AgTec 2022 was held at Zamorano: "Proposing agricultural and technological solutions for agri-food systems"

22/11/2022

The academic event was attended by 900 people and was supported by CABEI's DINAMICA Initiative II, the European Union and the German Government through KfW.

Tegucigalpa, November 22nd, 2022 - On Monday, November 14th and Tuesday, November 15th, nearly 900 attendees gathered at the Agriculture and Technology (AgTec) 2022 event, an activity organized annually by Zamorano University with the objective of allowing students, graduates, industry and development institutions to share innovations in processes, products or services aimed at solving problems in agri-food systems, and to promote inclusive, resilient and equitable agri-food systems.

The academic event, which was sponsored by CABEI's DINAMICA Initiative II, the European Union and the German Government through KfW, was held within the framework of the institution's 80th anniversary, and was carried out on campus and through virtual means where a series of presentations were given, The special guests showed advances and contributions of technology in agriculture, including companies and organizations such as FONTAGRO, Netafilm, Barcelona Computing Center, El Trigal, Universidad EAFIT, ESTIAM, Universidad de Loyola, Rodale Institute, among others.

Community participation was also promoted through oral presentations (20 papers), POSTER presentations (35 finalists) and innovation, with the presentation of solutions to a challenge (11 pre-selected projects), which this year focused on waste management in agriculture. The best works were awarded on November 15 at the closing event.

Agriculture 4.0, or AGTEC, integrates innovations in the production system. These innovations include precision agriculture, internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence and big data to achieve productive efficiency.  Unfortunately, the adoption of AGTEC is very low in the Central American region, reaching less than 2% among small-scale farmers. Among the main causes of this low adoption, lack of knowledge, cost, functionality and lack of local support have been identified.

ZAMORANO is grateful for the support of the DINAMICA Initiative II who participated as a sponsor of the awards and logistics of the event. We would also like to thank the Nippon Foundation for its contribution to education in Latin America, which currently offers scholarships to 30 young people from different Latin American countries, and CABEI, through its Social Support Foundation (FAS-CABEI), which offers 40 scholarships to ten of its member countries.

DINAMICA is a tripartite initiative of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) as executing agency, the Government of Germany through KfW and the European Union as part of its Latin American Investment Facility (LAIF). Its main objective is to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem for MSMEs and especially for new, young and/or innovative MSMEs. This approach also includes strengthening the financial sector at the regional level to foster adequate access to financial services for these MSMEs.

 

 

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