Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago to Cooperate in Agriculture

Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago are said to be moving forward with a Memorandum of Understanding for 10,000 acres of land to be made available to the twin island republic for farming, officials said today. According to a statement issued by the Guyanese Government, Agriculture Minister Leslie Ramsammy held meetings this week with his Trinidadian counterpart, Devant Maharaj, to accelerate the signing of a cooperation pact related to this field. At the beginning of the year, Georgetown and Port of Spain signed a Memorandum of Understanding, whereby investors and farmers from the Caribbean archipelago have access to 10,000 hectares of land in Guyana for joint agricultural development. To read more, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago to Cooperate in Agriculture Adapted from Prensa Latina

Nigeria: Telecommunication - Nigeria Truly Giant of Africa

Telecommunication is adjudged one of the major drivers in the economic development of any nation. It plays a key role in the development of every sector of the economy. It is vital in the development of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT), health, agriculture, works, education, commerce, industry as well as science and technology sectors among others.

In driving telecommunications, Nigeria through the regulatory body in the sector, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has made giant strides which have set the country apart as truly the giant of Africa. Nigerian Communication Act (NCA) 2003 has been the major source of the industry's success.

The NCA is largely regarded as one of the most progressive laws in the country. It gives the regulator absolute power, devoid of government or other external interferences to regulate the industry according to best global practices as enunciated by the ITU and other regional telecoms regulatory bodies. NCA guarantees a safe market for investors such that they can bring their money into Nigeria and be sure that the law is there to protect their investment.

The telecommunication sector contributed 8.53 per cent to the country's gross domestic product in the first quarter of 2013, according to the latest statistics released by the NCC.

To read more, Nigeria: Telecommunication - Nigeria Truly Giant of Africa

Adapted from allAfrica.com

Africa: IT News Africa Rates Icow As Top Mobile APP At ICT for Agriculture

iCow, an SMS based mobile application aimed at promoting smart animal husbandry, has been rated Africa's best mobile agricultural application by IT News Africa during the just concluded ICT4Ag conference in Rwanda.

iCow has three main features namely Kalenda, Mashauri and Vet and artificial insemination. Kalenda enables farmers to keep track of their animals during the gestation period while Mashauri is a service that sends farmers three SMS tips a week on best agricultural practices.

Another Kenyan app on Africa's top ten mobile agricultural apps is M-Shamba, an interactive platform that is being used by about 4000 rice farmers to help them adopt new technologies in rice farming.

To read more, Africa: IT News Africa Rates Icow As Top Mobile APP At ICT for Agriculture

Adapted from allAfrica.com

ICT, CDA launch massive anti-encroachment drive

The departments concerned of Islamabad Capital Administration (ICT) and Capital Development Authority (CDA) carried out a massive anti-encroachment operation and sanitation drive at Sabzi Mandi, Islamabad and adjoining area here on Sunday.

The campaign was carried out on the direction of Deputy Commissioner Islamabad, Amer Ali Ahmed, ICT Administration, under the supervision of Additional Deputy Commissioner(G) Islamabad, Maryam Khan, Assistant Commissioner(Saddar) Waqas Rashid, Agriculture Department, ICT and Municipal Directorate, CDA. During the operation, teams removed all the encroachments made by the stall holders, on roads, footpaths, sheds auction area in Sabzi Mandi and warned the stall holders to refrain from any encroachment in future, failing which strict action would be taken against them.

The teams also conducted price checking and imposed fines on the profiteers for not displaying the rate list of fruits and vegetables. Shopkeepers were directed to ensure display of rate list of food items prominently at the shops.
To read more, ICT, CDA launch massive anti-encroachment drive

Adapted from Pakistan Observer

Rwanda: Ict4ag Looks to the Future

Increased use of information and communication technologies could soon boost growth in agriculture and lead to poverty reduction in many countries around the world, according to experts attending the ICT4Ag international conference, which was held this week in Kigali, Rwanda.

Dr Aparajita Goyal, an economist in the World Bank's Agriculture Department, confirmed the Bank's belief in the transformative power of ICTs:

The World Bank's participation in the ICT4Ag conference reaffirms our commitment to the use of ICT for agriculture in development and we recognise both the challenges and the promise of these new technologies. Important efforts are underway now in some of our projects using Public Private Partnerships to build financially stable business models, which will help to achieve greater impact and scale. 

