Kenyan Dairy Farmers Aim to Raise Yields and Process More Milk
Dairy, like much of Kenya’s agro-processing industry, is largely underdeveloped. Although the country produces more milk than any other in Africa, each cow manages an average of only four liters a day (compared to 35 liters for European cattle). Dairy sector companies are trying to find ways to add value, and genetic technology may prove to be a quicker, more effective, and affordable solution.
Pakistan to Fight Food Insecurity with High-Tech Crop Data
Pakistan has launched a state-of-the-art system to help farmers calculate their crop losses to extreme weather more accurately and support the government in tackling hunger and malnutrition. Late last month, the FAO installed the geospatial crop forecasting system at the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) to improve the quality of agricultural statistics.
A Low-Cost Alternative to Pricy Big Data on the Farm
FarmLogs, which makes smartphone-type software for the scheduling of farm tasks and analysis of yields, uses data for farm analysis, like soil quality and rainfall, which is publicly available, along with specific information derived from field machinery. By automating the analysis, local agronomists can be data scientists too.
Eric Schmidt's Venture Fund Collaborates On Agtech 'Collective'
A group of companies including Google Chairman Eric Schmidt’s Innovation Endeavors and Flextronics’ Lab IX has created a “collective” that aims to support technology startups focused on innovation in agriculture. The initiative, Farm2050, will support selected entrepreneurs with seed capital, manufacturing facilities, testing equipment, and management mentorship.
New, Open-Source Tool to Support Resilience-Building
Each year millions of people dependent on agriculture, forestry, and fisheries are confronted by disruptions to food production and distribution which undermine the food security of nations and entire regions. FAO has recently teamed up with a coalition of partner agencies to develop a new tool. InfoRM—the Index for Risk Management—was designed to help identify where and why crises are likely to occur.