What sort of digitalization do family farmers need?

Abstract

Digitalizing the agricultural sector in West Africa is a promising opportunity for stakeholders in the agricultural and technology sectors, an opportunity that relies on agricultural producers' voluntary mass appropriation of connected phone tools. Mobile phones and app use could foster independent producer networks, improve value chain structuring and boost the sector's economic value. Agricultural producers are now being targeted by a growing number of providers of “digital services”, in the form of apps developed by tech and agritech start-ups. However, apps developed specifically for agricultural producers have met with mixed success. What lessons can be drawn from this mixed bag of results, and what will it take for digitalization to truly serve producers and facilitate the transition to socially, economically and environmentally sustainable practices