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BookletDigital technologies in agriculture and rural areas
Briefing paper
2019Firstly, a significant challenge in understanding digital agricultural transformation is a lack of systematic, official data on the topic. Much of the data – for example on levels of e-literacy – are only available at the country level with no distinction for urban and rural areas. Meanwhile, data on networks focus only on coverage and do not provide information about the quality or affordability of services. There is also a lack of information about government support and regulatory frameworks for digital transformation; so far, this has been interpreted via proxies including the availability of government e-services and regulations about connectivity and data protection. A second consideration is that there are significant disparities in the adoption of digital agriculture technologies between developed and developing countries and between global companies and those at a local, community or family scale. Factors including financial resources and education levels influence the adoption of modern agricultural technologies. Small farmers in rural areas are disproportionately disadvantaged as well as facing problems of limited access to infrastructure, networks and technology. A final factor to consider is that digital agricultural technologies are affected by economies of scale. Adoption is easier for users who can implement them at large scale. Small-scale farmers face a disadvantage compared to large agribusiness actors. This creates disparity between large and small-scale farmers, with a corresponding inequality between developed and developing countries. Transformative digital innovations and technologies are often not designed for the scale at which smallholder farmers operate. -
Book (stand-alone)Status of digital agriculture in 47 sub-Saharan African countries 2022
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No results found.Sub-Saharan Africa is uniquely positioned significantly increase its current agricultural productivity to lift the region’s more than 400 million people out of extreme poverty and improve the livelihood of approximately 250 million smallholder farmers and pastoralists in the region. To achieve that, substantive digital transformation of the agriculture sector is required through improved infrastructure and increased access to and use of digital technologies for agriculture. To improve the current understanding of sub-Saharan Africa’s digital agriculture landscape, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) undertook this study in 47 countries. The report is composed of 47 desk-based country case studies against six thematic focal areas, the aim of which is to present a snapshot of the status of digital agriculture in each country. This is followed by highlights of the main findings of the analysis of the country profiles with suggested steps for future action. The findings of the study are presented to FAO and ITU Member States, as well as all relevant stakeholders with the purpose of advancing and supporting investment in digital transformation of the agricultural sector in sub-Saharan Africa. -
Brochure, flyer, fact-sheet1,000 Digital Village Initiative
An initiative to expand digital innovations in rural villages for inclusive rural and agrifood systems transformation
2022Also available in:
No results found.Digitalization and internet use are transforming every aspect of our lives. Digital technologies are profoundly changing how we grow food, pack it, transport it and even shop for food. Digitalization and use of digital data, applications, and platforms are opening new possibilities for developing and restructuring the agrifood system. Digital agriculture is turning to digitalizing agrifood, rural economy, and rural societies. This report introduces the FAO Digital Village Initiative, which aims to facilitate through knowledge and information. It approaches countries and communities to develop, accelerate and deploy digital technologies in rural villages and communities. The report introduces the Digital Village Ecosystem approach. It describes an instrument (tool) to gather information and provide a village ecosystem assessment to help generate recommendations for future interventions to deploy beneficial, inclusive, and affordable digital innovations by rural residents. The DVE approach identifies five core attributes: basic infrastructure, demand and needs of digital services (from end-user), enabling services, digital supply possibilities, economic and business sustainability, and finally, local ownership of the proposed or piloted digital village innovations. The DVE approach is currently being implemented in 8 countries covering over 100 digital villages (covering a wide range of digital readiness statuses from emerging up to smart villages). The report provides a summary of a sample of digital village cases under DVE assessment. Results of the DVE assessments and recommended follow-up action by country will be released in future reports.
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