+ Keynote 1: Digital Responses to COVID-19 Disruptions

Our keynotes will tell the stories of disruptions, so present in everyone’s minds these days. As this fully virtual conference demonstrates, digital solutions are a significant way people’s lives have pivoted during the pandemic. What does this mean for agriculture and smallholder farmers? By learning from the efforts of successful startups, researchers, and USAID Missions, this session will speak to the ways in which digital technology can foster resilience in the time of COVID.

+ Keynote 2: Digital Mitigation of Ongoing Climate Disruptions

As the climate changes, our farmers and agriculture value chains face ever shifting challenges across many factors of their operation. What opportunity do ICT solutions pose for these disruptions, and how can we take advantage of the ability to see and react to the world using digital solutions?

+ Keynote 3: Digital Responses to Layered Disruptions

So far in the ICTforAg global keynotes we’ve covered two of the major disruptions happening in the world today - but crises don’t happen one at a time. What happens when you add COVID-19 on top of an existing political, economic or natural crisis? How do digital solutions prepare communities to react and respond, and how can we make our ICT solutions ready for many disruptions that are guaranteed to continue to come on top of one another?

+ Closing: What Comes Next?

A final wrap-up of all we've learned, and a charge for going forward! Including a fireside chat with Africa Food Prize Winner Catherine Nakalembe.

+ Shrinking the Gender Digital Divide

Girls and women, particularly those living in the global South, often have less access to and opportunities to use the necessary digital tools for economic stability and resilience. Initiatives around the globe are working to harness digital technologies to build more inclusive economies and increase women's access to these tools. This session will explore the success and insights of initiatives dedicated to closing this gender digital divide by meeting the needs of women in agripreneurship and farming.

+ Ask Me Anything: AgTech Innovators

This 'Ask Me Anything: AgTech Innovators' plenary will take us through a series of questions we posed to entrepreneurs who work in ICTforAg. Their remarks will help us see not only the inspiring visions, but also the stumbling blocks, unforeseen challenges, big breaks, and the less glamorous side of innovation work. We'll hear what advice they have for agripreneurs following in their footsteps, and save time for some fun, too!

+ Ask Me Anything: Farmers

Let's hear from the farmers! So much of the discussion today is how can we make ICT work for farmers around the world, but what do they think? This session will highlight the experiences of farmers around the world, reminding us all of what it means to ultimately put these technologies into practice.

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+ Digitizing Points of Contact During COVID-19

Digital solutions have become even more important amidst the context of COVID-19. As ICTforAg has transitioned to the virtual realm, so have many farmers’ transactions. Here are a few examples of removing points of contact to protect farmers and others in the value chain from coronavirus.

+ Getting Phones in Farmers' Hands

Many of the solutions discussed across ICTforAg programming rely on farmers’ connectivity via mobile phone, whether standard or smartphone. This session will explore some projects working to get phones in the hands of farmers who do not yet have them.

+ Crop Health from Outer Space

Geospatial technology provides new opportunities for evaluating, predicting, and responding to crop health on a local level. This session will outline some of the satellite-based technologies and how they’re being implemented on the ground.

+ When Low Tech is High Tech

Sometimes less is more - and this is true for technology, too. Many times, the best digital solutions are the simplest or most well-established ones. This session will explore tools like social media and radio as important, if straightforward, implementation tools.

+ Beyond Farmer Information Services

Oftentimes the focus tends to be on technology for farmer information services, but digital solutions provide so much more than that. In this session we’ll outline a few examples that demonstrate some of the breadth of possibility in the application of technology for agriculture and farming communities.

Digital banking influences every part of the agricultural system. Here we’ll hear about loans, savings products, and mobile money for ag co-ops across Africa.

+ Digital Money for Ecosystems Across Africa

Digital banking influences every part of the agricultural system. Here we’ll hear about loans, savings products, and mobile money for ag co-ops across Africa.

+ Farmer Voices Shaping Private Sector Support

Farmers are at the center of our food systems. Funded by FCDO’s Strengthening Impact Investment Markets for Agriculture, 60 Decibels has been speaking with 500 Kenyan farmers every month since June to understand their experience of the pandemic. Their insights, presented in full on this online dashboard, are being used by social enterprises like Mediae and Agri Wallet to meet farmers’ big needs – cash, market access and inputs. Join this discussion moderated by Mercy Corps’ AgriFin Accelerate Program to see how private sector players are using Lean Data insights and digital infrastructure to support farmers in navigating COVID-19. You’ll hear us share examples of what’s working and reflecting on the additional work we need to collectively keep doing.

