Eric White, Integra LLC’s Lead Economist and Managing Associate, will join a panel next Wednesday, May 15th at the World Bank Info Shop. At the event, entitled “Breaking the Rural – Urban Divide”, panelists will be discussing two books released by the World Bank Press; Structural Transformation and Rural Change Revisited and Financing Africa’s Cities. As [...]

According to a United Nations Environmental Programme –International Water Management Institute report, “An Ecosystems Approach to Water and Food Security”, ecosystem services should be incorporated into food security efforts, as should the proper incentives needed to involve local members of the community.  In part three of our Ecosystem Services series, we take a look at [...]

I participated in a very informative event this week in Washington DC where a researcher was sharing his experience on “Weather-Index based Crop Insurance for Smallholder Farmers in Ethiopia”. As I listened to the discussion as an agricultural information specialist, my concern was what is the role of mobile technologies in this? According to the [...]

There is no doubt that the current surge in mobile innovations for agricultural development is defying the normal progressive growth of agricultural technologies over the past decades. For centuries, innovations in agricultural technologies have been progressively slow. The emergent of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and their innovative use to support agricultural extension and advisory services [...]

On Monday, July 23, 2012 the Center for American Progress hosted Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, Melanne Verveer for a discussion on “Women’s Economic Success and Global Growth.” Amb. Verveer’s talk focused on the crucial role women play in sustainable development and economic growth worldwide. US women generate $3.5 trillion yearly, and women’s employment in developing countries [...]

Food security in the Horn of Africa hinges on greater investment in ICT infrastructure and capacity building. In large part, this will depend on the transfer of technology. But experts note that even a modest increase in technology transfer and information, through the agriculture value chain, could improve yields, distribution and ultimately strengthen food security. [...]

Sustained economic development, including efforts to reap and secure gains in food security, in Africa hinges on regional integration. The impetus for the rapid pace at which regional integration projects were deepened across the continent, in the last decade, underscores this. In particular, African states acknowledged the political and economic benefits of regional integration, as [...]

Agriculture is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and this makes finding a balance between increasing food production and limiting greenhouse gas emissions a major challenge. In fact, there are few global research projects with a focus on reducing agricultural greenhouse gases, compared to the energy and transport sectors. But this could all [...]

USAID representatives yesterday at a panel discussion hosted by the Partnership to Cut Hunger and Poverty in Africa came out strongly in support of Food Security through Agricultural Development.  Rob Bertram, a biotechnology Team Leader in EGAT’s office of Environment and Science Policy, spoke about the need to increase productivity and to facilitate regional trade, [...]

Or more precisely, swarming micro air vehicles, to create a communications cloud where infrastructure is destroyed during an emergency like an earthquake.  SciDev reports on a Swiss  innovation that hovers at the extreme end of ICT4D – at least for now.  Flying robots could help in disaster rescue – SciDev.Net. But the same team also [...]