FAO AgriTech Observatory expands with over 270 initiatives and a new alliance

The AgriTech Observatory, established by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), has made significant strides since its launch in February and is now in full-scale operation. The tool monitors the rapidly evolving landscape of digital agriculture in Europe and Central Asia and identifies innovative solutions to regional challenges.

One of the major advances includes the expansion of the platform's database to now host over 270 digital agriculture initiatives. This growing repository provides comprehensive insights into the latest innovations, helping practitioners, policymakers, and researchers stay informed about the current and emerging landscape of digital agriculture in the region.

Supported by various organizations, including JengaLab, the Central European University, the American University of Central Asia, and the Georgian Farmers Association, the AgriTech Observatory continues to serve as a digital public good, contributing to existing open data and knowledge-sharing initiatives.

For the near future, plans are underway to integrate additional digital agriculture policies, projects and resources, improve internal research processes, and consolidate collaboration with the Digital Agri Hub.

Expanding through partnerships

In addition, the AgriTech Observatory has forged a new alliance with Digital Agri Hub. This collaboration, anchored in a solid partnership agreement between FAO and Wageningen University and Research (WUR), represents a commitment to enhancing the body of knowledge on digital agriculture and promoting its advancement in developing countries of Europe and Central Asia.

This collaboration seeks to strengthen information exchange related to the digital agriculture initiatives of the two organizations and to foster joint projects in the area of food security and food systems development. FAO and the Digital Agri Hub are merging their expertise and resources to upscale digital solutions across Europe and Central Asia, putting emphasis on low- and middle-income countries. 

The two organizations aim to utilize FAO’s AgriTech Observatory platform and the Digital Agri Hub's dashboard – an online tool used to monitor and find digital solutions in different areas, including the agriculture sector – to showcase the role of digital solutions and services in the region and to support projects and policies in this field. Another objective of this alliance is to build bridges between various stakeholders, such as policymakers, practitioners, researchers and other innovators.