Our division conducts research on social and institutional aspects of agricultural development and natural resource management. To encourage scientific discussion and critical comments for revisions and make our research results available to the public, we publish some of our work as “Hohenheim Working Papers on Social and Institutional Change in Agricultural Development”.
Working Paper 022-2024: Silicon Savannah and Smallholder Farming: How can Digitalization Contribute to Sustainable Agricultural Transformation in Africa?
As digital technologies are ubiquitous, there are high hopes and many intriguing initiatives related to digital agriculture and its potential to address many challenges of smallholder agriculture. However, the question of how and to what extent digital tools address these challenges remain. Current debates argue that it is an overhype that diverts attention from finding real solutions to farmers' challenges on the ground, while others are not convinced that African countries are ready for a digital revolution. This paper models a classification framework to analyse these tools, explores pathways through which they can transform African agriculture and identifies untapped potentials of digitalisation for sustainable transformation.
Working Paper 022-2024: Silicon Savannah and Smallholder Farming: How can Digitalization Contribute to Sustainable Agricultural Transformation in Africa?