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Some best start-ups involved in the AgriHack Talent program

Fri, 19 Jan 2018 09:32:48 +0000

Since the launching of the Pitch AgriHack Initiative, that aims at strengthening ICT innovation and entrepreneurship by youth in agriculture, some 700 young innovators and entrepreneurs took part in its hackathons and start-up contests. These beneficiaries had the opportunity to be involved in other CTA activities and those of its partners (Apps4Ag, Plug and Play events, etc.). The best start-ups involved so far have benefited from about USD 1 million (investment and grants from various national and international parties).Here are brief notes on some of the best start-ups involved so far in the competitions of the AgriHack Talent Program of CTA:

Great opportunities for young entrepreneurs – Winners of Pitch AgriHack WA 2017

Thu, 18 Jan 2018 13:02:16 +0000

The final stage of CTA’s Pitch AgriHack West Africa competition took place at the 7th African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF 2017), on 7th September 2017, in Abidjan. The winners of the early stage category, efarms – a Nigerian-based online networking platform and Farmart Limited – a Ghanian online food market, were rewarded grants of €7,500 and €5,000 respectively. For the advanced category winners, Bayseddo – a Senegalese agri-financing platform and AgroCenta – an online marketplace for agricultural produce founded in Ghana, received €15,000 and €12,500 in funding respectively. On top of that, CTA’s partner, the Mali-based Suguba, offered two special prizes of each €2,000.

Winners of the 2016 Pitch AgriHack contest announced!

Thu, 18 Jan 2018 10:19:37 +0000

Pitch AgriHack, which aims to accelerate youth-led e-agriculture entrepreneurship for improved livelihoods and food security, unveiled the winners of the 2016 pitching event. The announcement was made during an award ceremony in Nairobi, Kenya, on 24 November 2016. The competition was hotly contested with 25 finalists, selected out of 152 e-agriculture startups from across Africa and the Caribbean. Before the announcement of winners, finalists benefited from a training boot camp on 22 November at Ihub Nairobi, focused on offering successful business services in e-agriculture. The finalists were also coached on how to pitch effectively. On 23 November, they presented their services publicly before a jury and an audience composed of agriculture and ICT experts and institutions, including venture capitals.

The panel of judges consisted of McKenzie Slaughter, from Prohaus VC (venture capital firm, United States); Niraj Varia, from Novastar Ventures (venture catalyst firm, East Africa), Hervé Pillaud, from the Vendée Chamber of Agriculture (France) and Agreenstartup (agriculture startup competition); Jermaine Henry, from Devlabs (venture capital firm, Americas), Ralph von Kaufmann, from Hakika Ltd (UK), and Peris Bosire from FarmDrive (startup, Kenya).

Pitch AgriHack 2016 was organised by CTA in collaboration with the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the support of partners including the Centre for Agricultural Bioscience International (CABI) and mLab East Africa.

Grants to enhance and scale up services offered to farmers

Four startups were selected as official winners: three in the early stage category and one in the advanced stage category

Read more on CTA's corporate website

Supporting youth in agriculture networking through social reporting

Tue, 31 Jan 2017 14:38:43 +0000

There is a general perception that youth in agriculture, perhaps like their counterparts in other fields, often find themselves on the fringes of regional and global agricultural development discourses due a number of factors – among which are limited access to resources and platforms that can aid their active participation.

To address this concern, several governments and development organisations working with youth have, in the past years, developed strategies to engage youth in agriculture, encourage their participation in agriculture development discussions, and stimulate their energies towards contributing to finding solutions to some of agriculture’s problems – especially in the developing world.

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) has been one of the organisations at the forefront of this provision of support to youth in agriculture. Drawing on its Youth Strategy, which defines its engagement with young people in the field, CTA has made and continues to make significant contributions to the appeal of agriculture as a profession for youth and the development of young people engaged in the field.

One interesting way (among others) CTA contributes to the development of youth in agriculture is through the organisation and facilitation of social reporting activities within the framework of agricultural conferences hosted by the organisation or its partners. These activities enable youth to use social media tools and applications to disseminate live reports from such conferences and workshops (among others), individually and collectively.

Social reporting activities also provide the platform to reach out to a wider audience especially those who are not physically present at the event, in addition to helping those present but limited by ability to only sit-in at one side event to follow the summary of discussions in other side-events. Social reporting deepens engagement by allowing feedback from the online audience to the conference organisers, speakers and panellists.

