02: Agriculture 4.0 & the Future of Asia’s Farmers

Climate change is disrupting agricultural practices, affecting food security and farmers' livelihoods. Technologies like AI-enabled precision agriculture are emerging as potential solutions to alleviate some of these problems. In Asia, where most farmers are smallholders and a digital divide persists, what are the implications of AI adoption for agriculture in the region? Can it help address the climate crisis or is it likely to exacerbate existing inequities?

In this episode, we deep-dive into the opportunities, challenges and risks of using AI for agriculture and how it might impact climate change. For the most part, our speakers are sceptical about the use of AI for agriculture, highlighting that it may not be what farmers need and ultimately serves narrow commercial interests. If we are to use AI for agriculture, we need to resist the fail-fast logic that dominates the start-up industry and invest the time and resources to engage with farming communities and understand their needs and social context.

You can read the episode transcript ⁠here.

Speakers

Anubha Singh

Anubha is a PhD candidate at the School of Information at the University of Michigan with a graduate certificate in Science, Technology, and Society. Through long-term ethnography of the onion supply chain in Western Maharashtra, she studies how data-driven technologies are restructuring farming and redefining the future of agriculture in India. Her work is informed by and contributes to the fields of Postcolonial and Feminist Science and Technology Studies, Ethnography of Computing and Agriculture, and Critical Cultural Studies.

Elenita ”Neth” Daño

Elenita, also known as Neth, is the Asia Director of the ETC Group that works to address the socioeconomic and ecological issues surrounding new technologies that could have an impact on marginalised communities. Neth is a researcher who has done in-depth analysis and published work on various issues in agriculture and climate change as well as technological divides, in developing countries, particularly in Southeast Asia. She has represented environmental non-governmental organisations in the Advisory Board to the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN), the operational arm of the Technology Mechanism of the UNFCCC. She was appointed by the UN Secretary-General in the 10-member Group that supports the Technology Facilitation Mechanism (TFM) in 2016-2017.

Show Notes

A commentary on agricultural digitalisation for climate action in the Philippines. Page 17. Expert brief authored by Elenita Dano for the AI + Climate Futures in Asia Project.

The Green Revolution is a warning, not a blueprint for feeding a hungry planet

Digital Agriculture Mission: Tech for Transforming Farmers’ Lives Agristack and digital registry of farmers in India

Digital India

Indian Government Seed Fund Scheme for Start-up Prototypes

The Politics of Manmohanomics 1991 Economic Liberalisation in India

Agriculture sector has done well, needs ‘re-orientation’ 

Code Green

A commentary on agricultural digitalisation for climate action in the Philippines. Page 14. Expert brief authored by Elenita Dano for the AI + Climate Futures in Asia Project.