Request for Proposals (RFP): Smart Farming Innovations for Small-Scale Producers
Smart Farming Innovations for Small-Scale Producers Request for Proposals (RFP) seeks Smart Farming solutions that leverage digital technology innovations that have the potential to drive positive impact for smallscale producer (SSP) entrepreneurs delivered through bundled farmer services and enabled by scalable digital and data platforms. . READ MORE
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Apply for Funding: Taking agri-tech skills to Africa:
Three-quarters of the poorest people in Africa live in rural areas and rely on agriculture and livestock for their livelihoods. They face many challenges, including from climate change and scarcity of resources, demographic changes, changes in diet, and changing markets. Innovation in agriculture and food systems is low in developing countries. It needs to speed up to meet the challenges. READ MORE
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CGIAR Crop Yield Prediction Challenge
One of the most promising yield estimation methods has been to use available crop-cut datasets to calibrate mathematical models to estimate crop yields from satellite imagery. The aim of this challenge is to create a model capable of estimating the crop-cut maize yield for fields in East Africa. Given a time-series of Sentinel 2 imagery and climate variables, your model must output a predicted yield in tons per acre. READ MORE
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Does the African Green Revolution include smallholder farmers?
This year’s African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) took place online, hosted out of Kigali, Rwanda. Chaired by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), the AGRF is a high-profile global summit that brings together international donor agencies, governments, African leaders and agribusinesses. The summit is an annual opportunity for them to plan, mobilise and coordinate investments, policies and business cases to promote the continent’s agricultural intensification agenda. READ MORE
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Cost and affordability of nutritious diets at retail prices: Evidence from 177 countries
Many policies and programs aim to bring nutritious diets within reach of the poor. This paper uses retail prices and nutrient composition for 671 foods and beverages to compute the daily cost of essential nutrients required for an active and healthy life in 177 countries around the world. We compare this minimum cost of nutrient adequacy with the subsistence cost of dietary energy and per-capita spending on all goods and services, to identify stylized facts about how diet cost and affordability relate to economic development and nutrition outcomes. READ MORE
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Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya face devastating drought
Every five or so years, it rips me apart to watch the same tragedy: a La Niña weather cycle brings devastating drought and hunger to East Africa, threatening the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. Using climate models and Earth observations, we can now predict these droughts. And once again, dry conditions are predicted from this month until December, with a very good chance of another poor rainy season in March to May 2021. READ MORE
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We must innovate to boost agriculture, environment
An enduring issue in development discourse is whether some of the innovations advanced to accelerate food production can cause collateral harm to the environment and agriculture. More than 75 per cent of the population in African countries rely on agriculture for food and survival, making the sector critical to the economy, yet 90 per cent of production is by smallholder farmers cultivating on no more than one hectare. READ MORE
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Efforts to halt soil depletion find fertile ground in Africa
Ivory Coast is the world’s top exporter of cocoa, the main ingredient in chocolate, and a crop that has for decades formed the mainstay of the west African country’s economy, bringing in billions of dollars. Planted by smallholders on forest land, cocoa has been a success story for Ivory Coast during 50 years of almost uninterrupted expansion. But in the first decade of this century, production of the crop began to falter and soil depletion was identified as the main cause of declining yields. READ MORE
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Climate change poses growing threats to vulnerable Africa, U.N. says
Agriculture accounts for about 70% of global freshwater use, and as the population grows, so will demand for water. At the same time, global warming is increasing water loss through evapotranspiration, and intensifying the risk of drought in many regions. This confluence of factors makes it vital to improve the efficiency of irrigation so farmers can produce enough food for the more than 9 million people predicted by 2050. READ MORE
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FAO Pushes to Control East Africa Locust Invasion by Year's End
The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is procuring a fleet of new aircraft it hopes will have the record desert locust swarms that have plagued East Africa under control by the end of the year. Ethiopia is currently undergoing a harvest season after several months of heavy rain, creating the ideal conditions for the locusts to multiply. READ MORE
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