The introduction of digital technologies is, undoubtedly, a prerequisite for transforming agrifood systems and making them more sustainable and resilient in the face of climate change. These technologies enable stakeholders to make much more efficient use of external inputs and natural resources, thus helping to reduce environmental impacts.
San José, November 27, 2023 (IICA). The use of digital technologies in agriculture continues to gather pace in the Americas with new activities implemented in Colombia and Mexico under the Digitalization of Agrifood Systems Program of the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). Drawing on its technical expertise and a network of key actors in the digital ecosystem –especially AgTechs–, the program promotes the application of digital solutions and inclusive sustainable development in rural areas.
The IICA program, headed by specialist Federico Bert, took part in ICTforAg (https://ictforag.com), the foremost global digital agriculture event, which brings together experts and enthusiasts committed to finding solutions to the challenges facing agrifood systems through digitalization. This year, the global event was complemented with regional meetings, including one in Latin America (LATAM).
The in-person ICTforAg event for LATAM was organized jointly by IICA, CGIAR and CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center), and held at CIMMYT’s Headquarters in Mexico.
The LATAM meeting brought together AgTechs –mostly members of the network set up at the IICA Week of Digital Agriculture events held in 2022 and 2023– and representatives of public research institutes, investment funds and corporations from the agrifood industry in Mexico and the rest of the region.
The discussions focused on the elements required for responsible digitalization in the Latin American and Caribbean countries, with participants agreed on the need to promote and facilitate the use of already existing digital technologies that could have a strong positive impact on a wide variety of producers.
The introduction of digital technologies is, undoubtedly, a prerequisite for transforming agrifood systems and making them more sustainable and resilient in the face of climate change. These technologies enable stakeholders to make much more efficient use of external inputs and natural resources, thus helping to reduce environmental impacts. In short, they provide a means to produce more with less.
In addition, a number of digital resources that are already available make it possible to anticipate, monitor and manage extreme climate events (droughts are a case in point), directly helping to sustain production levels in the face of adverse scenarios and thereby improving food security and farmers’ resilience.
During the event, participants worked on a roadmap for developing projects designed to promote digitalization in the Central, Andean and Southern regions.
In Colombia, the activities aimed at promoting the digitalization of agrifood systems included a dialogue on digital technologies and their impact on extension and technical assistance processes. The organizers of the event were the IICA Delegation in Colombia, the Relaser network, Colombia’s Rural Development Agency (ADR) and AGROSAVIA. IICA was also involved in the launch of Agro Digital, a joint initiative by Colombia’s Chamber of E-Commerce and Google on the Ya Estoy Online platform. The launch took place at the offices of Google Colombia.
At the event held at the offices of the IICA Delegation in Colombia, participants presented experiences involving the use of digital technologies in rural extension and technical assistance processes. The advantages of using technologies for extension and assistance were analyzed in detail, as were the obstacles that limit their use.
Bert presented some of the initiatives in this area that IICA has studied. He highlighted cases involving the use of mass communication tools, such as WhatsApp, and platforms offered by AgTechs that specialize in extension. He singled out for special mention the benefits and limitations of artificial intelligence in these processes.
The experts involved in the discussions agreed on the continued usefulness of traditional extension and assistance mechanisms, and the opportunities that digital technologies offer for enhancing them.
The platform developed by Google and Colombia’s Chamber of E-Commerce is designed to facilitate the integration of Colombian farmers into digital circuits, focusing not only on efficient ways of marketing products, but also on training in the use of digital technologies.
The launch included presentations and discussions on digitalization in agriculture, especially the advantages they offer for marketing products.
Federico Bert gave a presentation on the advance of digitalization in agriculture in the Americas and its benefits, highlighting certain challenges that must be borne in mind so that no one is excluded from the process.
More information:
Institutional Communication Division.
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