An inclusive, digitally-enabled agricultural transformation could help achieve meaningful livelihood improvements for Africa’s smallholder farmers and pastoralists. It could drive greater engagement in agriculture from women and youth and create employment opportunities along the value chain. At CTA we staked a claim on this power of digitalisation to more systematically transform agriculture early on. Digitalisation, focusing on not individual ICTs but the application of these technologies to entire value chains, is a theme that cuts across all of our work. In youth entrepreneurship, we are fostering a new breed of young ICT ‘agripreneurs’. In climate-smart agriculture multiple projects provide information that can help towards building resilience for smallholder farmers. And in women empowerment we are supporting digital platforms to drive greater inclusion for women entrepreneurs in agricultural value chains.

Agricultural transformation is a priority in the policy agenda of African governments in their quest to meet the challenges of food and nutrition insecurity, climate change, youth unemployment and overall economic growth. With the right policies, innovation and investment, the continent’s agriculture could be transformed into a powerhouse not only to feed a growing population but to create decent employment for millions of young people.

This book aims to strengthen the skills of professionals who use, manage data for the benefit of farmers and farmers organizations by exposing them to the topics of importance of data in the agriculture value chain and how new and existing technologies, products and services can leverage farm level and global data to improve yield, reduce loss, add value and increase profitability and resilience.

THE NEW ADVANCED SOCIETY Included in this book are the fundamentals of Society 5.0, artificial intelligence, and the industrial Internet of Things, featuring their working principles and application in different sectors. A 360-degree view of the different dimensions of the digital revolution is presented in this book, including the various industries transforming industrial manufacturing, the security and challenges ahead, and the far-reaching implications for society and the economy. The main objective of this edited book is to cover the impact that the new advanced society has on several platforms such as smart manufacturing systems, where artificial intelligence can be integrated with existing systems to make them smart, new business models and strategies, where anything and everything is possible through the internet and cloud, smart food chain systems, where food products can be delivered to any corner of the world at any time and in any situation, smart transport systems in which robots and self-driven cars are taking the lead, advances in security systems to assure people of their privacy and safety, and smart healthcare systems, where biochips can be incorporated into the human body to predict deadly diseases at early stages. Finally, it can be understood that the social reformation of Society 5.0 will lead to a society where every person leads an active and healthy life. Audience The targeted audience for this book includes research scholars and industry engineers in artificial intelligence and information technology, engineering students, cybersecurity experts, government research agencies and policymakers, business leaders, and entrepreneurs. Sandeep Kumar Panda, PhD is an associate professor in the Department of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at IcfaiTech (Faculty of Science and Technology), ICFAI Foundation for Higher Education, Hyderabad. His research areas include artificial intelligence, IoT, blockchain technology, cloud computing, cryptography, computational intelligence, and software engineering. Ramesh Kumar Mohapatra, PhD is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, Odisha, India. His research interests include optical character recognition, document image analysis, video processing, secure computing, and machine learning. Subhrakanta Panda, PhD is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Information Systems, BITS-PILANI, Hyderabad Campus, Jawahar Nagar, Hyderabad, India. His research interests include social network analysis, cloud computing, security testing, and blockchain. S. Balamurugan, PhD is the Director of Research and Development, Intelligent Research Consultancy Services (iRCS), Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India. He is also Director of the Albert Einstein Engineering and Research Labs (AEER Labs), as well as Vice-Chairman, Renewable Energy Society of India (RESI), India. He has published 45 books, 200+ international journals/ conferences, and 35 patents.

Women and youth-led agri-enterprises (WYE) (which may also be operating as family businesses) in agricultural value chains have been identified as catalysts for rural transformation given their potential for creating employment and stimulating value addition both on and off-farm. Given that agriculture and food systems are likely to remain the key generators of employment in Ghana over the coming decades, and that 80% of all activities in the midstream of food value chain are undertaken by SMEs in Africa. It is very much necessary to generate the evidence to support the argument that family, women and youth-led agribusinesses have a key role to play in the rural transformation pathway underway in Ghana.

