The Challenge of the Digital Agricultural Revolution: A Comparison Between Advanced Economies and Developing Countries

The new digital technologies offer remarkable opportunities to make agriculture more sustainable and contribute to the amelioration of inequality at the local and global level. And yet, digital innovations and, in particular, the adoption of platforms risk creating further distortions among and within countries. Digitalization could contribute to the further concentration of agriculture in a few giant firms and also lead to the rapid and unmanaged demise of subsistence farming as it is typically practiced in developing countries. Alternatively, if the implementation of the digital technologies is guided, they could help achieve sustainable development goals by increasing productivity, while reducing waste, pollution, and inequality in agriculture. The development banks can, with their investment and stewardship, facilitate an inclusive and sustainable digital revolution in the agrifood sector at global level. In this report, we summarize the current situation in regards to digitalization and the adoption of platforms in agriculture in both the developed and developing countries.