11th IST-Africa Conference

11 - 13 May 2016. Johannesburg. IST-Africa 2016 was the eleventh in an annual series of Ministerial Level Technology Research Conferences, supported by the European Commission (EC) and African Union Commission (AUC).

Focused on Information Society and ICT Policy Dialogues, International Development and Research Cooperation and Community Building, this conference brought together senior representatives of leading public, private, education and research organisations from 50 countries to discuss policy, share insight and identify collaboration opportunities.

The goal of this IST-Africa Conference was to:

• Support Development of the Information Society and Knowledge Economy in Africa
• Promote International Innovation, Research and Policy Cooperation and Coordination
• Showcase African Research and Innovation Capacity
• Stimulate exploitation of research results by the public and private sectors

The Programme featured two sessions related to agriculture.

Session 7c: eAgriculture
Chair: Lefa Thamae, Department of Science and Technology, Lesotho

• Use of Social Media to Strengthen Service Delivery for Urban Agriculture in Uganda ; Fatuma Namisango, Makerere University Business School, Uganda
• IT and the Non-formal Sector: How can IT propel Skills Development in Agriculture?  ; Collins Mwesigwa, UNCST, Uganda
• A Model Intelligent Decision Support System for Predicting Late Blight Disease of Potatoes in Kenya ; David Gichoya, Moi University, Kenya
• Development of Adaptive Environmental Management System: A Participatory Approach through Fuzzy Cognitive Maps ; Mpho Mbele, Central University of Technology, South Africa
• An m-Agric Application for Broadcasting Agricultural Information for Subsistence Farmers in Rural Areas of the Eastern Cape ; Nam Nojozi, University of Fort Hare, South Africa

Session 8c: eAgriculture & Environmental Sustainability
Chair: Lieketseng Tjokotsi, Department of Science and Technology, Lesotho

• Traceability Systems in Swaziland and Namibia: Improving Access to Markets with Digital Information ; Tania Prinsloo, University of Pretoria, South Africa
• Prototyping mAgriculture Applications among Smallholder Farmers ; Bonface Ireri, University of Free State, South Africa
• Provisional Findings on Linking Climate Information to Livelihood Strategies through ICTs among Rural Women in Kitui County, Kenya ; Michaelina Yohannis, University of Nairobi, Kenya
• Network Densification Strategies for Automatic Weather Stations: Challenges and Opportunities for Uganda ; Mary Nsabagwa, Makerere University, Uganda

Session 4e: Mobile Applications II
Chair: Haitham Hamza, Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), Egypt

• Branchless Banking in Rural Malawi: Potential Customers’ Perspective on Bank-led Mobile Banking ; Tiwonge Manda, University of Malawi, Chancellor College, Malawi
• Towards Non-cash Payments in Tanzania: the Role of Mobile Phone Money Services ; Hosea Mpogole, University of Iringa, Tanzania
• Towards A Context-Aware Multi-Channel Messaging Model for African Banks: Preliminary Investigations ; Olusola Salami, University of South Africa, Nigeria
• Promoting Savings among Low Income Earners in Kenya through Mobile Money ; Patrick Kanyi Wamuyu, USIU-Africa, Kenya