Deciphering digitalisation in the agricultural and food sectors

From precision agriculture to smartphone apps scanning products, to the arrival of web giants (GAFAM) in the food industry, digital technology is irrigating and transforming the food system in every nook and cranny. This evolution, often presented as necessary and unavoidable, is however far from neutral on our ways of producing and consuming. As it is currently playing, the digitization of the agricultural and food sectors would thus tend to favor the dominant players, bearers of an industrial and productivist vision of this common good for all that is food. This is what this panoramic study that we commissioned from BASIC to feed our strategic thinking highlights.

Food and agriculture at the crossroads of many issues

For more than 10 years, we have supported and accompanied hundreds of innovative projects in France and Spain, from seed to plate. Over time, these close links forged with the actors of the agroecological and food transition from civil society, research and the commercial sector, have allowed us to develop a vision of Sustainable Food rich in these experiences and relationships.

In an open and pragmatic posture, we share with our partners a systemic approach, considering that far from being a common good like any other, our food is at the crossroads of multiple (dis)balances: loss of biodiversity, global warming, inequality, health… These questions regularly run through the public debate and we are attentive to public orientations, as well as to the technical and economic developments that shape our ways of producing and consuming and that have a direct influence on people and the planet. In order to be able to take a relevant look, the Foundation feeds its strategic thinking by relying on external expertise such as Basic, Bureau d’Analyse Societal pour une Information Citoyenne, a long-standing partner from whom we asked for insights into digitisation in the agricultural and food sectors.

The development of digital technology is not neutral!

It is now clear to everyone that digital technology is an integral part of our daily lives, disrupting the functioning of the economy and society as a whole. We needed to understand how this structural revolution is changing the agricultural and food sectors.

This study highlights the multiple and still partly uncertain consequences of the development and dissemination of digital tools in the food chains, which are likely to shake up all actors from the supply of products and services for agriculture to the final consumption of food products.

The conclusions speak for themselves. The digital advances offered by private players certainly hold promise to reduce environmental impacts (including greenhouse gas emissions, use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, etc.) and the arduousness of work, among other things. But the market is directing these advances towards the most influential players, thereby strengthening their dominant positions in the food supply chain and the capture of value by certain players. In addition, advances related to digitalization most often focus on optimizing performance to allow players to lower their costs for every dollar of value created. In doing so, they amplify the convergence towards highly capital-intensive economic models, automated if possible and with a (very) low employment rate, throughout the food chains.

An essential societal choice

To ensure the sustainability of the food system as well as its resilience, it would be necessary today to make changes in production models possible and to allow their diversity across territories and sectors. Achieving this objective requires a collective choice of the direction in which to direct digital advances in the agriculture and food sector, and therefore raises the question of the targeting of public investments in this area and the regulation by public authorities of this market. These are essential questions at a time when the final decisions of the European Union’s new Common Agricultural Policy are being played out.

For Guilhem Soutou, Head of the Sustainable Food Axis at the Foundation, “It is interesting to read the commitments of the last United Nations Summit on Food Systems in the light of this study. Certainly, this event has made it possible to place sustainable food at the heart of international discussions by involving hundreds of actors from different backgrounds. But the voices of industrialists and companies have thrown their weight behind defending a productivist position, relying massively on the promises of digital modernization. This path is not neutral and will have consequences for the future of agriculture and food.” This Summit, which was held on 23 September, was indeed the subject of lively controversy as to the role of civil society, bearer of alternative solutions, and fears of green washing, like the appeal of IPES-FOOD, one of the Foundation’s major partners.

And Guilhem Soutou concludes, “It is not a question of scaring or denying the benefits of digitalization. This inventory highlights the rebound effects of digital tools on economic models and the underlying power issues. We must remain vigilant because our technical choices are not neutral. Without saying so, they induce agricultural and food development models that are not necessarily desirable! Other paths are possible. The Foundation and its partners demonstrate this every day. »