Automation has been shaping world agriculture since the early twentieth century. Motorized mechanization has brought significant benefits in terms of improved productivity, reduced drudgery and more efficient allocation of labour, but also some negative environmental impacts. More recently, a new generation of digital agricultural automation technologies has appeared, with the potential to further enhance productivity, as well as resilience, while also addressing the environmental sustainability challenges driven by past mechanization. The State of Food and Agriculture 2022 looks into the drivers of agricultural automation, including the more recent digital technologies. Based on 27 case studies, the report analyses the business case for adoption of digital automation technologies in different agricultural production systems across the world. It identifies several barriers preventing inclusive adoption of these technologies, particularly by small-scale producers. Key barriers are low digital literacy and lack of an enabling infrastructure, such as connectivity and access to electricity, in addition to financial constraints. Based on the analysis, the publication suggests policies to ensure that disadvantaged groups in developing regions can benefit from agricultural automation and that automation contributes to sustainable and resilient agrifood systems.

The 2022 edition of The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture coincides with the launch of the Decade of Action to deliver the Global Goals, the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. It presents how these and other equally important United Nations events, such as the International Year of Artisanal Fisheries and Aquaculture (IYAFA 2022), are being integrated and supported through Blue Transformation, a priority area of FAO’s new Strategic Framework 2022–2031 designed to accelerate achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in food and agriculture. The concept of Blue Transformation emerged from the Thirty-fourth Session of the FAO Committee on Fisheries in February 2021, and in particular the Declaration for Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture, which was negotiated and endorsed by all FAO Members. The Declaration calls for support for “an evolving and positive vision for fisheries and aquaculture in the twenty first century, where the sector is fully recognized for its contribution to fighting poverty, hunger and malnutrition.” In this context, Part 1 of this edition of The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture reviews the world status of fisheries and aquaculture, while Parts 2 and 3 are devoted to Blue Transformation and its pillars on intensifying and expanding aquaculture, improving fisheries management and innovating fisheries and aquaculture value chains. Blue Transformation emphasizes the need for forward-looking and bold actions to be launched or accelerated in coming years to achieve the objectives of the Declaration and in support of the 2030 Agenda. Part 4 covers current and high-impact emerging issues – COVID-19, climate change and gender equality – that require thorough consideration for transformative steps and preparedness to secure sustainable, efficient and equitable fisheries and aquaculture, and finally draws some outlook on future trends based on projections. The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture aims to provide objective, reliable and up-to-date information to a wide audience – policymakers, managers, scientists, stakeholders and indeed everyone interested in the fisheries and aquaculture sector.

While artificial intelligence (AI) simulates human intelligence in machines, machine learning (ML) enables systems to learn from data without explicit programming. In marketing and supply chain management, AI and ML empower businesses to analyze consumer behavior, personalize experiences, optimize advertising strategies, forecast consumer demands, manage inventory, plan routes, and mitigate risks. Businesses can enhance efficiency, accuracy, decision-making, customer engagement, and cost-effectiveness when integrating AI and ML in marketing and supply chain operations. Further research is necessary to drive success in the dynamic marketplace. AI and Machine Learning Applications in Supply Chains and Marketing bridges the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application of AI and ML in marketing and supply chain management. It examines emerging technologies that can revolutionize industries by transforming business operations. This book covers topics such as data analysis, sustainable development, and blockchain, and is a useful resource for business owners, economists, marketing professionals, engineers, computer scientists, academicians, and researchers.

Digital agricultural extension and advisory services (AEAS) have a great potential to enhance accessibility, delivery, transparency, scope and impacts of information and services for smallholder farmers. However, this potential is often unfully harnessed and the benefits of digital AEAS unequally distributed due to an evident, widening digital divide between rural and urban areas, gender, and different social groups both within and among regions. Due to low-level e-literacy and digital skills, particularly smallholder farmers in rural areas in developing countries have limited access to and utilization of digital AEAS. Considering the above-mentioned benefits of digital AEAS, their poor uptake by smallholder farmers, and the importance of digital empowerment of smallholder farmers in particular, this guide, targeting smallholder farmers in need of digital AEAS as its principal users, provides a set of tools to enhance their digital skills in terms of basic knowledge and skills on using digital tools, methods of access to digital AEAS, methods of access to e-commerce, and capacity building.