Tuesday, 28 May 2024 14:55

Time to bridge the digital gap between rural and urban - FAO

Written by  Staff Reporters
The director-general of the FAO says it's time to bridge the digital gap in rural areas. The director-general of the FAO says it's time to bridge the digital gap in rural areas.

The director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) says the UN has a role to play in leveraging the power of digital technologies.

In an address to a High-Level United Nations Dialogue on the Progress and Future of Digital Cooperation, QU Dongyu noted that agriculture is one of the world’s biggest challenges, because digitally rural areas are lagging behind, adding that it is time to bridge the digital gap between urban and rural areas.

“Digitalisation is reshaping our world at its very core, and is having a deep impact on our societies and economies, and our mindsets,” he said, stressing that digitization may have a significant positive impact on agrifood systems transformation to make them more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable.

However, he pointed out that new emerging issues related to safe and ethical use of digital agriculture should be taken into consideration.

This is crucial “to ensure a holistic perspective and an open, free and secure digital future for all as outlined by the Global Digital Compact and other key UN led initiatives towards which we are working together”.

He reiterated FAO’s commitment to continue working closely with all stakeholders in an efficient, effective, and coherent manner to establish a global digital ecosystem to address global challenge.

The session was part of the UN’s World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) which brought together UN leaders to present their respective mandates within the WSIS process and their perspectives on digital for development.

More like this

FAO Food Price Index inches up

The benchmark for world food commodity prices increased for the third consecutive month in May, as higher prices of cereals and dairy products outweighed decreases in quotations for sugar and vegetable oils, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) reports.

Let's take our hats off to dairy farmers!

It’s World Milk Day today (June 1), a time to celebrate the vital role that milk, and dairy products play in our lives and acknowledge the tremendous contributions of the New Zealand dairy sector.

Featured

HortNZ celebrates 20 Years

More than 150 people turned up at Parliament recently to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Horticulture New Zealand (HortNZ).

National

India FTA negotiations end

A landmark moment for New Zealand. That's how  Prime Minister Christopher Luxon describes the conclusion of negotiations for an India-New…

Machinery & Products

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Yes, Minister!

OPINION: The release of the Natural Environment Bill and Planning Bill to replace the Resource Management Act is a red-letter day…

Two-legged pests

OPINION: Federated Farmers has launched a new campaign, swapping ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ for ‘The Twelve Pests of Christmas’ to…

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter