Rome — Partnership will focus on digital technologies for agribusiness and encourage young people to invest in smart agriculture and agribusiness

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and Telecom Korea (KT) today committed to working together to create more opportunities for young people to get involved in smart agriculture and other forms of innovation and entrepreneurship in the agriculture.

The agreement was signed by FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva and KT CEO Chang-Gyu Hwang at a ceremony on the sidelines of FAO's first International Seminar on the Digital Transformation of Agriculture. The two-day event brings together several hundred participants, including government ministers, representatives of civil society and the private sector, non-governmental organizations and other industry leaders.

Through their partnership, FAO and KT aim to promote the use of technologies and innovations in development processes and value chains related to agribusiness management and digital agriculture, and encourage digital innovation as a whole as well as youth entrepreneurship in the agri-food sector.

They will focus in particular on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for young people who practice smart agriculture, i.e. who use innovative technologies to produce more and good quality of food and other agricultural products, such as fuels, fibres, textiles, seeds or fodder.

As part of the agreement, FAO and KT will organize an annual Challenge/Hackathon that will aim to encourage the use of digital technologies for sustainable agricultural development and to give young agricultural entrepreneurs an opportunity to explore and test new and high-potential ideas for smart agriculture.

FAO and KT will also host a Workshop or Course on Innovation and Entrepreneurship that offers programmes and activities for youth training and entrepreneurship in the agri-food and technological innovation sector.

KT provides the new technologies and innovative services that use the ultra-fast speed, ultra-low latency and hyper connectivity of 5G, creating socio-economic value for the public.

FAO helps its member countries unlock their digital innovation potential to support socio-economic growth, ensure food and nutrition security, alleviate poverty and improve resilience to climate change.

For example, FAO and its partners are working in nine pilot countries in Africa, Asia and Central America to enable local, national and international partners to jointly develop and implement capacity development plans for digital agriculture. FAO also provides support to governments in developing strategies to foster a sustainable and inclusive ecosystem for the development of digital agriculture, through cooperation with small businesses, cooperatives and local organizations, to ensure that smallholder farmers reap the economic, social and environmental benefits of the development of digital technologies.