Presented by Sadie Shelton, Alliance of Bioversity & CIAT and the University of Vermont, at the "Best practices for digital tool inclusiveness and farmer co-creation of practices with local stakeholders" workshop on 30 November 2022. The event was hosted by the Transformative Partnership Platform and the Alliance of Bioversity & CIAT. In this informal expert workshop, the TRANSITIONS Inclusive Digital Tools (ATDT) project reviewed and received feedback from stakeholders and experts on proposed guidance for smallholder farmer’s inclusion and co-creation of farm practices for agroecology and climate change action. Invited participants included digital resource specialists, farmer-support organizations, and agroecology and climate change experts. In 2023, we will apply the principles with our action partners in Brazil and Vietnam to guide digital innovations. In the workshop we sought input to the relevance, coherence and usability of the proposed principles to guide future work. More on the ATDT Project: https://bit.ly/InclusiveDTs

1. B
Civil Society
Critiques of Digital
Tools & Agriculture
Through the lens of agroecology
and small-scale agriculture
Sadie Shelton
Best practices for digital tool inclusiveness and farmer co-creation of practices with local stakeholders
30 November 2022 – 14:30-16:30 CEST

2. B
A review of critiques through a smallholder lens
Problem – Digital tools could help scale agroecology, but digitizing big agriculture has
shown problems to avoid in a smallholder setting

3. B
A review of critiques through a smallholder lens
Review – To guide development of our principles for best practices for digital development,
we reviewed peer-reviewed literature and the public narrative
We summarized the major critiques of digitization in agriculture and food systems

4. B
A review of critiques through a smallholder lens
Costs – The review revealed costs of digitizing big agriculture, including hidden economic,
social and environmental costs,and poor accessibility and data privacy

5. B
A review of critiques through a smallholder lens
Themes – We identified two themes across the critiques, unequal power relations and a
disconnect from farmers’ voices

6. B
A review of critiques through a smallholder lens
Critiques & Solutions – The challenges manifest in critiques and recommendationsto build
a more socially inclusive digital ecosystem for agroecological and equitable food systems

7. B
A review of critiques through a smallholder lens
Context for Principles – The critiques set a context for our principle and guide their
development
Principles:best practicefor digital toolinclusiveness& farmer co-creationofpractices

8. B
Lack of relevant information for advancing progressive agriculture
Critiques of digital tools in agriculture
Disconnect between farmers, scientists & developers
Data privacy & right issues
Asymmetric benefits: Women, rural & illiterate farmers are excluded
Digital land grab: Data is the new oil for tech & agribusiness giants
Hidden expense: Financial, social, ecological
Exclusive of smallholder farmers

9. B
1. Govern for an inclusive digital ecosystem& economy
Recommendations & solutions
2. Digital movements: Food, data & social justice
3. Code ethics into digital design
Specific principles for the relevant sector, in this case agroecology