispensable component to satisfy donors’ expectations?”

Each e-conversation topic is well framed via an initial message posted on the D4Ag group to kickstart the reflections. The subsequent topic will be launched once the exchanges about the preceding one are completed, and so on. Summaries of the exchanges are shared.

Join the conversation -> https://bit.ly/dGp4A

🍾 The @D4Ag_ Digital Agri Hub database has passed the 1000th registered & verified #digital #solution for #agriculture! Is your solution missing ? It's never too late. Follow this🔗to register your company & solutions: https://t.co/iPIvFFnds7 | #D4Ag #ICT4Ag #agtech #LMICs #D4D pic.twitter.com/aMnfBrwViy

— Giacomo Rambaldi (@iapad) March 30, 2023

How true is the mantra that #smallscale producers benefit from #digitalisation?
Our upcoming e-conversation strives to unpack this potential #D4Ag cliché, backed by unique experiences from our diverse contributors in the #D4Ag dgroups.

Join the exchange👉 https://t.co/TFY2CnlqLi pic.twitter.com/8fxGCxGTk0

— The Digital Agri Hub (@D4Ag_) March 9, 2023

 

Your welcome contribution to forthcoming e-conversations on controversial issues related to #digitalisation for #agriculture, #aquaculture, #mariculture, and more

 

With the relentless promotion of #D4Ag among #LMICs #smallscale producers it is imperative to adopt a fact-based, objective & measured approach to focus & possibly overcome some potential clichés.@D4Ag_ has organised a series of e-conversations on this.
💻https://t.co/TFY2CnkSVK pic.twitter.com/mUymzkiZKe

— The Digital Agri Hub (@D4Ag_) February 24, 2023

Closing #webinar | #D4Ag online dialogue on shaping digital agriculture capacities | Wed 15/12/21 @ 2PM-3:30PM CET

 

Over the past three weeks, the Digital Agri Hub with the support of the Dgroups Foundation, has been hosting an online dialogue to identify capacity opportunities, gaps, priority needs and best-bet learning solutions for people and organizations working with digital agriculture.

Specifically, at the dialogue kick-off webinar and in the subsequent email-based exchanges, dialogue’s participants have been pinning down the perceived capacity needs of three stakeholder groups - implementers (extension services, farmers organisations, NGOs, etc.); enablers (policy makers,  government and international organisations, etc.); and D4Ag service / solution providers (organisations or individuals providing services in the domain of digitalisation for agriculture, including innovations and data infrastructure).

Are you curious to know what emerged from this dialogue? Do you want to know more and add your voice and ideas to the dialogue outcomes and results?
 

Join us for the D4Ag dialogue closing webinar on 15 December and contribute to shape and deliver digital agriculture capacities for the future!

Register here >> https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYqc-Ggrj8vEtG9ThuSg45tGo9bSaBlUByL

Landscaping the Agritech Ecosystem for Smallholder Farmers in Latin America and the Caribbean.

 Promotional video for the report “Landscaping the Agritech Ecosystem for Smallholder Farmers in Latin America and the Caribbean.” Based on the review of 131 digital agriculture tools, this report, prepared by GSMA and IDB Lab, provides a market mapping and landscape analysis of the most prominent cases of digital disruption. It highlights some of the major trends observed in five digital agriculture use cases, identifies opportunities for digital interventions, and concludes with recommendations for future engagement that could deliver long-term, sustainable economic and social benefits for smallholder farmers.

World Summit on the Information Society - Prizes 2020: the voting phase comes to an end on January 24, 2020

World Summit on the Information Society - Prizes 2020: the voting phase ends on January 24, 2020. Vote Now!

The project: "Eyes in the Sky, Smart Techs on the Ground: Transforming Africa's Agriculture " has been nominated for voting under the category AL C7. E-agriculture.

A total of 20 projects have been nominated in this category. The first five most voted will be selected for further evaluation. In order to vote, you need to be registered on the WSIS Stocktaking Platform. You can express one vote per category and vote for one or more categories. The site hosting the voting platform is not as straight forward as it should be, and it is quite difficult to navigate. 

Follow these steps (recommended):

1. Register
2. Login as a registered user
3. Follow this link: https://www.itu.int/net4/wsis/stocktaking/Prizes/2020/Vote?jts=P4W9PG&id=10&page=13#start which will lead you straight to the category AL C7. E-agriculture.

The project "Eyes in the Sky, Smart Techs on the Ground" is listed under this category 

Click on  ... more>> and read the retailed description of the project and its achievements. 

Express your preference and vote. We rely on you good judgement.

The Digitalisation of African Agriculture Report, 2018-2019 - available for download

“At CTA, we know and understand the power to digitalise African agriculture. But we also understand that the evidence that will attract targeted investments to further develop D4Ag on the continent is lacking.

We realised that it is time to chart the scale of the opportunity and make some projections that will help in guiding policy and investment decisions. It is why we have produced a report together with Dalberg Advisors and supported by a high-level Advisory Council bringing together the key stakeholders that have been engaged in the space. The report is the first attempt to consolidate evidence and provide proof of impacts and the knowledge that will allow evidence-based investments.

While, in the report, we find a young sector, it’s clear that the appetite for D4Ag is burgeoning. However, without the right policy focus and investment there is a danger that the development will be piecemeal, neither sustainable nor inclusive. To capitalise on this opportunity we need to ensure that development is coordinated, that best-practices are shared and a collaborative approach to rolling out and scaling-up digital innovation, primarily focused on increasing use by farmers, is adopted.

 This report is a valuable first step, we have seen an appetite to continually improve our understanding of the D4Ag landscape and chart the opportunity it offers for entrepreneurs, investors and governments. I hope our efforts will be valuable in guiding the opportunity and look forward to the collaborative push that I believe will bring D4Ag to life for the benefit of Africa’s smallholder farmers and food and nutrition security across the continent. And as long as we learn from lessons, do it right and manage risks and take into account data sovereignty, inclusivity, sustainability, we will all benefit.”  Michael Hailu, CTA Director"

This report realises that there is great appetite for D4Ag and that policy mechanism should be invested in to guide the implementation of digital solutions. The value of collaborative approach that is focusing on increasing use of technologies by farmers is encouraged.