Digital Innovation
Where we work: Guatemala
Digital Innovation’s work in Guatemala includes the following activities:
Digital Co-Lab: Analyzing digital ecosystems in Guatemala
We assessed the digital development gaps and challenges in Guatemala’s agrifood systems based on the review of 323 actors across 14 types of digital agrifood organizations. In-depth assessments on challenges and opportunities were conducted on 50 selected actors using the Rapid Screening Tool. We found that Guatemala has a good mix of founders, technical resources, an educated workforce, and a growing tech industry. The government’s substantial efforts toward digital society, rights, and data governance were remarkable. However, major challenges constraining digital ecosystems were weak digital literacy, inadequate infrastructure, and low affordability of digital technologies and solutions for both users and service providers in rural areas. We recommended specific actions for CGIAR to support partners in realizing the transformative potential of digital innovations.
Digital Co-Lab: Diploma course on Digital Agriculture in Guatemala
In collaboration with AgriLAC Resiliente, we provided a university diploma course aimed to strengthen the technical capacity of agricultural professionals in digital agriculture and allow them to make more informed, data-driven decisions in agrifood systems. The 90-hour diploma course is organized into five modules (i) Human-centered design and digital inclusion, (ii) Data collection, data management, and data integration, (iii) Data science, (iv) Crop modeling, and (v) scaling digital innovations. Twenty-six agricultural professionals from various institutions, from government, non-government organizations (NGOs), growers’ associations, and educational institutions to the private sector, completed the course in December 2022. More courses are planned to be provided in 2023 and 2024.
Digital Twin: High-frequency diet quality monitoring
We are implementing a novel mobile phone-based crowdsourcing solution to continuously monitor citizens’ diet quality. The data supports the food security interventions and policy decisions of the Ministerio de Agricultura Ganadería y Alimentación (Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Food), World Food Program, and Action Against Hunger. Learn more: High-frequency collection of food systems data: Pilots in Rwanda and Guatemala.
Read about the Initiative’s other focus countries and regions: