FAO Forestry App

FAO’s Forestry Department has launched the Organization’s first multimedia app, designed to bring its work on forests and forestry to a growing generation of iPhone and iPad users.

The ‘FAO Forestry’ App can be downloaded free from the Apple App store and provides users with news, videos, select publications, interactive maps showing world forest statistics, and a quiz, all navigable with a touch-screen wheel.  It also includes a ‘donate’ button that takes users to the website of FAO’s TeleFood fundraising programme – which uses public contributions to finance small-scale agriculture, livestock and fisheries projects that help poor families achieve food security.

FAO Forestry invites students and people in public and private organizations with an interest in forestry to start downloading the app and share it with their friends and colleagues so that they can have the latest forest and forestry information at their fingertips.

The second version scheduled for mid-year will provide updated information on the forestry department’s work and allow users to donate specifically to forestry-related TeleFood projects.

ICT in Agriculture – Connecting Smallholder to Knowledge, Networks and Institutions

Have a look at Worldbank new webportal:
www.ictinagriculture.org

Realizing the profound potential of information and communication technologies in developing country agriculture, the Agriculture and Rural Development Department (ARD) of the World Bank in collaboration with infoDev (part of the World Bank Group) embarked in an effort to explore and capture the expanding knowledge and use of ICT tools in agrarian livelihoods. In November 2011, the World Bank released an electronic Sourcebook (e-Sourcebook) to initiate further (and better) investment in this sector. Called “ICT in Agriculture”, the e-Sourcebook provides practitioners within and outside of the World Bank Group with lessons learned, guiding principles, and hundreds of examples and case studies on applying information and communication technologies in poor agriculture.

The e-Sourcebook and website was made possible through theCreating Sustainable Businesses in the Knowledge Economy program and generous funding from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland. Authors, reviewers, and other experts in agriculture and information and communication technology (ICT) contributed to the content, and also framed the long-term discussion on using information and communication devices in poor rural areas. This discussion—which motivates this website—is critical to understanding the impacts of ICT on agriculture and smallholder livelihoods. It is also critical to creating sustainable interventions as well as business models that will support the martialing forward of agriculture projects and investments that use ICT.

The website is managed by a collaborative group in ARD and infoDev. Intending to engage with other practitioners, the website offers opportunities for interaction with other interested persons—public and private—working in agriculture and/or ICT. Please explore the website and contribute to it where requested. Innovative applications, media, and updates on on-going projects are only some of the features this site hosts.

The e-Sourcebook is provided fully and freely on this website. Fifteen modules touch on a wide spectrum of sub-fields in agriculture, including risk management, gender, forest governance, and farmers organizations. The Introduction (Module 1) introduces users to the ‘ICT in agriculture’ topic, offering key themes throughout the sourcebook as well as more details on how to use it.

Each module is stand-alone in format, providing users with the advantage of selecting the module or modules closest to their interest or work. The modules are delivered both in html and pdf format. The pdf format can be downloaded and printed. The full book can also be downloaded. In this version, hyperlinks between modules are included to promote cross-referencing throughout the Sourcebook.

If you have any further questions on the e-Sourcebook or website, please contact us. Please also note that the sourcebook is not available in print.