SEE alle the recordings here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_USVAit1Sv8zEtNheHizpw
While the benefits are becoming better known, in practice, there are several challenges in transitioning to regenerative agriculture especially for smallholder farmers. Lessons from the field, however, demonstrate that there are many digital tools that could play a key role in overcoming some of these challenges and facilitating the transition. For instance, digital tools can be used for:
In the past few years, a broad range of funding mechanisms have emerged. Carbon credits in particular have gained traction among funders and investors worldwide. Indeed, carbon finance is growing at a high pace, and Voluntary Carbon Markets are expected to grow from 1 bn $ per year to up to 150 bn $ according to Mark Carney, with a strong potential impact on carbon prices.
The session will witness the Launch of Joint FAO-ITU study on “The Status of Digital Agriculture in 47
Sub-Saharan African countries” followed by a panel discussion on how to kick-start the process for developing digital strategies and investment initiatives that are adapted to context-specific needs, by fostering mutual learning among actors, sectors and governance levels.
Agriculture Digital Age (2021) How are farmers using digital services in low- and middle-income countries? A Systematic Scoping Review: by Jaron Porciello, Sam Coggins, Gabriella Otunba-Payne, Edward Mabaya. May 2021 #84 p.
Agriculture Digital Age (2021) Key messages and findings: HOW ARE FARMERS USING DIGITAL SERVICES IN LOW-AND MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES? By Jaron Porciello, Sam Coggins, Gabriella Otunba-Payne, Edward Mabaya. May 2021 #8 p.
This scoping review, which identified more than 7,000
papers about digitally-enabled agricultural services in
Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia, and
incorporated 315 for closer assessment, found:
This dataset was used to develop a new guidance document:
As part of the GIZ project Digital Agriculture Africa, the project partner Mercy Corps AgriFin has
developed Sprout, The Open Content Agriculture Platform. The Sprout platform is an open data platform where a wide range of content can be consolidated and shared amongst partners before being distributed to smallholders, where they can use the information to build their capacity and become more resilient.
Sponsored by Feed the Future and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and implemented by DAI and Intellecap, ICTforAg 2022 offers an interactive virtual experience focused on technical dialogue and fostering collaboration across the digital agriculture community.
Extracts of the agenda:
09/03 8:00 am CET/CAT. ICTforRegenAg: The role of digital tools in facilitating a transition to regenerative agriculture
To curb the carbon footprint of agriculture and to restore natural resources (including soil), there has been an increasing focus on regenerative agriculture globally. Regenerative agriculture at scale has the potential to increase soil carbon, biodiversity, climate resilience and such practices are also becoming an essential strategy to achieve net-zero commitments.While the benefits are becoming better known, in practice, there are several challenges in transitioning to regenerative agriculture especially for smallholder farmers. Lessons from the field, however, demonstrate that there are many digital tools that could play a key role in overcoming some of these challenges and facilitating the transition. For instance, digital tools can be used for:
- Extension services focused on multi-cropping and biocontrol of pests;
- Index-insurance products that can mitigate the risks in productivity losses during the transition;
- Tools for credit scoring of farmers to facilitate investments for transition;
- Lost cost soil analysis technology to support nutrition management exercises;
- Analytics tools to facilitate carbon finance and create income streams for farmers;
- Monitoring technologies for facilitating result-based financing to reward regenerative practices
Shreejit BorthakurSenior Innovation Manager: TechnologiesIDH, The Sustainable Trade InitiativeSpeaker's Page
Tessa Meulensteen - "It's not about fighting conventional agriculture but to demonstrate the impact and benefits of regenerative agriculture"Senior Program Manager, Coffee ProgramIDH, The Sustainable Trade InitiativeSpeaker's Page
Annelies Withofs - "We have also to fight subsidies for chemical fertilizers"Programme ManagerIKEA FoundationSpeaker's Page
09/03 10:00 am CET/CAT. Leveraging digital solutions & carbon finance: A game changer to engage smallholders in the transition towards regenerative agriculture
These funding mechanism offers a great opportunity to fuel the transition towards regenerative agriculture but needs to step up in terms of inclusion as 90% of people working in the 600 million of smallholder farms are exposed to economic & environmental risks and are left out of the transition towards regenerative agriculture. In addition, strong expected demand will lead to increased land competition. Therefore, it is thus critical to include smallholders land in financial solutions. In that regard, digital solutions appear to be a very powerful tool to make smallholders inclusion in carbon projects possible. How can digital solutions and carbon finance be used to enable smallholders to transition to regenerative agriculture and benefit from global carbon markets? The session focused on:
Agrilinks enables any individual, project or organization with a connection to food security and agriculture to create an account and share information. Through this model, Agrilinks democratizes and increases information accessibility on a global scale. With over 1 million pageviews per year from over 125 countries and an average of more than 1,000 registrants per webinar, this model empowers implementers, NGO staff, academics, scientists and government staff worldwide to exchange knowledge.
