News Overview

CGIAR INITIATIVES Digital Innovation Primary Impact Area Environmental health & biodiversity Related Impact Areas

Top image sources: Meghdoot / CIMMYT Since 2020, farmers across nearly all of India have been able to access to localized (district-level) weather and agricultural advice through a smartphone app. The Meghdoot app, which had been downloaded almost 300,000 times by the end of 2023, offers multiple advantages over delivery formats such as SMS or radio, and serves as a

Top image: Berta Ortiz Crespo (Alliance Bioversity-CIAT) Authors: Eva Valencia, Charlotte Schumann Development organizations today rely on a wide array of methods to make their interventions more impactful, focused and demand-based. There are many methods based in social sciences that have been applied to this challenge in contexts like CGIAR. To make these more accessible, we propose a series of

The ICTforAg Learning Network has just been launched, providing online spaces to find collaborators, showcase innovations, explore research with a specialized AI chatbot and access learning courses. Over April and May, the network will host events featuring innovators, networking with expert mentors, training seminars and community hackathons. To take part, simply register at the portal. Learning Network launch events (more

Top photo: Farmer taking the Panchakavya WhatsApp course in Puducherry, India For the one in five farmers in India living below the poverty line, access to knowledge and training is key to making farming profitable, and to support farms across India to adopt improved technologies. While the coverage and content of agricultural extension services has fallen far short of meeting

To fight global food insecurity, USAID and BMZ are increasing technical cooperation in support of the 50×2030 Initiative, which aims to transform agricultural data systems in 50 countries by 2030. During the annual 50×2030 Strategic Development Dialogue, USAID and BMZ also agreed to co-sponsor the 2025 ICTforAg Conference, an annual gathering to share knowledge, find solutions, and form partnerships to

At ICTforAg 2023, five winners of the rebooted Inspire Challenge were announced, challenged with increasing women’s participation in digital agrifood services. To support the challengers to achieve their agreed upon target, CGIAR Digital Innovation provides training in human-centered design, and the challenge sponsors provide grants upon completion up to a total value of US $50,000. Get to know the five

How do you gather qualitative information from thousands of people, quickly and at scale? That’s a question Farm Radio International, a communication for development organization that uses interactive radio as its primary tool to reach and amplify the voices of rural Africans, has an answer to: On Air Dialogues. This on-air polling process uses Interactive Voice Response technology in tandem