IAALD 2013 to be hosted by Cornell University

The 14th IAALD World Congress will be held July 22-25, 2013 at Cornell University. The theme will be “Emerging Priorities for Scientific Information Research and Discovery”. Plans are already being made for innovative and diverse programming as well as opportunities for learning and networking with agricultural information professionals from around the world. A conference website will be made available in the coming months to provide many more details.

Mobile applications focus of ICT Update

The December 2010 issue of ICT Update looks at various mobile applications in agriculture.

AgInfo Worldwide publishes papers from 13th IAALD Congress

In April 2010, the IAALD XIIIth World Congress brought together practitioners from countries around the world involved in the production, management, distribution or use of knowledge in the agricultural and rural development sectors.

Together, these practitioners and users exchanged information about new practices to support research, action and innovation for sustainable rural development.

The first of two special issues of 'Agricultural Information Worldwide' has just been published, with articles from the world congress.

View the special issue.

Contents of the special issue include:

• How Can Information Contribute to Innovative Learning Processes? Insight from A Farmer University in Brazil

• Developing a Mixed Knowledge Innovative System of Technical, Institutional and Traditional Information for Capacity Building and Empowerment of Multi-Stakeholders Networks in Rural Africa

• Targeted Information Products and Services: Balancing Stakeholder Needs, Learning, and Strategy

• Is There a Future for the Conventional Abstracting and Indexing Services?

• Incorporating Use of a Mixed-media Information Tool into the Work of Actors Involved in the Development of Livestock Production in Tanzania; Dissemination, User Training, Monitoring and Evaluation, and Impact

• Documentation for Building and Sharing Agroecological Knowledge

• L'observatoire de la recherche agronomique en Algérie. Pour une intégration des pôles scientifiques dans le processus de développement

• Knowledge Sharing on Best Practices for Managing Crop Genebanks

• Communicating Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators: Lessons Learned

• Capitalisation d’expériences et innovations institutionnelles en Afrique de l'Ouest

Presentations from the Congress are online at: www.slideshare.net/iaald/tag/aginfo10

More blog posts from the Congress are online at http://iaald.blogspot.com/search/label/aginfo10

New e-Agricuture platform launched: New look, same mission!

The e-Agriculture Community is launching a totally new online platform today, 16 December 2010. The launch is in conjunction with the ICTD2010 conference, where a special half day session on enhancing the impact of
ICT in rural development has been organized by FAO and other partners in the e-Agriculture Community.

After three years of exciting growth, collaboration and knowledge sharing around ICT for rural development, this new platform has been developed to keep pace with the needs of your e-Agriculture Community in the coming years. This totally new platform is the result of the Community's suggestions and input, the combined effort of many
individuals, and takes advantage of appropriate new tools including Drupal and social media applications.

The result is not only a new website, but a new way for the Community of more than 7,000 members from 150 countries to interact, collaborate, share experiences, and
expand their collective understanding of key issues in the ICT4D field.

Visit the new website.

Internet marketing for dryland farmers

Established in 2007, the Ng'arua community knowledge centre in Laikipia district, central Kenya, is giving local people access to information by providing computing facilities. Farmers in the area have struggled to fetch good prices for their produce, and frequently have to accept low prices paid by traders. But they are now learning to use the Sokopepe trading system, set up by the Arid Land Information Network. This online system allows them to upload details of their produce to a website, and to receive offers from interested buyers.

Read and listen on AgFax