Sophie Treinen,
Information and Knowledge Management Officer
Knowledge Outreach Team Leader
October 2015
10 year review report
Implementation of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS)
Action Line C7 - ICT Applications: e-agriculture

WSIS Action Line
C7. ICT applications: benefits in all aspects
of life “e-agriculture”
Origins: setting the scene
World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)
Geneva, December 2003
Tunis, November 2005
Geneva Plan of Action

Definition of e-Agriculture
e-Agriculture is seen as an emerging field focusing on the
enhancement of agricultural and rural development through
improved information and communication processes.
More specifically, e-Agriculture involves the
conceptualization, design, development, evaluation and
application of innovative ways to use ICT in the rural domain,
with a primary focus on agriculture.
Standards, norms, methodologies, tools, development of individual and
institutional capacities, and policy support are all key components of e-
Agriculture

5

www.fao.org/3/a-i4605e.pdf

10 year review
with thematic focus
• Agriculture value chains
• Risk management
• Market price information
• Agriculture advisory services
• E-agriculture policies
• Capacity development
• Participatory communications
• Information management and knowledge exchange
for agricultural innovation systems
• Knowledge sharing and good practices
in online community

8
Recent developments and
emerging trends
• Mobile telephony
• From mobile phones to smartphones
• Mobile finance services
• Greater use of ICT in agriculture
• e-Agriculture strategies in ICT policies
• Online (mobile) learning
• Growing use of big/open/real-time
data collection and analysis

9
Current and future challenges
1. Content
2. Capacity development
3. Gender and diversity
4. Access and participation
5. Partnerships
6. Technologies
7. Economic, social and environmental
sustainability

10
Recommendations
1. Content
Reliable and trusteed sources
language
context
equitable - timely access
useful information
appropriate formats
innovations from rural communities

11
Recommendations
2. Capacity development

12
Recommendations
3. Gender and diversity
• Gender, youth and diversity
systematically addressed in
planning, design and implementation
• Gender-disaggregated data
• Youth’s access and familiarity
with technologies leveraged in
project design and capacity development.

13
Recommendations
4. Access and participation
• Digital inclusion for men and women
• Collaboration and knowledge sharing
via communities of practice
• Adoption of open access
and interoperability standards

14
Recommendations
5. Partnerships
• Public-private Partnership with non-state
actors for inclusive, efficient, affordable
and sustainable ICT services and initiatives
• strengthened in ability of producers
to adopt and integrate ICTs
into their daily operations and service
provision to their members

15
Recommendations
6. Technologies
• Blended approaches,
such as a combination of
radio and telephone, and locally relevant
• Based on in-depth analysis of local needs
• Mobile information services
and voice-based services

16
Recommendations
7. Economic, social and environmental
sustainability
• Access within the price range of the poor
• Sustainable financial recovery mechanism
• Participatory approach - inclusiveness
• Open access policies and initiatives
• Appropriate and environmentally-friendly
technologies for collecting, storing,
recycling, treating and disposing of e-waste

About e-Agriculture CoP
e-Agriculture is a global Community of Practice
for the exchange of knowledge about the use of
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)
for sustainable agriculture and rural development
www.e-agriculture.org

18

Founding partners in 2006

Launched in 2007 by 14 founding partners
Winner of WSIS Project Prize 2012
More than 13 000 registered members
from 170 countries and territories
25 online forums
in collaboration with 60 Forum Partners
174 blog posts
3001 news and events
904 knowledge base resources
e-Agriculture.org “Facts and Figures”
Statistics as of September 2015
20

Growth of the Community
Statistics as of 31 December 2014
23 580
12 139
5 728
5 386
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2013 2014
Twitter Followers
e-Agriculture
Registered
Members
LinkedIn group
members
Facebook page
likes
21

E-Agriculture content
News and events
A list of the main of ICT4Ag news and events around the world
Blogs
A way for e-Agriculture registered members write articles and
share experiences
Knowledge Base Resources
Informative Knowledge Base with hundreds of resources
published by members all over the world
Forum

Face-to-face events
The e-Agriculture Community, in close collaboration
with partners and members of our Community,
participates, organizes
and promotes face-to-face events.

Contacts – Join us
Website www.e-agriculture.org
Email info@e-agriculture.org
Facebook e-Agriculture.org
Twitter @e_agriculture
LinkedIn e-Agriculture
Google+ e-Agriculture
SlideShare e-Agriculture Community of Practice
YouTube e-agriculture.org