Digital Agriculture Development during the Covid-19 Era

The year 2020 marks the beginning of the “Decade of Action” proclaimed by the United Nations for achieving the goals and targets set out in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Agenda. In an increasingly digital world, information and communication technologies (ICTs) play a key role as development enablers that can facilitate countries’ capabilities to reach all the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic which continues to ravage so many of our populations and economies, there can no longer be any doubt that dramatically accelerating progress on the SDGs means dramatically accelerating progress to extend digital connectivity to the 3.6 billion still totally cut off from the online world. Digital is the foundation on which we can build social and economic resilience. We have never faced a situation of greater urgency, and renewed global recognition of the importance of digital infrastructure, services and skills presents many unprecedented opportunities to make real and rapid progress.

Europe throughout the years, made significant progress, becoming world leader in broadband connectivity. However, a lot remains to be done to bridge connectivity, affordability and digital skills divides across the countries. The impact of policy and regulatory frameworks on the development of digitization in Europe is positive. In Europe, an increase of 10 per cent in digitization results in 1.4 per cent growth in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.

While Europe leads in digital agriculture development, the e-agriculture sector in many parts of Europe still suffers from underinvestment. As agriculture becomes more and more knowledge-intensive, having access to timely and accurate information tailored to specific locations and conditions is critical to helping farmers enhance their efficiency in agricultural production. E-agriculture centres on designing, developing, and applying innovative methods of ICT use within the agricultural sector in the rural domain.Many stakeholders have long recognized the need for strategies for national e-agriculture, also known as digital agriculture. However, most countries have yet to adopt or implement a national strategy for the agricultural sector's use of ICTs. E-agriculture strategies will help rationalize financial and human resources, address (holistically) ICT opportunities and challenges of the agricultural sector, generate new revenue streams and improve the lives of people in rural communities.

Digital technologies are rapidly transforming how people, business and governments work. They affect the entire food system, every actor of that system, and generate significant benefits in agriculture by reducing the costs of information, transactions and supervision. While digital technologies can make significant contributions towards the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), they raise economic, social and ethical concerns, in particular with respect to privacy and security, but also in terms of the disruptive impact that they can have on business, employment and markets. While these concerns are common across all sectors of the economy, the transformational impact that digital technology can have specifically on the food and agricultural sector is particularly broad.

Agricultural and rural development in the region of Europe has to overcome various challenges transforming to sustainable food systems and nutrition sensitive value chains. Such challenges include the triple burden of malnutrition undernutrition (overweight, obesity, and micronutrient deficiencies); climate change adaptation; increased food loss and waste; rural divides and urbanization, including the outmigration of young people; small-size farming domination; and aging of farmers in the Balkans. The COVID-19 crisis threatens the food security and nutrition. In the longer term, the economic consequences can have implications on the functioning of food systems and thus also environmental and social disruptions. Emphasis needs to be given to both short and long-term measures that supports a transition to more sustainable food systems that are in better balance with nature and that support healthy diets – and thus better health prospects - for all. The sustainable nutrition sensitive agriculture value chains from farm to fork require equal access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) for all stakeholders. However, in Europe the adoption of new technologies is lagging behind for smallholder farmers. The reasons of this rural digital divide are often related to availability and quality of access, connectivity costs, appropriate and adapted content that can be activated. The solutions reside in participatory processes, involving all actors working in partnerships using traditional and new technologies.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a wakeup call and has accelerated the use of digital technologies in order keep working and stay connected. It also revealed the divides that persist between those who have access and those who do not. Digital technology dividends are not automatic, and not everyone can benefit equally. Hence, there is a critical need for actions at policy level to maximize the benefits and minimize the potential risks, and ensure government commitment to upscale new solutions and create a structured enabling environment for innovation development, support systems and capacity development, which are pertinent for generating a development change through ICTs in agriculture. In accordance with the core principles of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, governments in the Europe shall take measures to leave no one behind and close digital, rural and gender divides, known as the triple divide. As mentioned in the UN Secretary-General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, more than ever we need to connect, respect and protect people in the digital age. People working in agriculture, forestry and fishery, living in remote and rural areas should not be left behind.Coordination is needed to sustainably address the digital transformation of agriculture.

Responding to the call of the 2020 Global Forum for Food and Agriculture (GFFA), it is proposed that FAO host an International Platform for Digital Food and Agriculture that will

i) promote the coordination and strength the linkages between international forums for agriculture and those for the digital economy to enhance the awareness of the international community to issues specific to the digitalization of the food and agriculture sectors; and

ii) support governments with policy recommendations, best practices, and voluntary guidelines that can enhance the benefits of digital technology applications on agriculture, while addressing potential economic, social and ethical impacts and concerns.