This interactive platform helps youth in agriculture to be able to refine their own views and to engage with older professionals they may encounter difficulty in accessing in other circumstances. It also helps youth to showcase their own knowledge and grasp of the themes of the conference and contribute their ideas to the discussions – possibly opening up professional or entrepreneurial opportunities to these youth.

In the past years, CTA has either organised or co-organised a number of these social reporting activities with impressive results in terms of engagement analytics and the feedback from the youth involved. See details on the activities below:

ICT4Ag Conference 2013 – Kigali, Rwanda

This was a social reporting fully organised by CTA within the framework of its conference on ICT for agriculture held in Kigali, Rwanda from 4 – 8 November, 2013. The were 15 social reporters in all.

Dashboard: http://www.ict4ag.org/en/

Blog: http://blog.cta.int/category/past-events/ict4ag/

Call for Application: http://bit.ly/2kjQz1b

Fin4Ag Conference 2014 – Nairobi, Kenya

Dashboard: http://www.fin4ag.org/

Blog: http://blog.cta.int/tag/fin4ag/

Call for Application: http://bit.ly/2jTMsrG

Pacific Agri-Tourism Week 2015 – Nadi, Fiji

Dashboard: https://lrd.spc.int/pacagrito

Blog: http://blog.cta.int/category/past-events/pacific-agritourism-week-2015/

Call for Application: http://bit.ly/2iVSush

Caribbean-Pacific Agri-Food Forum 2015 (CPAF2015) – Bridgetown, Barbados

Dashboard: http://bit.ly/cpaf2015

Blog: http://blog.cta.int/category/past-events/caribbean-pacific-agri-food-forum/

Call for Application: http://bit.ly/2k8MqcR

7th Africa Agriculture Science Week 2016 (AASW7) – Kigali, Rwanda

Dashboard: http://faraafrica.org/aasw7/

Blog: http://blog.cta.int/category/past-events/7th-africa-agriculture-science-week/

Call for Application: http://bit.ly/2j5G0tb

Caribbean Week of Agriculture 2016 (CWA2016) – Grand Cayman, Cayman Island

Dashboard: https://www.cwa2016cayman.com/

Blog: http://blog.cta.int/category/caribbean-week-of-agriculture/

Call for Application: http://bit.ly/cwa2016-social-report

Blending4Ag Conference 2016 – Brussels, Belgium

Dashboard: http://blending4ag.org/en/

Blog: http://blog.cta.int/category/blending4ag/

Call for Application: http://bit.ly/2jQzgn8

Forum on Cassava in Central Africa 2016 – Yaoundé, Cameroon

Dashboard: http://bit.ly/cassava-forum2016

Blog: http://blog.cta.int/category/forum-on-cassava/

Evènement Plug & Play du CTA : Appel à l’innovation

Wed, 12 Oct 2016 10:07:59 +0000

Nous avons le plaisir de vous annoncer que le CTA organise un évènement Plug & Play lors de la prochaine conférence sur le marché des céréales en Afrique de l’Ouest qui se tiendra en Novembre 2016 à Ouagadougou, Burkina-Faso.

L’Evènement Plug & Play est « le rendez-vous numérique pour l’agriculture » qui permet aux innovateurs de faire la démonstration de leurs outils et systèmes ICT4Ag, à tour de rôle, offrant ainsi aux participants l’occasion d’expérimenter autant d’innovations auxquels ils s’intéressent.

Vous êtes développeur d’application ou fournisseur de services TICs pour l’agriculture ?

Proposez votre solution avant le 21 octobre 2016 pour profiter de cette fantastique opportunité pour démontrer vos solutions à vos potentiels futurs clients et augmenter votre visibilité vis-à-vis du secteur agricole et de potentiels investisseurs et partenaires.
Visitez le lien suivant pour soumettre votre proposition : https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/B2JWMLY

A propos des précédents Evènements Plug & Play :
Le CTA dispose d’une expérience unique et prouvée dans l’organisation des évènements Plug & Play depuis le premier du genre qui s’est tenu à Kigali (Rwanda), lors de la Conférence Internationale ICT4Ag en 2013.
Aujourd’hui, après 7 éditions, les Evènements Plug & Play du CTA revendiquent :

Plus de 1000 participants
80 solutions uniques démontrées par des innovateurs de 27 pays de par le monde
Et aussi :

42% de participants ayant établis des relations fructueuses avec les innovateurs

31% de participants ayant découverts des nouvelles solutions TIC

28% de participants ayant découverts des solutions pertinentes vis-à-vis de leur activité

64% de participants très satisfaits de l’organisation et du format des évènements et 33% de participants « moyennement » satisfaits….

