IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natsus/v4y2021i2d10.1038_s41893-020-00631-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The global divide in data-driven farming

Author

Listed:
  • Zia Mehrabi

    (University of British Columbia
    University of British Columbia
    University of British Columbia)

  • Mollie J. McDowell

    (University of British Columbia)

  • Vincent Ricciardi

    (University of British Columbia
    University of British Columbia)

  • Christian Levers

    (University of British Columbia
    University of British Columbia
    Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ)

  • Juan Diego Martinez

    (University of British Columbia
    University of British Columbia)

  • Natascha Mehrabi
  • Hannah Wittman

    (University of British Columbia
    University of British Columbia)

  • Navin Ramankutty

    (University of British Columbia
    University of British Columbia)

  • Andy Jarvis

    (International Center for Tropical Agriculture)

Abstract

Big data and mobile technology are widely claimed to be global disruptive forces in agriculture that benefit small-scale farmers. Yet the access of small-scale farmers to this technology is poorly understood. We show that only 24–37% of farms of 200 ha in size. Furthermore, croplands with severe yield gaps, climate-stressed locations and food-insecure populations have poor service coverage. Across many countries in Africa, less than ~40% of farming households have Internet access, and the cost of data remains prohibitive. We recommend a digital inclusion agenda whereby governments, the development community and the private sector focus their efforts to improve access so that data-driven agriculture is available to all farmers globally.

Suggested Citation

  • Zia Mehrabi & Mollie J. McDowell & Vincent Ricciardi & Christian Levers & Juan Diego Martinez & Natascha Mehrabi & Hannah Wittman & Navin Ramankutty & Andy Jarvis, 2021. "The global divide in data-driven farming," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 4(2), pages 154-160, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:4:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1038_s41893-020-00631-0
    DOI: 10.1038/s41893-020-00631-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-020-00631-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41893-020-00631-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Caldarola, Bernardo & Grazzi, Marco & Occelli, Martina & Sanfilippo, Marco, 2023. "Mobile internet, skills and structural transformation in Rwanda," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(10).
    2. Abate, Gashaw T. & Abay, Kibrom A. & Chamberlin, Jordan & Kassim, Yumna & Spielman, David J. & Paul Jr Tabe-Ojong, Martin, 2023. "Digital tools and agricultural market transformation in Africa: Why are they not at scale yet, and what will it take to get there?," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    3. Steinke, Jonathan & Schumann, Charlotte & Langan, Simon & Müller, Anna & Opola, Felix Ouko & Ortiz-Crespo, Berta & van Etten, Jacob, 2024. "Fostering social inclusion in development-oriented digital food system interventions," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    4. Steinke, Jonathan & Ortiz-Crespo, Berta & van Etten, Jacob & Müller, Anna, 2022. "Participatory design of digital innovation in agricultural research-for-development: insights from practice," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 195(C).
    5. David Christian Rose & Anna Barkemeyer & Auvikki Boon & Catherine Price & Dannielle Roche, 2023. "The old, the new, or the old made new? Everyday counter-narratives of the so-called fourth agricultural revolution," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(2), pages 423-439, June.
    6. Neeraj Singh & Kushankur Dey, 2023. "A typology of agricultural market information systems and its dimensions: Case studies of digital platforms," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 33(1), pages 1-22, December.
    7. Nadine Bachmann & Shailesh Tripathi & Manuel Brunner & Herbert Jodlbauer, 2022. "The Contribution of Data-Driven Technologies in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-33, February.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:4:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1038_s41893-020-00631-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.