Dr. Yvonne Pinto, Director of Bioeconomy ‒ AgBio at Eagle Genomics, will be joining an upcoming meeting as one of the distinguished panellists at the SAA (Sasakawa Africa Association) Side-Event for TICAD8 (Tokyo International Conference on African Development) co-organized by IFPRI (International Food Policy Research Institute) and AFAAS (African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services), this Friday 26 August 2022.
Climate change is a global challenge devastating farmland and soil quality worldwide, disrupting our food systems and our ability to feed our populations. Coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic and economic inflation, this has been especially important for countries in the African continent, in which agriculture is mainly comprised of smallholder farmers that are faced with numerous risks and insurmountable costs. Efficient agronomic practices and agricultural technologies are integral in enabling farmers to address these complex challenges particularly in the context of prolonged droughts, floods, increased pests and diseases and a lack of access to inputs. In fact, digitization can play a vital role in accelerating the opportunity for farmers to have access to information and support to facilitate agricultural transformation in Africa.
The panel discussion will be centered around the theme of “Multidimensional digitally-enabled agricultural extension in Africa: Accelerating agricultural transformation in the face of global crises.” This event is hosted by Sasakawa Africa Association, a foundation operating in Japan that promotes agricultural extension and has been supporting smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa for over 30 years. This meeting is focused on the support from Japan to Africa, including the JICA (Japanese International Cooperation Agency) and the Nippon Foundation.
In the symposium, Dr. Pinto will be joining other panellists in discussing trends, good practices, and recommendations for multidimensional, digitally enabled agricultural extension in Africa, while highlighting the effects that escalating food and fertilizer prices will have on smallholder farmers. The meeting will explore methods that can help advance agricultural transformation in Africa.
Other speakers include Mr. Tomoyuki Naito, Vice President and Professor at Graduate School of Information Technology, Kobe Institute of Computing in Japan; Mr. Shinjiro Amameishi, the Deputy Director General, Economic Development Department, JICA, who is responsible for the agricultural and rural development in Africa, Middle East and Europe; and Ms. Yenenesh Egu Bezabih, the Director of Agricultural Extension in the Ministry of Agriculture in Ethiopia.
Digitization of agricultural extension is critical in increasing farm productivity and resilience to adapt to challenges like climate change, pests, and disease. The meeting aims to look forward and contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 by increasing investment in digital technologies to help small-scale farmers in Africa.
Dr. Yvonne Pinto has over 30 years of experience in the agriculture development sector, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. She previously served as Digital Agriculture and Innovation Lead for The World Bank’s Food and Agriculture Practice. With a background in plant molecular genetics and virology, she has worked in positions with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Gatsby Foundation, UN FAO and the Centre for Environmental Policy at Imperial College, UK. As part of the Eagle Genomics team, Yvonne and the Company are focused on enabling the digitization of science to accelerate the generative economy.