The session answered key questions like-
The World Bank is currently developing operations in 29 countries where it is supporting the development of digital agriculture ecosystems. But building an ecosystem takes time. The scattered stakeholder landscape makes the scaling up of innovation particularly difficult, and opportunities offered by digital technologies to unlock the potential of millions of farmers are not exploited. The World Bank is working with global public and private partners to develop frameworks for cooperation to leverage global knowledge and capacity to help countries leapfrog their way through the digital transformation of their agro-food systems.
- Leveraging digital solutions to engage smallholders in carbon projects.
- Carbon finance potential & operational and financial barriers to development.
- Leveraging carbon finance to scale the use of regenerative farming practices.
Mio OkaDirector, Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Division, South Asia DepartmentAsian Development Bank (ADB)Speaker's Page
09-03 11:30 AM-12:00 AM Impact of digital technologies and innovation on smallholders farming: Stories from the field
Session co-created by FAO and ITU. This session was a story telling of the impact of digital technologies on smallholder farmers especially the youth from the field. The stories came from Rwanda and Zimbabwe. Pre-recorded experiences and discussions from the farmers were played in the session and dicussed.
Angelique UwimanaICT4Ag Project ManagerFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAOSpeaker's Page
Thembani Malapela - moderatorKnowledge and Information Management OfficerFood and Agriculture Organization of the United NationsSpeaker's Page
Tafadzwa CharumbiraAssociated with Welthungerhilfe IPVC projectFarmer in Goromonzi, ZimbabweSpeaker's Page
09/03. 4 pm CET/CAT. Can Online Platforms Facilitate Locally Led Development?
In 2022, there are so many online platforms that facilitate information exchange, from Zoom to Whatsapp to YouTube to Agrilinks, USAID’s flagship agriculture and food security knowledge-sharing platform.Agrilinks enables any individual, project or organization with a connection to food security and agriculture to create an account and share information. Through this model, Agrilinks democratizes and increases information accessibility on a global scale. With over 1 million pageviews per year from over 125 countries and an average of more than 1,000 registrants per webinar, this model empowers implementers, NGO staff, academics, scientists and government staff worldwide to exchange knowledge.
The session answered key questions like-
- How do different cultures interact with online platforms?
- How do scientists use online platform to inform research?
- Can online platforms empower local leaders?
- What types of information and engagement drive innovation and results
- What types of online platforms would local leaders like to see in the future?
Zachary BaquetStrategy and Learning AdvisorUSAID Bureau for Resilience and Food SecuritySpeaker's Page
Jean Claude RubyogoLeader of Global Bean Programme and Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance, DirectorAlliance of Bioversity International and CIAT& Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA)Speaker's Page
Kiersten JohnsonTeam Leader, Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) Management TeamUSAID Bureau for Humanitarian AssistanceSpeaker's Page
- Dr. Marie-Agnès Jouanjean(Moderator)The World Bank, Economist, Agriculture and Food Global Practice
- Jeehye Kim(Speaker)The World Bank, Senior Agricultural Economist
- Dr.Parmesh Shah(Speaker)The World Bank Group, Global Lead for Data Driven Digital Agriculture
- Danny O'Brien(Speaker)SVG Ventures | THRIVE, Managing Director EMEA & Global Programs
- Inbal Becker-Reshef(Speaker)Director, NASA Harvest
- Mandefro Nigussie(Speaker)Agricultural Transformation Agency of Ethiopia, Chief Executive Officer
- Sriram Bharatam(Speaker)Kuza One, Founder & Chief Mentor
10/03. 11 am CET/CAT. Digital agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa - Report launch and policy dialogue on investment opportunities
Sub-Saharan African countries” followed by a panel discussion on how to kick-start the process for developing digital strategies and investment initiatives that are adapted to context-specific needs, by fostering mutual learning among actors, sectors and governance levels.
FAO and ITU (2022) Status of digital agriculture in 47 sub-Saharan African countries. Rome. #364 p.
The report is composed of 47 desk-based country case studies against six thematic focal areas, the aim of which is to present a snapshot of the status of digital agriculture in each country. This is followed by highlights of the main findings of the analysis of the country profiles with suggested steps for future action. The findings of the study are presented to FAO and ITU Member States, as well as all relevant stakeholders with the purpose of advancing and supporting investment in digital transformation of the agricultural sector in sub-Saharan Africa.
