In agriculture, the use of digital technologies holds the promise of enhancing efficiency, profitability, and sustainability throughout the food value chain. This potential has generated enthusiasm among practitioners and entrepreneurs who strive to foster equitable and inclusive development in value chains.
Despite the positive outlook on these technologies and the increasing global investment in the sector (USD 53.2 billion in 2021 and 29.6 billion in 2022), there are significant aspects regarding their unintended consequences and impacts that need to be explored.
For instance, multilateral promoters like the World Bank Group caution against viewing digital technologies as a cure-all solution. The FAO emphasizes the importance of addressing gaps in policymaking and regulation, economic and gender disparities, skill gaps, and the digital divide to maximize opportunities and minimize risks in digital agriculture.
Social movements advocate for a better understanding of the multifaceted implications of digitalization. The Nyéléni Forum on Food Sovereignty, for instance, calls for transparency in identifying the actors responsible for developing these technologies and their objectives. This initiative seeks to uncover who controls the technologies and, consequently, the right to utilize the generated data.
Social scientists have highlighted how the trajectory of technologies can perpetuate global asymmetries, power imbalances concerning data ownership decisions, and the lack of policy interventions regarding the implications of digital technologies.
Numerous questions arise in this context:
- How can we effectively provide digital services to small farmers to enhance their access to information?
- How can we identify and bridge various gaps (e.g., infrastructure, knowledge, gender differences, and access) to promote equity along food value chains?
- What types of digital products and services are most needed by specific stakeholders?
- What kind of innovative solutions should be implemented together?
Join us on June 15th at 10 am EDT for a webinar hosted by the CGIAR Research Initiative on Rethinking Food Markets. We will explore the availability of digital innovations and how they can be tailored to the diverse needs of stakeholders in agri-food value chains, with a specific focus on the coffee value chain in Central America.
This webinar offers a space for collective reflection on pertinent questions, using the coffee industry in Central America as a case study. This sector holds global significance and plays a crucial role for the region and thousands of coffee growers.