Pour plus d’informations, visitez les liens ci-dessous :

Plug & Play à la Conférence ICT4Ag, Kigali Rwanda: http://ict4ag.org/en/agenda/sessions.html
Plug & Play à la Conférence Fin4Ag, Nairobi, Kenya: http://fin4ag.org/en/agenda/plug-and-play-day.html
Plug & Play à l’Atelier des Systèmes d’Information de Marchés, Arusha Tanzanie: http://web.archive.org/web/20150110234803/http:/www.ifdc.org/training/plug-play-day-at-agricultural-market-information-s.aspx
Plug & Play à l’AFAAS Extension Week, Addis Ababa, Ethiopie: http://www.ict4ras.org/category/apps/
Plug & Play au Centre d’Innovation Verte de la GIZ, Feldafing, Allemagne: http://www.cta.int/images/Plug__Play_draft_profiles_of_service_providers_English.pdf
Plug & Play au Forum global pour l’innovation dans l’agriculture (GFIA), Durban Afrique du Sud : http://www.cta.int/images/Plug__Play_Day_Presenters.pdf
Plug & Play au Sommet mondial de la société de l’information (WSIS), Genève, Suisse : https://www.itu.int/net4/wsis/forum/2016/Agenda/Session/198

CTA’s Plug & Play Event: Call for Innovation

Mon, 10 Oct 2016 15:32:24 +0000

We are glad to announce that CTA will host a Plug & Play Event during the next conference on Grain Trade in West Africa, in November 2016, in Ouagadougou, Burkina-Faso.

CTA’s Plug & Play Event is the « Tech-Dating for Agriculture » which allows ICT4Ag innovators to demonstrate their systems in-turns thereby allowing participants to experience as many innovations that is of interest.

Are you an application developer or an ICT service for agriculture provider?

Submit your solution before 21st October 2016 to take advantage of this fantastic opportunity to demonstrate your solution to your potential new customers and increase your visibility toward the agri-business sector and eventual investors and partners.
Click on the following link to submit your proposal : https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/B2JWMLY

About previous Plug & Play Events:
CTA has a unique experience and the track record of organizing Plug & Play events since the first of its kind which was organised in Kigali (Rwanda), during the 2013 ICT4Ag International Conference.
Today, after 7 iterations, CTA’s Plug & Play Events claim:

A reach of more than 1000 participants
Over 80 different solutions demonstrated by innovators from 27 countries in the world
About

42% of participants successfully networked with innovators

31% of participants discovered new ICT solutions

28% of participants found relevant solutions for their work

64% of participants were very satisfied with the event’s organisation and format, and additional 33% found it “quite well” satisfying ….

For more information on past Plug & Play events, visit the following portals:

Plug & Play at ICT4Ag Conference, Kigali Rwanda: http://ict4ag.org/en/agenda/sessions.html
Plug & Play at Fin4Ag Conference, Nairobi, Kenya: http://fin4ag.org/en/agenda/plug-and-play-day.html
Plug & Play at MIS Workshop, Arusha Tanzania: http://web.archive.org/web/20150110234803/http:/www.ifdc.org/training/plug-play-day-at-agricultural-market-information-s.aspx
Plug & Play at AFAAS Extension Week, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: http://www.ict4ras.org/category/apps/
Plug & Play at GIZ Green Innovation Centre, Feldafing, Germany: http://www.cta.int/images/Plug__Play_draft_profiles_of_service_providers_English.pdf
Plug & Play at Global Forum for Innovations in Agriculture (GFIA), Durban South Africa: http://www.cta.int/images/Plug__Play_Day_Presenters.pdf
Plug & Play at World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), Geneva, Switzerland: https://www.itu.int/net4/wsis/forum/2016/Agenda/Session/198

Call for Social Reporters - Blending Finance for Agriculture Conference

Tue, 20 Sep 2016 21:38:56 +0000

The Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA), in collaboration with several other organisations involved in innovative agricultural financing, is organising the Blending for Agriculture (Blending4Ag) conference, from 7 – 8 November 2016 in Brussels, Belgium.

On this occasion, CTA is organising a social reporting activity.

Specific objectives
The specific objectives of Social Reporting project are to:

Raise awareness before, during and after the Blending for Agriculture conference on the topics/sessions of the conference through a strong online presence and promotion;
Enable direct and indirect stakeholders who are not physically present at the event to be updated on the conference sessions and as much as possible engage them in discussions;
Feedback online buzz from the audience to the conference organisers / facilitators by bringing the conversation to the sessions;
Strengthen the knowledge and networking of youth and their organisations in the area of agribusiness and finance, as well as in social media reporting.

