The 3rd IAALD (International Association of Agricultural Information Specialists) Africa Chapter Conference was held in Johannesburg, South Africa from 21st-23rd May 2012. The theme of the conference was “e-Agriculture for Improved Livelihoods and Food Security in Africa”. Delegates present were professionals and experts involved in the application on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the rural Domain with a primary focus on  agriculture (e-Agriculture), from Africa and other Regions (Europe, America, Asia, Caribbean and Pacific etc.). 

The conference activities comprised an exhibition showcasing e-agriculture initiatives and activities, pre-conference workshops, seminars and training.


Pre-conference events included the ARDYIS (Agriculture, Rural Development and Youth in the Information Society) Project Consultation Meeting on “Youth, ICT and Agriculture”, organized by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA). In this context, youth were invited to participate in the ARDYIS activities and attend the IAALD Conference. 

This blog post highlights the Pre-Conference Events and the Main Conference from 20th-23rd May 2012.

Pre-Conference Events: 20th May 2012

ARDYIS Consultation Meeting on “Youth, ICT and Agriculture”

Participants of the Workshop
Photo Courtesy: CTA

On the occasion of the second anniversary of the ARDYIS project and of the organization of the Prize Giving Ceremony of its YoBloCo Awards, a full day consultative Workshop was organized on ARDYIS activities on the 20th May 2012. About 30 participants from more than 15 countries took part in the workshop. More information HERE.

The objectives of the consultative workshop were to:

  • Exchange on the organization, results and perspectives and the YoBloCo Awards
  • Share experiences on strengthening youth opportunities in Agriculture and ICTs
  • Identify collaboration opportunities with the ARDYIS project and on issues relating to youth involvement in ICT and Agriculture
The workshop was comprised of 5 sessions which took place from 09:00 to 17:30. 

Introduction of Participants and Opening Remarks
The workshop started with an ice-breaker, facilitated by P.Ballantyne of ILRI (who is also one of the Judges of the YoBloCo). Participants had to introduce themselves according to their geographical location on the World Map.

The Opening Remarks were made by K.Lohento, ICT4D Programme Coordinator at CTA, who highlighted the objectives of the workshop. This was followed by a presentation from S. Chakeredza of ANAFE (African Network for Agriculture, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Education), which is one of the partners of the ARDYIS project.

Session 1 – YoBloCo Awards: presentation of selected blogs
3 Bloggers who participated in the YoBloCo Awards were invited to make a presentation on their blogs. Each presentation was focused on the following points:

  • Objectives of the blog
  • Motivations to maintain/update the blog
  • Perspective as institutional/individual blogger
  • Challenges faced while developing and updating the blog
  • Impact of the blog on bloggers’ agricultural related activities
  • Feedbacks from the audience
The first presentation was made by K.Bascombe on his Institutional blog “Technology4agri – An extension of the Agribusiness Society of the University of West Indies”. In his presentation, he mentioned that the main challenges faced was the difficulty to operate with WordPress and the blog had few subscribers/followers.

The next presentation was on the blog “Nawsheen’s World” by N.Hosenally. The presentation can be viewed below:

The third presentation for session 1 was on the institutional blog “Riziculteurs du Mono et du Couffo” by E.Codjo. The objective of this blog was to provide information on rice across the value-chain in order to develop people’s capacity on rice production, marketing etc. The main challenges faced were spams (mainly through comments on the blog), which were well managed by the administrator. 

After these presentations, participants were asked to group themselves in groups of 3 people to address their questions to the bloggers. Some of the questions asked to the bloggers are as follows:
  • How to manage the requests from the audience regarding specific information they are looking for?
  • If blogger was employed, how would his/her employer view his/her blogging activity?
  • Why do viewers prefer to comment via Facebook/e-mail but not through the blog itself?
  • How best can be blogs be marketed?
  • How best can the information contained in blogs be made available to farmers who cannot use blogs?
  • How can the farming community benefit from the content/information on the blogs?
The event was covered live and the answers to these questions can be viewed HERE.