This session focuses on two issues:
Ken LohentoDigital Agriculture SpecialistFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)Speaker's Page
Torsten FischerAdvisor for Start-ups in Development CooperationDeutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbHSpeaker's Page
Beth CrawfordOfficer-in-Charge of the FAO Office of InnovationFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)Speaker's Page
Abebe Haile GabrielAssistant Director-General and Regional Representative for AfricaFood and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)Speaker's Page
Hani EskandarSenior Coordinator- Digital Services, Telecommunication Development BureauInternational Telecommunication Union (ITU)Speaker's Page
10/03 12:30 CET/CAT. Putting the Power of Technology and Data into the Hands of Smallholder Farmers
10/03 14:30 CET/CAT. Recommendations for Using ICT to Enhance Training Programs for Unconnected Farmers
- How can digital tools be used to enhance training for the millions of farmers who are not connected to the internet?
- What are best practices to build digital literacy with program staff and end users, as agricultural training programs implement ICT tools?
Agriculture Digital Age (2021) How are farmers using digital services in low- and middle-income countries? A Systematic Scoping Review: by Jaron Porciello, Sam Coggins, Gabriella Otunba-Payne, Edward Mabaya. May 2021 #84 p.
- a lack of quality, empirical data to draw conclusions about actual use and outcomes. Most of the evidence is clustered to just a few countries, and analysis is limited to looking at the impacts on individuals.
- The majority of studies are focused on providing farmers with digital advisory & extension
services (76%). - Just seven countries
represent more than 75% of
the published evidence in our
dataset: India,
Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Indonesia, Nigeria and Tanzania. India has the most studies represented, due in part to India’s early interest in using digital technologies to support its already active advisory and extension services and the general geographies where academic and development researchers work.
KEY TAKEAWAYS (for research)
- Innovative programs are failing to reach scale because the platforms, infrastructure, and data-sharing services are not in place to fuel their growth.
- Digital agriculture needs to be better integrated in research and development agendas
- Measurement and indicators frameworks are needed to improve minimum standards of data collection and reporting
- We need to involve users in digitally-enabled agricultural services (DEAS) development in order to address gender and social disparities.
- Swift action is needed to address climate and environmental evidence gaps.
- We need research partnerships with businesses
Technoserve (2021) Digitally Enabled Training for Unconnected Farmers. Using Digital Tools to Reach Smallholder Farmers with Limited
Access to Communications Technology. December 2021. #21 p.
By augmenting and complementing the human-to-human model, digital technology can significantly enhance the
impact of effective training programs, making them massively scalable. This technology is creating new opportunities for
development organizations, governments, and the private sector to provide digital training and advisory services that
more effectively support smallholder farmers. Digital technology allows training providers to reach previously
unreachable populations, increase impact through more tailored and time-sensitive training, and operate more
efficiently.
It focuses on three recommendations:
The panelists will discuss summary of three digital approaches above along with the benefits, challenges and best practices for implementing these approaches. They will also share about the importance of digital literacy in implementing digital training for smallholder farmers, especially as a way to expand the pool of trainers.
- Use digital tools to train farmer trainers.
- Augment in-person training with video and audio.
- Incorporate appropriate digital tools for remote and blended learning, based on farmers’ access to technology.
The panelists will discuss summary of three digital approaches above along with the benefits, challenges and best practices for implementing these approaches. They will also share about the importance of digital literacy in implementing digital training for smallholder farmers, especially as a way to expand the pool of trainers.
10/03 16:30 CET/CAT. Multi-stakeholder partnerships to scale digital agriculture in the face of climate change
The Netherlands Food Partnership is leading a multi-stakeholder coalition for empowering smallholders through strengthened digital ecosystems. This session seeks to showcase these efforts to foster multi-stakeholder partnerships, discuss common priorities and key lessons for advancing action, and build further partnerships with NGOs, businesses and think tanks and other stakeholders to accelerate digital agriculture’s potential to transform our food systems in the face of climate change. The session will focus on: (a) ICT enabled solutions to regenerative solutions to mitigate climate change; (b) Digital as an enabler for results-based financing for climate smart agriculture and soil restoration10/03 18:00 CET/CAT Women in Agribusiness - how giving female farmers access to open and climate-smart agronomic content pays off
10/03 18:00 CET/CAT Women in Agribusiness - how giving female farmers access to open and climate-smart agronomic content pays off
developed Sprout, The Open Content Agriculture Platform. The Sprout platform is an open data platform where a wide range of content can be consolidated and shared amongst partners before being distributed to smallholders, where they can use the information to build their capacity and become more resilient.
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