Accelerating Digital Transformation in Agriculture

Author: Sander Janssen

Publish Date: 11 October 2021

Digital technologies have strong potential to support the transformation of agriculture, building a resilient, sustainable and inclusive agrifood system [1]. As key enablers, digital innovations can play a catalytic role – especially in the wake of COVID-19 – by improving the capacity of small-scale producers (SSPs) to adapt to external shocks and increasing productivity and profitability. With more than 33 million smallholder farmers and pastoralists [2] already registered on such platforms, sub-Saharan Africa alone has seen a rapid increase in the adoption of digital solutions, recording an annual growth of 44 per cent over the three-year period ending in 2018. Despite a rapid expansion of the digitalisation for agriculture (D4Ag) sector across low-and-middle income countries, the reach and sustainable use of D4Ag solutions remains fairly low, especially among SSPs. Only 13 per cent of smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa are registered for any digital service and far fewer are actively using such services [3]. Inadequate access to the Internet and digital services, coupled with issues of affordability, disability and a growing digital divide, are among factors that have widened the disconnect. One of the main barriers holding back investment in D4Ag solutions and their impact at scale is lack of cost-effective ways of comparing and contrasting solutions, and making informed decisions on which ones will really work.

Promoting alliances and investments

Despite a highly complex and fragmented digital sector, there is significant potential for establishing sustainable partnerships and investments. For this reason, there is a growing need for greater coordination of D4Ag solutions and their overarching ecosystem, but how best to achieve this?

Stewart Collis from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), says that Digital Agri Hub (the Hub) can play an important role in driving D4Ag solutions for small-scale producers: “Evidence suggests bundled digital farmer services positively impact small-scale producers’ livelihoods by improving access to inputs, information on managing crops and livestock, obtaining climate mitigating finance and insurance and accessing markets. Digital Agri Hub will collate the essential data necessary to understand which combinations of services are reaching men and women small-scale producers at scale with impact, and act as a guide for investment and adoption of the most impactful digital agriculture products, solutions and services.”

Josh Woodard from The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) adds: "As the number of digital solutions in the agricultural sector continues to grow, the Digital Agri Hub will allow practitioners to make more informed decisions and bring clarity to a fragmented information landscape. We're excited by the potential for greater impact as a result of a more cohesive digital agriculture space."

Convinced of the scope for digital technologies in the agriculture sector, FCDO, BMGF and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) are co-funding the Hub to monitor and track the development of digital for agriculture solutions, and their impact in helping to achieve a climate-resilient, sustainable and inclusive food system. Responding to the direct needs of the diverse stakeholder groups that play an active role in D4Ag will be an important focus for the Hub. To this end, it has conducted a needs assessment, with the aim of identifying, unpacking and addressing the major needs for each of the different actors on the pathway towards the sustainable growth of the sector.

The emerging issues

Across the nine identified stakeholder groups, made up of donors, (impact) investors, D4Ag solution providers, agri-food value chain actors, agritech companies, innovation repositories, policy makers and direct implementers (farmers’ organizations and non-governmental organisations), a broad range of issues has emerged. Tomaso Ceccarelli, the lead coordinator on this Ecosystem coordination activity from the Digital Agri Hub team, observes that: “Stakeholders have different perspectives and goals. But there is one trait that unites most of them, and this is the need for a structured overview on initiatives and reliable insights on the impact of D4Ag.”

Gigi Gatti from Grameen Foundation USA – one of the Digital Agri Hub partners – says that: “It is essential to work with existing D4Ag networks and Communities of Practice to understand how to best connect them to the Hub.”

Responding to these diverse needs is a key success parameter for the Hub, integrating such crucial and different perspectives in its programme of work. Simona Benvenuti from the Netherlands Advisory Board on Impact Investing (NAB) – a Digital Agri Hub partner – experiences that "to accelerate the mobilization of private-sector capital into D4Ag it is critical to provide impact-based data on existing D4Ag solutions and insights to mitigate investment risk, thus facilitating collaboration amongst the different types of capital providers and knowledge exchange globally across the value chain".

Daniele Tricarico, from GSMA, also a Digital Agri Hub partner, has closely assessed the development of the D4Ag sector and worked with a number of different solution providers in collaboration with mobile operators. From his perspective, "it is exciting to see a growing number of D4AG services coming to market, but this fast-paced sector also experiences a high level of fragmentation and many short-lived initiatives. It is therefore crucial to quickly identify emerging best practices and highlight the operational and business models that can support truly sustainable, scalable solutions".

Inclusion for all stands out as a critical prerequisite for the sustainable development of D4Ag. In support, Eunice Likoko, from Wageningen University and Research (WUR), adds that: “For women and marginalised groups, improved access to D4Ag solutions will be stimulated by understanding and addressing the barriers they face in accessing digital solutions. Intervention strategies need to go beyond minimal participation of excluded groups, to adopt more empowering approaches that address underlying barriers to promote sustainable and realistic adoption of digital solutions for these groups’’.

