Digitalization has the potential to make agriculture more resilient, efficient, and equitable. Making this a reality, however, requires access to education, new infrastructure, and, above all else, the right framework to bring all of the necessary parts together.

For smallholder farmers, this topic is increasingly important given that satellites and sensors are collecting more and more data about their individual farms as well as the surrounding landscape. These farmers, especially in the Global South, usually have little influence and control over if and how this data is collected, nor do they benefit much from the insights that are extracted. Consequently, they are not able to derive equal benefit. Moreover, they are also often excluded from the process for developing new digital products that may either affect or help them.

This study by Dalberg Data Insights and the GIZ i4Ag fund spotlights what data sovereignty means for smallholder farmers and provides real-world examples of how they can have more control over, and benefit from, their data.

You can download the full report here. For additional questions or comments about this work, please contact Christophe Bocquet.