Date: 09 Oct, 2018
The Arab Authority for Agricultural Investment and Development participated at the First Inter-Regional Smart Agriculture Forum (ISAF). The event was a result of joint collaboration between the Arab Information and Communication Technologies Organization, the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development and the Sudanese Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry and Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, under theme “Towards Sustainable Agricultural Development by Introducing IoT and New Technology Trends”. The vent was held during the period of 24 to 26 September 2018 at the Friendship Hall in Khartoum, Sudan, with the attendance and participation of Ministers of Agriculture and Technology in the different Arab Member States.
During the event, His Excellency Mohammed bin Obaid Al Mazrooei, President of AAAID, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development, and another with the Arab Information and Communication Technologies Organization. The memos are aimed at solidifying cooperation between the three parties in different mutual interests.
The signing of the Memo comes in light of this Forum, which aims at enhancing the contribution of Arab countries to the implementation of the goals of sustainable development in 2030. This is in line with the fourth objective of the Arab ICT Organization Strategy, in addition to achieving the objectives of the Arab Organization for Agricultural Development to attain Arab agriculture with high economic efficiency. As well as using resources capable of high productivity to achieve Arab food security, based on the initiative of President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir for Arab food security, the initiative of His Highness King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia to promote Saudi investment outside of the Kingdom and the Green Morocco Plan.
AAAID also participated in the workshop with a paper on the efforts of the Arab Authority in the field of smart agriculture, and its challenges and opportunities through presenting its experience and highlighting the results and obstacles encountered. The paper also presented proposals for the adoption and dissemination of smart agriculture in Arab countries.
Among the highlights of the forum is the potential collaboration between the Arab Authority and Sudatel Group. The Executive Director of Sudatel Group announced the training of 100 farmers in the field of smart agriculture, enabling them to use all means of modern technology and communications. The Arab Authority expressed its readiness to cooperate with the Group to establish a model farm that adopts modern technologies in the field of agriculture and to enable agricultural cadres to work at the highest level of modern agricultural technologies in Sudan and the Arab countries, all in the march towards food security.
The Regional Forum concluded its work and issued the “Khartoum Declaration”, in which the participants pledged to work together to increase the number of Arab farmers using the Internet in accordance with an agreement that promotes regional cooperation between Arab and African countries to achieve a better future for smart agriculture in the Arab world. The declaration urged the Arab countries to expand the use of modern tools in communications and information technology, which allowed farmers to use phones for assistance or guidance at low cost, especially as many farmers in the world use mobile phones in their agricultural operations, which has had a positive impact, contributing to the increase of productivity and output.