A hub for inclusive agricultural transformation

To ensure the strong and sustainable growth of the D4Ag sector, a better tracking mechanism will be central to the success of Digital Agri Hub, while supporting the everyday decision-making process of D4Ag actors across the agrifood system. Whether the decision is to partner with another D4Ag solution provider, to invest in a D4Ag solution, to create awareness and stimulate the development of the sector in a particular country, or to invest in digital developments for societal impact, access to insights, data and knowledge is crucial. It is Digital Agri Hub’s firm intention to truly act as a hub, bringing partners together, creating capacity and connecting actors to one another, helping them to share their insights and best practices towards inclusive agricultural transformation.

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[1] World Bank, 2019. Future of Food: Harnessing Digital Technologies to Improve Food System Outcomes (available here).
[2] 13% of all sub-Saharan African smallholders and pastoralists and up to 45% of smallholder households, depending on assumptions used to calculate penetration.
[3] D4Ag solutions refer to the digitally enabled business models and technologies to address farmers and food system actors’ constraints (e.g. around market access, inputs, financing and climate).

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Authors: Veronika Sherova (FAO), Tomaso Ceccarelli and Inder Kumar

Publish Date: 10 December 2024

This article is a follow-up to the webinar hosted by JengaLab titled “From Knowledge to Action: The Impact of Agritech Knowledge Sharing Platforms on Evidence-Based Policies” on November 28, 2024. During the session, panellists Tomaso Ceccarelli from the Digital Agri Hub and Veronika Sherova from FAO Agritech Observatory presented their insights on why there is a need for greater collaboration between Agritech knowledge-sharing platforms. They emphasized that addressing lack of coordination and integration is essential to reduce landscape-level fragmentation, avoid “reinventing the wheel in digital agriculture” and creating inefficiencies and redundancies in the impact for Small Scale Producers (SSPs), women and youth in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). With these objectives, the two platforms envision exchanging collected research on digital agriculture initiatives in LMICs of Europe and Central Asia to reinforce their visibility and adoption. This endeavour will facilitate streamlined regional cooperation among stakeholders, including practitioners, policymakers, researchers, and innovators, to propel the development and uptake of digital agricultural solutions.

Status quo of global Agritech knowledge platforms

Global Agritech knowledge platforms have emerged as crucial tools for advancing agricultural innovation, offering centralized access to data, technologies, and best practices. The knowledge stored in these platforms can help address critical challenges, including food insecurity and unsustainable farming practices, while promoting climate resilience and the adoption of innovative solutions through knowledge sharing. However, the current landscape is fragmented, with numerous initiatives operating in silos, often competing for similar audiences, funding, and impact goals. This competitive dynamic tends to limit their collective potential to drive systemic change.

Current challenges for advancing digital agricultural in the region

Systematic change for advancing digital agricultural in Europe and Central Asia faces numerous challenges, despite the growing recognition of its potential. According to a recent FAO study (2020), among these challenges is reliance on general-purpose ICT indicators and absence of dedicated framework of agriculture-specific ICT indicators; lack of strategic platform that would allow decision-makers to base their policies and investments on concrete evidence drawn from past successes and failures in the field; fragmentation and lack of synergy among development initiatives; as well as exclusion of small-scale producers from the digital revolution due to limited access to infrastructure, high costs, and low digital literacy.

Recognising these challenges, the Alliance between FAO’s Agritech Observatory and the Digital Agri Hub forged in 2024 seeks to build a cohesive and interconnected ecosystem for digital agriculture in the region, thereby empowering all stakeholders through knowledge-sharing, data integration, and framework harmonisation.

What we expect from this collaboration

The FAO’s Agritech Observatory and the Digital Agri Hub aim to address the challenges of fragmentation and data gaps through cross-platform integration. By pooling their data, insights, and best practices, these platforms will provide a comprehensive repository that stakeholders can access for informed decision-making and policy support. This integration supports coordinated efforts, reduces redundancy, and enhances the overall impact of digital agriculture initiatives in the region by the following outcomes:

Taxonomy standardisation and interoperability: A core focus of the alliance is the standardisation of data and taxonomies. By creating a harmonised framework for classifying initiatives on digital agriculture, including digital solutions, related services and the underlying technologies, the FAO and Digital Agri Hub aim to ensure consistent data exchange and interoperability across platforms. This standardisation effort will make it easier for users to navigate and compare initiatives, ultimately leading to more informed policy development and strategic investments. In the long term, the collaboration plans to establish Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that will facilitate seamless data exchange and interoperability between platforms. This move is expected to streamline data sharing and tracking, enabling the identification of trends, gaps, and opportunities in digital agriculture.
Curating profiles of the digital solutions and services in the Europe and Central Asia region: Both platforms have identified over 168 digital solutions and services in the region for which the database can be curated, maintained, and streamlined to minimise redundancies and duplications. These are aligned with Sustainable Development Goals and the FAO’s "Four Betters" – better production, better nutrition, a better environment, and a better life.

The collaboration between FAO’s Agritech Observatory and the Digital Agri Hub represents a forward-looking step toward overcoming fragmentation and fostering a cohesive digital agriculture ecosystem in Europe and Central Asia. By aligning efforts, harmonizing data, and promoting knowledge-sharing, this alliance has the potential to empower stakeholders with actionable insights, bridge existing gaps, and drive the adoption of innovative solutions.