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Digital Development and Environment/Natural Resource Management

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Digital Development and Environment/Natural Resource Management

To: The Environment/Natural Resource Management Network within The Communication Initiative

Best wishes. How are you assessing the added value of digital technologies for increasing the effectiveness of environment and natural resource management strategies and action.

Four perspectives include:

Emerging Voices in ICT and Agriculture

ICT Can Cut Africa's Food Import Bill - Hailu

Bet on Complementarity

Digital Revolution: A Value Addition Platform to the Agricultural Ecosystem

Your view?

Thanks for engaging - Warren

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Dear Warren, Thank you for

Dear Warren,

Thank you for sharing these summaries with the Environment/Natural Resource Management Network. One theme to emerge is the centrality of engaging young people in agriculture through ICTs. Considering that we are on the cusp of the post-2015 agenda - and that several Millennium Development Goal (MDG) indicators seem to be intricately connected to empowering youth who can use their skills to address poverty, hunger, environmental issues, and so on - I wanted to pass along this link to the International Labour Organization website, which notes: "The goal of Decent Work for All and the pledges in the Millennium Declaration go hand in hand. The ILO's Decent Work Agenda, in a context of fair globalization, is essential to the achievement of these shared aims." I found it interesting to read those summaries you pointed us to as well as to consider how different communication strategies and technologies could take young farmers to whole new level on the global arena - though I have no experience with this and so would love to hear from those who actually know!

Kind regards,
Kier

Greetings to all from an

Greetings to all from an agricultural and touristic state in the US. Reading about young people in the ACP countries and the striking figure that 65% (a majority of women) of Africa's workforce is involved in agriculture, I think about how ICT is being applied to agriculture here in my home state, and whether anything that attracts young people to become farmers here would be applicable in the ACP countries.

Many farms here are now small and scaled for sustainability for the farmers and a bit of profit from micro-enterprise - similar to the ACP. A part of the movement here is populated by young people who want to create a "post-oil economy" before the need arises. In order to capture the energy and idea creation of youth, technology is crucial - so much so that there is a mandate for high speed internet covering the state (not quite a reality yet, but remarkably close to finished). Farmers use the internet for communication - including: posting problems and finding solutions; course work on learning skills including marketing, tech, and agricultural skills; sales and purchases including seed, livestock ,and farm implements; forming associations and cooperatives; marketing directly to local families; etc. Farmers use computer-based maps to plan the use of their land, identify boundaries, identify open land available for rental, chart shortest routes to market, etc.

The differences, too, are striking. An educated public reflects their concerns about nutrition and food safety by paying higher prices, and the non-agricultural economy is more than sufficient to support a large amount of micro-enterprise here. That side of the equation is more challenging in the ACP countries. Some Caribbean countries have a similarly touristic economy suitable for farmers' markets and for sale of both produce and food products. Tourism is one of the world's larger industries, so, combining agriculture with tourism offers potential economic benefits to both. Many African countries have larger non-touristic sectors that require other strategies for creating thriving farms that attract youth energy, but ICT seems to be a part of the formula that will keep innovation and interest in farming active and attractive.

All the best, Julie Levy

noted with thanks   Elias


noted with thanks
 
Elias Mhegera
Media & Information Officer 
Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition 
Tel: 255-0754-826272
        255-0715-076272
Email:
mhegeraelias@yahoo.com 
             mhegera@gmail.com 
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself 



On Thursday, March 20, 2014 4:36 PM, Development Networks <oa-incoming@comminit.com> wrote:

Let me pick briefly on the

Let me pick briefly on the reference to a 'digital revolution' made in the first comment above. There is a lot of literature on this and the changes various forms of digital technology would make to the lives of the global poor from improved access to agricultural knowledge and markets to better health care for sure but also better coordination of arms sales, smuggling and worse - on the more positive side see for instance, these search results on The Communication Initiative http://www.comminit.com/global/search/apachesolr_search/digital%20revolution?filters=tid:36

As someone who was living in southern African when mobile phone technology took off and who saw the slow but constant growth of internet access and telecommunications into ever more remote areas the changes have in many ways been revolutionary and as with all major transitions have come with good and bad sides and unexpected consequences. The question for me is not whether the expansion of digital technology has brought a revolutionary change for many people it is more about understanding where that revolution is taking us, who will benefit in the medium to long term and how do engage with this new force to reinforce its potential for positive change.

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