Thumbnail Image

Enabling inclusive agricultural automation















FAO. 2022. Enabling inclusive agricultural automation. FAO Agricultural Development Economics Policy Brief, No. 53. Rome.




Also available in:
No results found.

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Thumbnail Image
    Policy brief
    Policy brief
    Transforming agriculture with digital automation 2022
    Also available in:
    No results found.

    The adoption of digital automation technologies in agriculture has been slow despite its potential to enhance the precision of agricultural operations, improve working conditions, and address environmental challenges, while building resilience to shocks and stresses. Most technologies are still relatively new and costly, especially for low- and middle-income countries, where poor connectivity and energy supply, and limited human capacity further hinder adoption. Incentivizing uptake requires creating a conducive business environment and suiting technologies to local conditions, especially for small-scale agriculture.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Policy brief
    Policy brief
    The (continued) potential of motorized mechanization 2022
    Also available in:
    No results found.

    Motorized mechanization is an important form of agricultural automation and has the capacity to transform agriculture and rural livelihoods. Its benefits have resulted in a substantial increase in mechanization worldwide, although adoption has been uneven and particularly limited in sub-Saharan Africa. Agricultural mechanization has been so far dominated by large and heavy machinery, putting small-scale producers at a disadvantage due to their lower capacity to afford large, more costly, machinery that often does not suit their small, irregular, or hilly terrains. Moreover, such machinery contributed to environmental problems such as biodiversity loss, land degradation and soil erosion. Inclusive access to mechanization requires a conducive business environment through a range of (coherent) policy instruments and investments. Particularly for small-scale agricultural producers, it is important that machinery is tailored to local conditions through technological and institutional innovations.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Book (series)
    Working paper
    Automation and social impacts: winners and losers
    Background paper for The State of Food and Agriculture 2022
    2022
    Also available in:
    No results found.

    Understanding the social implications of automation in agriculture, from tractors in low-income countries to high-tech artificial intelligence (AI) solutions found mostly in high-income countries, requires viewing technology change on farms within the broader context of the agricultural transformation and agrifood systems, as well as changing economic incentives to develop and adopt labour-saving technologies. This paper provides an overview of the social implications of automation in agriculture, focusing on labour and employment, and provides policy recommendations.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

  • Thumbnail Image
    Book (series)
    Flagship
    La situation mondiale de l’alimentation et de l’agriculture 2019
    Aller plus loin dans la réduction des pertes et gaspillages de denrées alimentaires
    2019
    Réduire les pertes et les gaspillages de denrées alimentaires est un impératif qui fait partie intégrante du Programme de développement durable à l’horizon 2030. De l’avis général, la réduction des pertes et gaspillages alimentaires peut contribuer de manière décisive à l’amélioration de la sécurité alimentaire et de la nutrition, à la promotion de la durabilité environnementale et à la baisse des coûts de production. Toutefois, dans ce domaine, les efforts n’aboutiront que s’ils reposent sur une connaissance approfondie du problème. Le présent rapport fournit de nouvelles estimations sur le pourcentage des denrées alimentaires qui sont perdues au niveau mondial, depuis le stade de la production jusqu’à la vente au détail. Il constate par ailleurs une grande hétérogénéité dans les estimations relatives aux pertes alimentaires, souvent pour un même produit ou un même stade de la chaîne d’approvisionnement. Le fait de pouvoir déterminer et comprendre clairement les points critiques où se produisent les pertes dans les différentes chaînes d’approvisionnement – là où le potentiel de réduction des pertes alimentaires est élevé – est une condition essentielle si l’on veut prendre des mesures adéquates. Le rapport fournit des principes directeurs susceptibles de guider les interventions de réduction des pertes et gaspillages alimentaires en fonction des résultats escomptés, que ce soit sur le plan de l’efficacité économique, de la sécurité alimentaire, de la nutrition ou de la durabilité environnementale.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Booklet
    High-profile
    FAO Strategy on Climate Change 2022–2031 2022
    The FAO Strategy on Climate Change 2022–2031 was endorsed by FAO Council in June 2022. This new strategy replaces the previous strategy from 2017 to better FAO's climate action with the Strategic Framework 2022-2031, and other FAO strategies that have been developed since then. The Strategy was elaborated following an inclusive process of consultation with FAO Members, FAO staff from headquarters and decentralized offices, as well as external partners. It articulates FAO's vision for agrifood systems by 2050, around three main pillars of action: at global and regional level, at country level, and at local level. The Strategy also encourages key guiding principles for action, such as science and innovation, inclusiveness, partnerships, and access to finance.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Booklet
    Corporate general interest
    Emissions due to agriculture
    Global, regional and country trends 2000–2018
    2021
    Also available in:
    No results found.

    The FAOSTAT emissions database is composed of several data domains covering the categories of the IPCC Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector of the national GHG inventory. Energy use in agriculture is additionally included as relevant to emissions from agriculture as an economic production sector under the ISIC A statistical classification, though recognizing that, in terms of IPCC, they are instead part of the Energy sector of the national GHG inventory. FAO emissions estimates are available over the period 1961–2018 for agriculture production processes from crop and livestock activities. Land use emissions and removals are generally available only for the period 1990–2019. This analytical brief focuses on overall trends over the period 2000–2018.