Session 2 – YoBloCo Awards: organization and perspectives
A presentation was made on the organization of the YoBloCo Awards by G.Bellinzas of CTA. The presentation revealed some figures regarding the YoBloCo Awards: The competition was officially launched on 23rd July 2011 and submission was closed on 31st October 2011. 91 entries were obtained, from 24 ACP countries. 69 blogs were from the individual category, while  22 were institutional blogs.
After the presentation, the floor was opened for discussion regarding the competition and suggestions/proposals for the next edition of the YoBloCo Awards. Some issues that were raised are as follows:
  • How to increase participation from the Pacific, Caribbean, Southern and Central Africa? What strategies should be adopted?
  • Should we have the next edition of the competition?
Regarding increase in participation, several strategies were proposed:
  • If the news are brought to the target group through newsletter, magazines etc, participation can increase in these specific regions
  • There should me more motivation in the prize packages (more winners in both categories)
  • Continue with training on Web 2.0 and ensure that follow-ups are done since many participants of these trainings do not use the skills being delivered 
  • Encourage youth to register on the CTA ARDYIS D-group to enhance their information access
  • Increase promotion of the competition through focal points
  • Although some regions are unaware of the competitions, those who know about it can be involved in posting, sharing and tweeting the news
  • Certificates for participation can be given to participants
  • There is a need to call key influencers to make comments to influence others to participate
  • For more audience involvement, more engaging content should be generated
  • Existing bloggers can encourage others to participate (friends, relatives etc.)
  • More brainstorming needed to see the impact on the farming community
  • The initiative should be further developed to utilize the various ideas presented in the blogs
  • Hence, best articles from best blogs can be published (in print) by CTA to reach the farming community
  • Feedbacks on how the farming community has benefited from the blog post(s) could be brought forward to show the impact
Session 2 was very interactive and full of ideas. By the end of the session, it was concluded that the YoBloCo actually targeted the individuals that represent farmers and institutions that work with farmers or those, whose work is directed towards developing the capacity of the farmer. Therefore, we should continue with the next edition of the YoBloCo Awards.

Session 3 – Presentation of ARDYIS Project’s activities (2010-2012)
2 presentations were made during this session. The first one was by K.Lohento (CTA), who highlighted the ARDYIS project’s activities since 2010, followed by S. Ouedraogo (Yam-Pukri) who gave some details regarding the contribution of the Advisory Committee to the ARDYIS Project. There was an open discussion after the presentations.

Session 4 – Partners’ Experiences relating to youth involvement in ICTand Agriculture
M. de Gale of SANGONeT did a presentation on the Kenyan dairy Mobile project that involves youth. Examples of some mobile applications and how youth are being involved were given. From the presentation, we could gather that the development of the Agricultural Sector will be very much propelled if the youth are actively involved in the agriculture value-chain.

The next persentation was from A.Mangal of SPC/PAFPNet on “Youth, ICT and Agriculture in the Pacific”. In her presentation, different initiatives to engage Pacific youth in Agriculture through ICTs were highlighted.  

The last presentation was from the Organization of African Youth (South-Africa), in which the experiences of the NGO in motivating youth to get into Agriculture were shared.

There was another discussion session after these presentations, for the participants to share their views.

Session 5: Group Discussions
The Last session of the workshop involved group work and discussions on 2 topics:
1) Improving opportunities for youth in agriculture with ICT (2 groups)
2) Improving livelihoods and opportunities for youth in rural areas with ICT (2 groups)

After 1 hour discussion, each group had classified their ideas and presented them in the format shown in the figure below:




After presentation of the different ideas and projects, the closing remarks were made my K.Lohento (CTA).

Main Conference: 21st-23rd May 2012

The Main conference was held from 21st-23rd May 2012, comprising of 10 sessions. The conference Programme can be accessed HERE.

The following are the presentations for each session of the 3-day conference, with links to the full papers.


Day 1: Monday 21st May 2012

Session 1: Welcome and Opening
The conference started with the welcome Remarks by the Conference Chairperson, IAALD Representative and the IAALD Africa Chapter President. 

Keynote Address: Transparency in Food from Farm to Fork: The Global IT Challenge by Prof. Dr. G. Schiefer

Session 2: Mobile Phone, Internet-Based Technologies and Agriculture
Presentation: Case Studyof a Mobile Agro-advisory Project in India between CABI and IFFCO Kisan Sanchar Limited (IKSL) by S.Banerjee

Click here to read full paper

Presentation: Reaching Out and Listening to Farmers: the Case of NAIS Internet Based SMS Platform by D.Kahilu
Click here to read full paper

Presentation: The Potential of Virtual mMarkets for Reducing Transactions Costs and Bridging the Economic Divide in Dualistic Agriculture by Dr. J.Armour
Click here to read full paper

Session 3: ICT Adoption and Information Delivery
Presentation: Determinants of Use and Intensity of Use of Mobile Phone-based Money Transfer Services in Smallholder agriculture: Case of Kenya by O.Kirui
Click here to read full paper

Presentation: The Adoption and Use of ICT by Small Scale Farmers in Gezira State, Sudan by N.Musa
Click here to read full paper

Presentation: Linking Farmers’ Access to Rural Radio, Gender and Livelihoods: Case Study of Rice Processors in Benin by E.Zossou
Click here to read full paper

Presentation: The Use of Radio in the Dissemination of Agricultural Information to Farmer: The Ghana Agricultural Information Network System (GAINS) Experience by J.Sam
Click here to read full paper

Day 2: Tuesday 22nd May 2012

Keynote Address: Beyond access: the impact of Africa’s Agricultural Research output by Dr. A.Kaniki 

