technological innovations

This study ‘Geodata and ICT Solutions for Inclusive Finance and Food Security’, commissioned by NpM, Platform for Inclusive Finance, presents an overview of the possibilities and challenges of using geo-data and ICTs to improve agricultural production and access to finance for smallholder farmers. The publication is based on an analysis of 250 projects. »

This article showcases apps that aim to limit food wastage, both food losses and waste. Most of the apps aim to decrease food waste, however one app, the Cheetah App developed by the researchers from the University of Twente focuses on reducing food losses. The Cheetah app, which is currently being trialed by around 80 users in Ghana, shows farmers, food transporters and traders the fastest route to market, and even shows how to avoid ad hoc roadblocks set up to take bribes from drivers. »

This paper by IIED presents the reflections of more than 160 Chinese agronomists who have spent time implementing Chinese agricultural technologies in Africa. Chinese actors are increasingly engaging in African agriculture. This research, conducted by the newly constituted research division of the Foreign Economic Cooperation Centre (FECC) of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture, can be seen as a first step to gain insight into their experiences, in order to allow a more productive dialogue with a range of stakeholders in China-Africa agriculture engagement. »

This review in the Acta Physiologiae Plantarum Journal, describes the progress made towards the adverse effects of abnormal temperatures on various growth stages in legumes and propose appropriate strategies to resolve these effects. Of the various environmental stresses that a plant can experience, temperature has the widest and most far-reaching effects on legumes. »

This book makes the “business case” for the role of biotechnology innovations for sustainable development in emerging and developing economies. It seeks to support the factual debate on biosciences and technology for developing and emerging economies. »

This article demonstrates that showing agricultural extension videos significantly increased farmers’ knowledge of recommended practices on seed selection, storage and handling. The video messages were delivered through Android tablets to a sample of potato farmers in southwestern Uganda. This research suggests that videos should be crop and context specific, featuring model farmers to maximize the potential of videos to leverage knowledge farmers already possess but may not be confident enough to use. »