Grow back better? Here’s how digital agriculture could revolutionise rural communities affected by COVID-19
Publication year
Resource type
UNCCD Library
Material Type
Web resource
COVID-19 has made us all dependent on digital technology, but we must ensure that the world's poorest are not left behind.
Digital technologies can particularly improve the lives of farmers and agricultural workers.
Digital agriculture – where farmers use digital technologies to access useful information – could revolutionize how communities secure their livelihoods.
With COVID-19 having made us all more dependent on digital technology than ever before, now is the time to ensure that the revolution does not leave the world's poorest communities further behind. Increasing investment in technologies to help small-scale farmers will yield far-reaching benefits long after the pandemic has passed.
The COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping societies around the world, in part by accelerating the digital revolution that was already underway at the beginning of the year. Since then, corporations have instituted mass teleworking. International gatherings now take place online, with heads of state and industry participating from home. Students learn remotely, and digital payments are further edging out cash.
But with technology influencing our lives more than ever, there is a risk that it will spread unevenly, entrenching existing inequalities and leaving the world’s poorest people further behind. That is not inevitable. Digital technologies can help end global poverty and hunger faster, including in rural parts of developing countries, where the majority of people earn their living from agriculture.
Digital agriculture – whereby farmers use mobile phones and other digital technologies to access customized, actionable agricultural information in real time – could revolutionize how these communities secure and improve their livelihoods. By making the right investments today, while many agricultural extension officers are restricted from visiting farmers in person, we can kick-start digital adoption and start to close the income gap that has long held rural areas back. .....
But digital technology is not a panacea. While farmers increasingly are equipped with mobile phones, they also need advice that is tailored to their needs, as well as access to agricultural inputs (fertilisers and seeds) and markets to sell their products.
With the coronavirus pandemic still running its course, now is the time to think about not just building back, but building forward. By accelerating investment and innovation in digital agriculture, we can protect the world’s poorest people from some of the worst effects of the current crisis. When we all emerge from lockdown, one hopes that we will have already laid the foundation for building a fairer, more prosperous, and sustainable future.
Read the whole article from the link above
Digital technologies can particularly improve the lives of farmers and agricultural workers.
Digital agriculture – where farmers use digital technologies to access useful information – could revolutionize how communities secure their livelihoods.
With COVID-19 having made us all more dependent on digital technology than ever before, now is the time to ensure that the revolution does not leave the world's poorest communities further behind. Increasing investment in technologies to help small-scale farmers will yield far-reaching benefits long after the pandemic has passed.
The COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping societies around the world, in part by accelerating the digital revolution that was already underway at the beginning of the year. Since then, corporations have instituted mass teleworking. International gatherings now take place online, with heads of state and industry participating from home. Students learn remotely, and digital payments are further edging out cash.
But with technology influencing our lives more than ever, there is a risk that it will spread unevenly, entrenching existing inequalities and leaving the world’s poorest people further behind. That is not inevitable. Digital technologies can help end global poverty and hunger faster, including in rural parts of developing countries, where the majority of people earn their living from agriculture.
Digital agriculture – whereby farmers use mobile phones and other digital technologies to access customized, actionable agricultural information in real time – could revolutionize how these communities secure and improve their livelihoods. By making the right investments today, while many agricultural extension officers are restricted from visiting farmers in person, we can kick-start digital adoption and start to close the income gap that has long held rural areas back. .....
But digital technology is not a panacea. While farmers increasingly are equipped with mobile phones, they also need advice that is tailored to their needs, as well as access to agricultural inputs (fertilisers and seeds) and markets to sell their products.
With the coronavirus pandemic still running its course, now is the time to think about not just building back, but building forward. By accelerating investment and innovation in digital agriculture, we can protect the world’s poorest people from some of the worst effects of the current crisis. When we all emerge from lockdown, one hopes that we will have already laid the foundation for building a fairer, more prosperous, and sustainable future.
Read the whole article from the link above
Keywords
rural livelihoods
rural economic aspects
agriculture
digital technologies
farmer networks
farm management
small-scale farmers