Digitising Agrifood: Pathways and challenges
This report (PDF) by CEPS looks at the many ways in which digital solutions can be implemented on the ground to help the agrifood chain transform itself to achieve more sustainability. The report states that one of the most substantial contributions to future sustainability must come from a radical transformation of the agriculture and food (agrifood) value chain. The diffusion of digital technologies in the agrifood chain promises to increase yields, reduce waste, and trigger changes in consumption patterns, thereby substantially contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Based on the analysis, the report have identified ten key action areas – a decalogue – to consider for policymakers: 1) Ensuring adequate connectivity; 2) Deploying the full technology stack; 3) Promoting entrepreneurship, building capacity and facilitating technology transfer; 4) Generating and sharing data for distributed, sustainable governance; 5) Rebalancing the bargaining power of farmers, distributors and data managers; 6) Attributing responsibility for negative externalities throughout the value chain; 7) Providing incentives to shorten the supply chain; 8) Public policies to enable reallocation of excesses; 9) An ethical and policy framework for artificial intelligence and data management in business-to-consumer; 10) Raising the skills and awareness of farmers and consumers. The EU is the only large bloc that has sufficient ability, resources and credibility to lead the great transformation in the
agrifood sector that is needed to achieve sustainable development. Failure
to recognise and publicly promote the role of AI and its related technologies for a more sustainable future society would represent an enormous missed opportunity for Europe and the world.