The Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Coorperation, the ACP Secretariat, the European Commission, and Concord has announced a policy breifing entitled, "Data: the next revolution for agriculture in ACP countries" to be held in brussels  and with live streaming online at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/cta-brussels-briefings 

Physical meeting details

• ACP Secretariat, 451 Avenue Georges Henri, 1200 Brussels, room C,
• 18th February 2015, 14h00-18h00

Brief note

Data has become a key asset for the economy, as important as human and financial resources. Whether it is geographical information, statistics, weather data, research data, transport data, energy consumption data, or health data, the need to make sense of "Big data" is leading to innovations in technology, development of new tools and new skills.The availability of timely, relevant, and reliable data on the agriculture sector is necessary for effective planning, monitoring, and evaluation of agricultural and rural development policies and field interventions. However, at a time when more than ever, reliable data are needed on this sector, several studies point to a steady decline in the quality of agricultural statistics in many developing countries, particularly African countries.Gathering data via traditional means can be difficult in ACP countries, an in particular in Africa. Remote populations, lack of infrastructure, paucity of landlines and insecurity add up to an extremely challenging environment for traditional information gathering. Constraints for ACP countries range from limited capacity and insufficient resources of Government and statistical agencies which affect the quality and frequency of household surveys to reliance on donor’ support.

Objectives of the briefing

To improve information sharing and promote networking, CTA, the DG DEVCO from the European Commission, the ACP Secretariat, Concord organise bimonthly briefings on key issues and challenges for rural development in the context of EU/ACP cooperation. The Briefing on 18th February 2015 will focus on the potential the data revolution can bring to the agrifood sector of ACP countries. The objectives of the briefing are to: (a) document and review the key initiatives in data-driven development and agriculture; (b) present some achievements and successes of ACP countries on new tools for data and statistical management; (c) promote multistakeholder dialogue and transformative partnerships for data revolution of benefit to the African agrifood sector.