On the 25th – 27th of April 2018, KALRO in conjunction with Smart Farmer Magazine will hold the first Digital Farmers Conference and Exhibition in East Africa, at the Kenya Agriculture & Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) grounds in Nairobi County.

This three regional conference seeks to help farmers and other value chain actors to harness the benefits of technology and data, and drive the adoption of these digital tools by farmers. It bring together end users, service providers, disseminators, regulators, policy formulators, and technology developers of ICT solutions in the agricultural sector for the region.

(Image source: Call for papers attached) 

CONCEPT NOTE : Enabling agribusiness and food security through ICT 

The world is faced with a challenge of developing concrete solutions to feed a projected nine billion people by the year 2050. This according to FAO, will require a 70% increase in food production. The World Bank has additionally noted that besides increasing productivity, such efforts require to be augmented by ensuring minimal food losses and effcient supply chain management efforts in order to contribute to the glimmering population predictions. ICT in agriculture is expected to play a major role in agricultural development in the developing world as many ICT solutions have proven affordable to small holder and resource poor farmers that make up about 80% of the farming community in the region. 

ICT’s role is therefore necessary in addressing many of these concerns by enabling, enhancing and facilitating solutions, thereby leap frogging agricultural outcomes that would have otherwise taken a much longer period to achieve. Several examples in the region continue to demonstrate its benefts in boosting agricultural production, enhancing information dissemination, providing marketing channels, optimizing resource and input, and in timely decision making to avoid losses. 

>> Read on the Concept Note here. 

ICT’s role is therefore necessary in addressing many of these concerns by enabling, enhancing and facilitating solutions, thereby leap frogging agricultural outcomes that would have otherwise taken a much longer period to achieve. Several examples in the region continue to demonstrate its benefts in boosting agricultural production, enhancing information dissemination, providing marketing channels, optimizing resource and input, and in timely decision making to avoid losses. 

The conference aims at achieving the following objectives:

• Highlight gains in the ICT sector that are fostering growth in agribusiness and food security in the East Africa Region
• Identify opportunities for sustaining gains and furthering geographical and technological scope in ICT for agricultural development
• Bring together stakeholders in e-agriculture to augment efforts and avoid duplication for better utilization of resources.
• Recommend actionable points for follow up with various stakeholders and identify their roles for better cohesion in the sector
• Develop a sustained approach that will guide future similar events.

Topics 

• Enabling agribusiness and food security through ICT
• Social media and digital platforms as marketing/advertising avenues for agriprenuers
• Use of forecasting and modelling for predicting disease and agricultural output
• Market linkage
• Use of smart apps/mobile technologies to improve market access
• ICT in supply chain management for effcient use of resources and increased accountability
• Use of mobile apps as information sources for seed input and crop and livestock
• Role of public and private sector in ICT policy formulation
• Role of PPs in fostering ICT literacy and application

>> SEE ALL SUB-TOPICS in this attached file 

>> See Details on exhibition Space  in this attached file

For more information online here

Related : Conferences :

• Leading Integrated Research for Agenda 2030 in Africa (LIRA 2030 Africa) programme
• CTA2017: A YEAR IN REVIEW: MOVING TO NEXT-GENERATION FARMING
• CTA Policy brief focuses on weather information services for smallholder farmers
• Drones in Agriculture :: Free eBook Available
• 2015 Africa Data Consensus Study at the High Level Conference on the Data Revolution