This call is launched for onsite social reporters only. However, young social media enthusiasts interested in contributing remotely to the reporting on the event can indicate their interest to join the online team.

Highly committed members of the remote social reporters’ team will receive e-certificates at the end of the event.

Social reporting for the Blending for Agriculture conference is a voluntary task.

Selection criteria

Be between 18 and 30 years of age;
Have good agricultural finance or agribusiness background;
Proven skills in the use of social media for reporting;
Be competent in the use of French or English language;
Be a good communicator and commit to contribute actively to the Social Reporting activity.
Be a national of an African, a Caribbean or a Pacific country; young professionals nationals of the European Union and interested in issues relating to African, Caribbean or Pacific agriculture will be considered; the application of candidates based in Europe will receive a particular attention)

Priority will be given to female candidates.

How to Apply/Deadline
All persons interested in being part of the onsite social reporting team should fill out this form https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Blending4Ag-social-reporting by 28 September, 2016.

Inscription en français: aller ici http://bit.ly/blending4Ag-fr

Young social media enthusiasts interested in contributing remotely to the reporting on the event can indicate interest to join the online team (send a mail to ardyis-project@cta.int, with "Blending4Ag Remote social reporting” as subject line). Highly committed members of the remote social reporters’ team will receive e-certificates after the event.

Contact
The social reporting is managed by the ARDYIS Project of CTA. Further information or clarification can be directed by email to the ARDYIS project team at ardyis-project@cta.int with “Blending4Ag Social Reporting” as subject line.

About the event
Blending for Agriculture is a new strategy that permits public funds to be leveraged for unlocking private finance for farmers. The event, organised in collaboration with several of the leading organizations in this domain, will accommodate decision-makers from international development organizations, commercial banks, foundations, investment funds, microfinance institutions, central banks, agri-value chain stakeholders and farmers' organizations.

Call for Social Reporters - Caribbean Week of Agriculture 2016 (CWA2016)

Wed, 24 Aug 2016 11:13:42 +0000

In the framework of the Caribbean Week of Agriculture 2016 (CWA2016), the Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA) through the Intra-ACP Agricultural Policy Programme (Intra-ACP APP) will be organising an onsite social reporting activity. The event will be held from 24th to 28th October 2016 in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands.

Specific objectives
The specific objectives of the Social Reporting project are to:

Raise awareness during and after the Caribbean Week of Agriculture on the topics/sessions of the conference through a strong online presence and promotion;
Enable direct and indirect stakeholders who are not physically present at the event to be updated on the conference sessions and as much as possible engage them in discussions;
Use social media as an advocacy tool and share discussions (challenges and recommendations) from the sessions;
Strengthen the knowledge and networking of youth and their organisations in the area of agricultural science, technology and innovation, as well as in social media reporting;
Contribute to improving the development of youth in agriculture in the Caribbean and Pacific regions.

CTA’s involvement will be in the framework of its support for the capacity development of youth in agriculture. This is in line with the overall core objectives of the Intra-ACP APP in contributing to capacity building of youth across Caribbean and Pacific region.

The social reporting team is composed of 3 sub-teams; the coordinating team, on-site social reporters and online social reporters. This call is launched for onsite social reporters only, and is ONLY opened to those from the Caribbean and Pacific regions.

However, young social media enthusiasts interested in contributing remotely to the reporting on the event can indicate their interest to join the online team (send an e-mail to ardyis-project@cta.int).

Highly committed members of the remote social reporters’ team will receive e-certificates at the end of the event.

Social reporting for the Caribbean Week of Agriculture is a voluntary task.

Selection criteria
•    Be between 18 and 35 years of age;
•    Be a national of a Caribbean or Pacific country;
•    Be involved or strongly interested in agriculture or related fields;
•    Proven basic skills in the use of social media for reporting;
•    Be competent in the use of French or English language;
•    Be a good communicator and commit to contribute actively to the Social Reporting activity.

How to Apply/Deadline
All persons interested in being part of the onsite social reporting team should fill out this form https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CWA2016-social-reporting by 31 August, 2016.

Interested social reporters will be informed of their selection and about the modalities of joining the social reporting team onsite.

Contact
This activity is coordinated by CTA (through the ARDYIS Project). Further information or clarification can be directed by email to the ARDYIS project team at ardyis-project@cta.int with “Caribbean Week of Agriculture 2016 Social Reporting” as subject line.

About the event
The Government of Cayman Islands in collaboration with the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) Secretariat and other partners, including the Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA), is organising the 2016 Caribbean Week of Agriculture, from 24 – 28 October 2016 in Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands.