+ Digital Technology and Its Role in Advancing and Ensuring Resilience for Youth in Agri-food Systems Beyond COVID-19

Young people, who have the greatest handle on all things digital, will also be the future of agriculture globally. What are the ways we can cultivate a food secure future through our young people?

Please see the translation of the Spanish section to English here.

+ Translating Research to Action: Advancing Digital Financial Inclusion in Guatemala, Senegal, and Burkina Faso

This session builds on a set of recently released findings from three research projects conducted by MIT CITE in collaboration with three USAID Missions and USAID Washington. By discussing similar barriers and benefits cited across the three studies and addressing unique challenges in each market, this group will lead us towards outlining potential paths towards greater financial inclusion for women, especially how the various actors involved can respond to the research and recommendations.

+ (French language session) TIC pour les chaînes des valeur agricoles

Une série de discussions.

+ Informed AgroExtension

Enabling farmers and agricultural extension workers to adopt sustainable and scalable practices requires access to complete and user-friendly models and data, as well as meaningful points of connection to the community for on demand information. How can modelers, data scientists, and technology disruptors build systems to inform agricultural extension?

+ Facilitating Digital Inclusion through Private Sector Engagement

Achieving inclusive digital systems will require active multi-sector participation. The aim of this session is to outline some of the ways that development programming is instigating this engagement. Speakers will share different angles in various country contexts, and discuss ways of moving this work forward.

+ (Spanish language session) Los Co-Beneficios de la Agricultura Centrada en el Cambio Climático

Traducción de presentación. Traducción de discusión.

Los Co-Beneficios de la Agricultura Centrada en el Cambio Climático (Session in Spanish)

Los agricultores, científicos e investigadores están cada vez más enfocados en las formas en que los sistemas agrícolas pueden abordar tanto la seguridad alimentaria como el cambio climático. En los últimos años, el papel de la agricultura regenerativa en restablecer la salud y funcionalidad de suelos se ha vuelto más común. Los beneficios potenciales de estas prácticas incluyen una mejor resiliencia, altos rendimientos y la captura de carbono. La tecnología es una herramienta fundamental para evaluar la escalabilidad, la optimización y los resultados, incluido el secuestro de carbono y la densidad de nutrientes. En esta sesión, escucharemos de expertos que trabajan en la intersección del secuestro de carbono, la seguridad alimentaria y la tecnología.

The Co-Benefits of Climate-Friendly Farming

Farmers, scientists, and researchers are increasingly exploring ways agriculture systems can tackle both food security and climate change. In recent years, the role of building soil health through regenerative farming practices has become more mainstream. The potential benefits of these practices include better resilience, high yields, and carbon capture. Technology is a pivotal tool for evaluating scalability and outcomes, including carbon sequestration and nutrient density. In this session, we’ll learn from experts working at the intersection of carbon sequestration, food security, and technology

+ The Future of AI in Agriculture

The world population is expected to grow by another two billion people by 2050, yet the arable land resource is expected to stay the same. AI is one tool that technologists and researchers are fitting in to sustainable systems for farming. What does this look like? We'll explore one example and discuss implications and shortcomings of AI for agriculture.

+ Country-level Digital Ag Ecosystems

One of today's themes has been systems approaches to technology in agriculture. Systems come at many levels, communities, and sectors. This session will review various assessments of country systems. What is the status of digital in a country as a whole, and what does that mean for the succesful implementation of agriculture-based programming? How does this contribute towards continued progress in rural communities?

+ Social Hour: Wakeup, ICTforAg!

Social Hour - Wake up, ICTforAg! from DevGlobal 3 on Vimeo.

This session will explore the various beverages we start our mornings with, and what those value chains look like around the world. You'll hear from our speakers and organizing team on what some of their morning routines look like!

+ Social Hour: Digitally Enabled Music for Agriculture

This session will dig into a recent adventure at the intersection of ag, tech, and MUSIC. Look forward to some exciting music coming from Colombia, Kenya, and India. This is also a perfect time to look through the list of attendees and message someone who you want to connect with today!

+ Social Hour: Staple Crops and Me!

This session will dig into the important role rice in our daily lives. What dishes do we love, how do we cook it? You'll hear from our speakers and from some of the ICTforAg organizing team.