Session 4: ICT supported Information Systems
Presentation: Mobile and Wireless Applications in e-Agriculture for improved livelihoods and food security: Assessing the Requirements for Electronically linking farmers with Markets by Dr. K.Mar Cho and Dr. D.Tobias
Click here to read full paper

Presentation: Linking Mini, Small and Medium Forest Enterprises to Market and Service: Case of Tree AID’s Market Information System in Tominian Northern Region of Mali by E.Tangem
Click here to read full paper

Presentation: The implementation of Information and Communications  Technology in Agriculture and Rural Development in South Africa by Dr. de Villiers

Session 5: Improving Access to Information (the Results of Agricultural Research)
Presentation: Researcher Attitudes and Behaviour Towards the ‘Openness’ of Research Outputs in Agriculture and Related Fields by Dr. S. Rudgard
Click here to read full paper

Presentation: Building a Continental online platform for Agricultural Information and Knowledge Sharing in Africa by D.Demby
Click here to read full paper

Presentation: Agricultural Information Networks in Zambia (ZAR4DIN) and Ghana (GAINS) by D.Simumba
Click here to read full paper

Session 6: Social Media, Agriculture and Rural Development
Presentation: Using Social Media to improve the lives of poorer communities by E.Karamagi
Click here to read full paper

Presentation: The use of ICTs to facilitate collaboration in a Multi-Stakeholder Partnership: A case study of the Mauritius Breadfruit Sector Consortium by N.Hosenally
Click here to read full paper

Presentation: Blogging to enhance Agriculture and Youth Interest: Findings of the Youth in Agriculture Blog Competition (YoBloCo Awards) by K.Lohento and G.Bellinzas
Click here to read full paper

Gala Dinner and ARDYIS YoBloCo Awards

The Prize Giving Ceremony of the YoBloCo Awards was took place during the Gala Dinner on 22nd May 2012. There were 3 winners for the Individual Category and 3 winners for the Institutional Category. More details on the prizes HERE.
The winners of the YoBloCo Awards
Photo Courtesy: CTA

Day 3: 23rd May 2012

Keynote Address: ICT in Agriculture: Lessons learned in Asia by Prof. S. Ninomiya

Session 7: Capacity Development Initiatives
Presentation: ASARECA Region Experiences in Capacity Building for Agricultural Information and Communication Management by N.Dhlamini
Click here to read full paper

Presentation: Use of an ‘Information Needs Assessment Matrix’ as a Participatory Method to Determine Information Needs of Stakeholders of a System by C.Sembhoo
Click here to read full paper

Session 8: Panel Discussion on e-Agriculture in Africa: Prospects, Challenges and lessons learned
This session was facilitated by Dr. J.Chisenga (FAO) and the panel was composed of the following people:

  • E. Karamangi, Executive Director, BROSDI, Uganda
  • K.Lohento, ICT4D Programme Coordinator, CTA, The Netherlands
  • M.Davies, CEO, Esoko, Ghana
  • S.Banerjee, CABI South Asia, India
This session was covered live and all discussions in this panel can be viewed HERE.

Session 9: Africa Network for Information Technology for Agriculture (ANITA)
Panellists of this session discussed on the Africa Network for Information Technology for Agriculture (ANITA).
Networks for Information Technology and Agriculture

Session 10: Closing Session
The Closing address was made by Mr. G. Chimwaza (Chairperson of the conference) and Ms. A.Canca (Executive Director of the Technological Transfer, Agricultural Research Council – South Africa).


After the closing lunch, there was the post conference parallel Events:

  • Event 1: Stakeholder Consultations on Africa Network for Information Technology and Agriculture (ANITA) – organised by FARA
  • Event 2: Second Meeting of the Advisory Committee of the ARDYIS Project – organised by CTA
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7 Comments

  3. Ken Lohento 06/01/2012 at 15:06

    Excellent, keep up the good work! And thank you for your commitment.

    Reply ↓
  5. elorms 06/07/2012 at 01:01

    Nice writeup nawsheen! You however skipped the Test which was conducted and I got 5/8!! hahhaahahahahaaha. gud work dear!

    Reply ↓
    1. Nawsheen Hosenally 06/14/2012 at 19:32

      Yea Solomon, sorry I missed that part! Congrats on your prize! What was it btw?

      Reply ↓
  6. Krishan 06/28/2012 at 14:56

    The test was a way for the organisers to ensure visibility of the partners’stands and of the materials exposed. The questions were about the key messages that the exhibitors wanted to get across through their products. So having particpants look for the answers and actually recording them as part of the answer sheet was evidence that the partners’messages were spread. Prizes included promotional materials from the partners such as pens, pen drives etc. and more importantly, membership forms for them to join the IAALD!

    Reply ↓

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