This is an annual event that brings together key decision-makers and stakeholders from the public and private sectors that are active in the Caribbean agricultural development space. It provides a yearly platform for these stakeholders to acknowledge the importance of agriculture to the economic, social and environmental stability of the region, while also giving them the opportunity to dialogue and establish a common purpose towards repositioning agriculture and enhancing rural life.

The theme for this year’s event is “Investing in Food & Agriculture”.

Atelier sur l’Apprentissage de l’outil web 2.0 et des médias sociaux pour le développement

Thu, 30 Jun 2016 14:23:16 +0000

Il s’est tenu à Kinshasa, du 29 février au 04 mars 2016, un atelier sur “Opportunité d'apprentissage du Web 2.0 et des Médias Sociaux (web2fordev)”. Organisé par le Centre technique de coopération agricole et rurale ACP-UE (CTA) et l’Institut international d'agriculture tropicale (IITA) en République Démocratique du Congo (RDC), cet atelier était une opportunité pour initier quelques agripreneurs et autres participants à une sélection d’applications du Web 2.0 et apprendre à les utiliser de manière pratique et participative. Les participants, parmi lesquels nous trouvons quelques agripreneurs, ont eu l’opportunité de suivre et de prendre part à la pratique de ces applications innovantes.

Il a fallu juste cinq jours de concentration pour que les participants à l’atelier sur le Web2fordev se rendent compte qu’ils venaient d’être dotés des outils capables de booster le développement dans leur secteur d’activités respectives. Ils ont été initié à des outils fondamentales du Web2fordev, notamment la recherche multilingue avancée; le RSS, les alertes automatiques, la curation de contenu ; la collaboration à distance ; la cartographie en ligne ; la conversation en ligne ; les photos pour le web ; le blog ; le micro-blogging ; le réseautage social et les communautés de pratique en ligne. La sélection des modules a été adaptée aux profils des participants qui ont été sélectionnés dans plusieurs organismes et dans de domaines différents.

Si, lors de la première journée, les choses ont semblé quelque peu floues, dès la deuxième journée, les participants ont vite réalisé qu’avec les principes de base de la première journée, ils avaient, comme par un coup de baguette magique, la facilité soudaine d’adaptation à cet outil important pour le développement. Ainsi, très vite, chaque participant a commencé à intérioriser et projeter en quoi pouvez lui servir le Web2fordev dans l’immédiat par rapport à son métier ou sa formation. Cela a stimulé une interaction très riche à l’image de la diversité des participants (géographes, agronome, internationaliste, journaliste, administratif, chercheur, etc.) permettant à ces derniers de vite matérialisé des ébauches de leurs ambitions naissantes respectives.

Les participants ont expérimentés les possibilités de l’utilisation des notions acquises dans un cadre professionnel. Ceci a été par exemple le cas de Ghislain Mbesse, Chargé de communication d’IITA Youth Agripreneurs Kinshasa (IYAKIN). Grâce aux notions acquises, Ghislain Mbesse a été, déjà en quatre jours, capable de faire une ébauche d’un Blog pour IYAKIN. Dans son blog en cours de réalisation, mais déjà disponible au public, (http://iyakinshasa.blogspot.com/), en plus d’un design attrayant, Ghislain Mbesse y a déjà insérer cinq articles et cinq “pages” en rapport avec les différentes activités du programme Youth Agripreneurs.

Cette formation vient donc de répondre à un objectif multiple et important de ce programme relatif à la mise en place d’un forum pour interaction, le stockage de toutes les données possibles, facilite l’accès à l’information, la collaboration à distance pour la création, la publication et le partage de l'information.

Call for submission of articles

Wed, 22 Jun 2016 15:40:37 +0000

ICT Update magazine is looking for articles for the forthcoming issue, which will focus on ICT entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector (or e-agriculture entrepreneurship), especially by young entrepreneurs.

CTA is interested in articles that explore and present case studies on ICT for agriculture entrepreneurship, especially led by young entrepreneurs (below 40 years of age). More specifically, they are interested in articles dealing with:

the opportunities and challenges that occur in e-agriculture entrepreneurship,
the nature and market of that kind of entrepreneurship, opportunities for youth employment,
the impacts of ICT entrepreneurship on agricultural development, and the implementation of profitable business models.
Other relevant topics include funding and investments issues, women entrepreneurs, tips for e-agriculture entrepreneurs for collaboration with telecom operators, etc.

For more information see the link: http://bit.ly/28Ptpcg