Armenia embarks on national strategy for e-agriculture

An FAO workshop on 19 November in Yerevan, Armenia, provided an opportunity for the country to kickstart its efforts towards developing a national e-agriculture strategy.

Nowadays, agriculture is much more than farming; it has become more and more integrated with other sectors, and this integration requires optimization through digitalization.

E-agriculture is the application of information and communication technologies to agriculture, including crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry. It includes more traditional technologies, such as radio, television, mobile phones, and newer digital technologies, such as drones, satellites, sensor technology, the Internet of things, and machine to machine communication.

A country’s agricultural sector can benefit from digital technologies if a strategy is well-articulated at national level, involving actors from public and private sectors, smallholders and family farmers, non-governmental organizations and academia and taking into account the country’s own rural development goals.

“Developing a national strategy is a participatory process,” said Sophie Treinen, FAO information and knowledge management officer, “and adopting a national approach to e-agriculture will result in improved livelihoods and incomes for people living in rural communities.”

The aim of e-agriculture is to enhance agriculture and rural development through improved information and communication processes. It involves the conceptualization, design, development, evaluation and application of innovative ways to use information and communication technologies in the rural domain, embracing the whole food system.

The Armenian Ministry of Agriculture requested FAO assistance in developing a national e-agriculture strategy in 2017, and this was reiterated during the 31st session of the FAO Regional Conference for Europe this May.

As a participatory process, this workshop was the first step towards the development of a full strategy for Armenia.

The milestones leading to the strategy

Information and communication technologies have long been recognized as key enablers for bridging the digital divide and achieving the three dimensions of sustainable development: economic growth, environmental balance and social inclusion. They have proven to be instrumental in the delivery of information and services in health, education, trade, commerce and other fields, and have contributed to increased transparency and accountability.

In 2009, to support an initiative in Armenia aimed at improving the agricultural advisory services provided to farmers, FAO collaborated with the Ministry of Agriculture to establish the Virtual Extension and Research Information and Communication Network (VERCON) in Armenia. Like in several other countries that have adopted VERCON, a common web-based information sharing and communication platform was created for Armenian research and advisory institutions, equipping them with efficient networking tools to help improve the quality of advisory services provided to farmers.

The workshop was organized within the framework of the FAO project “ENPARD Technical Assistance to the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Armenia,” funded by the European Union.

20 November 2018, Yerevan, Armenia