The European Union's newly appointed Ambassador to Rwanda, Michael Ryan, who spoke in the opening session of the conference, shared the mood of optimism:

It's going to be Africa's turn now in the coming years and we want to be there helping that launch, so that the prosperity African citizens deserve comes their way.

ICT4Ag international conference has been a major success for CTA and participants were delighted with the event's innovative format.

To read more,  Rwanda: Ict4ag Looks to the Future

Adapted from allAfrica.com

Rwanda: Minister Kalibata Call for Challenging ICT for Development

During this week's ICT for Agriculture conference, a 'hackathon', or 'agrihack' contest was held in parallel, challenging young tech entrepreneurs to design ICT solutions for the agriculture sector. The hackathon consisted of a digital platform to connect and harmonize key youth stakeholders in East Africa along the agricultural value chain using mobile web functionalities, to allow users and site visitors to access the content from their smart phones.

Nine teams participated in the hackathon from six countries: Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, Madagascar and Kenya. A team of students in the College of Science and Technology represented Rwanda in the competition with their Fertilizer Logic project.

Minister Kalibata commended the finalists and called upon all young people to create more solutions for the farming sector. "There is need to change knowledge and information into productive resources to improve lives," Kalibata said, adding that people might find solutions that will make a difference for farmers.

To read more, Rwanda: Minister Kalibata Call for Challenging ICT for Development

Adapted from allAfrica.com

ICT could greatly develop Tanzania farmers

Farmers are among poor people in many developing countries who grapple with agricultural challenges to make little progress in their lives. The incorporation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in agriculture could be of great advantage to farmers. ICT is an opportunity that needs to tempt into active food production value chain.

Tanzania which has a population of over 40 million, is one of the world’s poorest countries with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita of USD 1,400 and its economic growth however, is strong with annual GDP growth rate of 6-7 percent. Tanzanian economy is heavily dependent on agriculture which makes 40 percent of GDP, 85 percent of exports and 80 percent of employment.

Mobile companies in the country can add mobile agriculture to be one of their corporate responsibility to the community because of the majority of Tanzania population are farmers, mobile agriculture must be identified by mobile companies as a great opportunity for their prosperity.

An agricultural researcher noted 12 ways how mobile technology can boost African agriculture and these are Mobile payment systems, Micro-insurance systems, Micro-lending platforms, Mobile information platforms, and farmer helplines. This technology can assist with Smart logistics, Traceability and tracking systems, Mobile management of supplier networks, Mobile management of distribution networks, Agricultural trading platforms, Agricultural tendering platforms and Agricultural bartering platforms.
To read more on ICT could greatly develop Tanzania farmers

Adapted from IPPMedia.com

Using ICT: ‘Time to boost use of technology in agriculture’

The National Information and Communication Technologies Research and Development Fund and the University of Agriculture Faisalabad will collaborate for research on IT use in agriculture.

The use of modern technology, he said, agriculture of a country could be boosted manifold. The Fund will focusing on industry-academia partnership through funding of research and development initiatives.

Emerging information and the knowledge era is currently opening a new way of economic and social development through information and communication technologies.

Furthermore, precision agriculture had gained popularity across the globe, enabling some countries to reduce cost of production through balanced inputs use of information technology, geographical information system and space technology.

To read more, Using ICT: ‘Time to boost use of technology in agriculture’

Adapted from The Express Tribune

Rwanda: Rwf20 Million for ICT Competition

Three Information and Communication Technology developers who were tasked with coming up with solutions that would improve farmers' access to finance and solutions to improve the bidirectional information amongst farmers and extension officers, have been rewarded with cash prizes at the just-concluded ICT for Agriculture Summit.

The winners, Ensibuuko from Uganda, Agrivas from Ethiopia, (first runners-up) and Tanzanian all girls group Agrinfo (third) won Rwf4.5 million, Rwf3.6 million and Rwf2.6 million, respectively, amongst other awards.

Rwanda's Fertilizer Logic, a team of four (University of Rwanda's College of Science and Technology (Former KIST) students who participated in the competition did not feature in the best IT solution developers.

While awarding the winners of the hackathon and officially closing the summit, Agnes Kalibata, the Minister for Agriculture, defined the competition and ICT involvement in agriculture as a way to extend the wealth to the bottom of the pyramid if the right programmes are developed.

To read more, Rwanda: Rwf20 Million for ICT Competition

Adapted from allAfrica.com