Two more organisations have joined ICT4Ag’s organizing team. Oxfam GB and Farm Radio International are contributing their resources and are helping coordinate conference events.

Oxfam GB is an affiliate of Oxfam International. The confederation focuses on finding solutions to poverty and enabling citizens of the world to support themselves and exercise their human rights.

Farm Radio International is a Canadian non-profit that focuses on working with radiobroadcasters to improve food security for small farmers in African Countries, and relay more efficient farming practices.

We are very excited for their support and the support from all participating organisations. The cooperation between all of these organisations highlights a mutual understanding of the possibilities ICTs can bring to agricultural development. Thank you to all of the international groups that are helping arrange this event.

Learn more about these and our other partners.

It is confirmed that the mobile service company Orange is the first sponsor for the ICT4AG conference.

Orange is very involved in the African region through its “Orange for Development” program. The program is aimed at commercializing innovative services to benefit rural populations and the agricultural sector through knowledge management and information sharing, which helps its overall goal of increasing economic and social development in these areas. Orange has also developed a new m-Agri strategy in line with these goals of increasing opportunities offered to the rural population in agriculture. They have created an agricultural call centre in Mali, and commodity price databases in Senegal and the Ivory Coast.

We are very excited for Orange’s participation in the conference. Their current involvement in agricultural and rural development reflects our mutual understanding about working in the field.

Learn more about Orange.

IT News Africa is announced as a new media partner of ICT4Ag.

ITNewsAfrica.com is Africa’s premier ICT News and Information website. It serves a niche audience within the Information Technology sector and has established itself as the must-visit destination for top IT and Telecom professionals, vendors, solution providers, IT Managers, CIOs and CEOs of African enterprises.

Under the partnership, IT News Africa will promote the conference in its African Innovator magazine, website and social media.

ICT4Ag’s organising team was recently reinforced with the addition of six new partner organisations. IWMI, ACDI/VOCA, Integra LLC, Grameen Foundation, IFDC and UNDP have come on board, taking up responsibility for the organisation of various parallel sessions at the conference and in some cases for mobilizing resources towards the event.

Giacomo Rambaldi, Senior Programme Coordinators for ICTs at CTA, the conference cohost, commented ‘We are delighted to welcome these new partners who will join us to design an exciting and dynamic conference programme. The experience and expertise that they bring will ensure that delegates will leave Kigali buzzing with new ideas and a greater understanding of how to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the latest ICTs for agriculture. Looking at the stunning number of international organisations which have come together to collaborate on this conference, I think that we have set the foundations for an event which will have a wide impact across the developing world. ’

The International Water Management Institute (IWMI) is a non-profit, scientific research organisation focusing on the sustainable use of water and land resources in developing countries.

ACDI/VOCA work in the area of value chains and advise on agricultural mobile content, promote functionality and foster consumer awareness about mobile solutions.

The International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) is an international organisation which focuses on increasing productivity across the agricultural value chain in developing countries.

Integra LLC is an international development consulting firm and implementing partner for USAID’s Global Broadband and Innovations (GBI) Programme. They provide highly specialised technical assistance primarily in the areas of ICT for Development and Economic Growth.

The Grameen Foundation works to fight global poverty with innovative technologies that empower the poor with life-changing information. Through its Applab, mobile phone-based applications are developed for the agricultural and health sectors using on-the-ground in-depth research.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) focus is on helping countries build and share solutions to achieve Poverty Reduction and the MDGs, Democratic Governance, Crisis Prevention and Recovery, Environment and Energy for Sustainable Development. In 2013 UNDP started an initiative [http://goo.gl/Zfbbd] on expanding the use of mobile technologies to promote sustainable human development, including policymakers, social innovators, civil society, and the private sector.

Learn more about these and our other partners.

Groupe Jeune Afrique have been announced as the official print Pan-African media partner of ICT4Ag.

Groupe Jeune Afrique is a multimedia group with activities in press, publishing, internet and consulting. Their magazines, which include The Africa Report and Jeune Afrique, are sold in over 80 countries and their website is regarded as the leading Pan African news site with over one million visitors per month.

Under the partnership, Groupe Jeune Afrique will promote the conference in its publications, websites and newsletters.