Register for ICTforAg 2018

Please register to attend and sign up to present at ICTforAg 2018 on June 14th, at FHI 360 in Washington, DC

This one-day conference will build on ICTforAg 2015, 2016, and 2017, bringing together 300 thought leaders and decision-makers in agriculture and technology from the international development community and the private sector.

With your community-driven sessions, we will examine how new innovations can empower smallholder farmers, and the communities that support them, through information and communication technologies (ICT).

We’ll take a particular interest in new ICT solutions that can boost the productivity of both smallholder farmers and agricultural market systems, but we’ll be sure to keep the discussion inclusive of all possible ICTs, including traditional media platforms, agribusiness IT systems, and existing government support systems.

Please register to attend and sign up to present at ICTforAg 2018 and examine these trends with an exciting mix of educational keynotes, lightning talks, and group breakouts, including an evening reception to foster networking across sectors.

ICTforAg is supported by Abt Associates, DAI, FHI 360, and RTI International.

The Problem

Over 500 million smallholder farmers produce 80% of the food consumed by over two billion people in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Yet smallholders and their families make up half of the world’s food-insecure people.

The vast majority of farms in India and Africa measure less than two hectares (five acres). Maize yields in Africa average just one ton per hectare, and rice yields in Asia rarely surpass four tons per hectare–far less than farmers get in developed countries.

Could farmers increase productivity and profitability to meet growing urban demand and their own needs if they have access to stronger, more equitable market systems, and new technological innovations, and if they possess the resilience to overcome shocks to the farming ecosystem?

Our Focus

At ICTforAg 2018, we’ll seek answers to the real challenges faced by smallholder farmers, private sector actors, and government agricultural stakeholders in three focus areas:

Which Market Systems improve farmer livelihoods?

• Who is succeeding with Digital Financial Services and what are they learning?
• How can we support local innovators and entrepreneurs?
• Which approaches build trust between farmers and value chain actors?
• When do market information systems increase farmer revenues?
• Where can private sector actors add real social and economic value?
• How can we better address gender dynamics to improve farmer outcomes?

How can Technological Innovation change farming outcomes?

• Which new tools allow farmers to access and understand big data?
• How can digital identity systems increase farmers’ access to services?
• When do farmers benefit from GIS and spatial data collected by others?
• Where are the practical use cases for blockchain and machine learning?
• Why and how does technology often exacerbate existing gender divides?

Where can Crisis Response processes and tools increase farmer resilience?

• Where are the fragile environments, and how can farmers better assess risks?
• When can technologies support farmer response to political instability and conflict?
• Which innovations can reduce the impact of non-native pests?
• How can new approaches accelerate climate change adaptation?
• Who are the next generation of farmers, and how can we engage them?

Like previous conferences, ICTforAg 2018 will be a community-driven event. Please consider submitting a session idea to showcase your innovations and experiences.

We’ll create a day of intense exploration of the already possible and soon-to-be tools like artificial intelligence, augmented reality, aerial robotics, sensors, predictive analytics, gamification, and automation. We’ll especially seek opportunities to move us from talk to ICTforAg action.

Presenters and session leads will play a central role in developing the event and have their ticket costs refunded. Session ideas that include voices from the field and these cross-cutting themes will have an advantage:

• Gender equity
• Youth engagement
• Private sector engagement
• Climate change resilience
• Fragile and conflict environments
• Monitoring, evaluation, research and learning

Register Now

Please register to attend and sign up to present at ICTforAg 2018 to examine these trends with an exciting mix of educational keynotes, lightning talks, and group breakouts, including an evening reception to foster needed networking across sectors.

We are charging a modest fee to better allocate seats, and we expect to sell out quickly again this year, so buy your tickets or demo tables now. Event proceeds will cover event costs and travel stipends for select participants implementing ICTforAg activities in developing countries.