Global Agricultural Policy Trends: Bridging the Digital Divide

Abstract

The study traces the major changes in the world community approaches to the agricultural policy shaping in response to digitization. The evolution of agricultural policy affected by high technologies is an important trend in the late 20th and early 21st century. In the last decade, the focus on creating level playing field for economic operators to access the agricultural market in the context of increasing digital divide is one of vectors in line with the overall transformation of agricultural policy. Digital divide in the farm sector is supplemented and amplified by the so-called "triple divide". The industry faces different access conditions for companies and individuals to manufacturing resources and market opportunities on gender, social and educational grounds. This situation exacerbates market discrepancy and social problems. Agricultural policy trends in the context of innovative development reflect the efforts of the world community to bridge the digital divide for the sustainability degree of the agricultural sector.

Future agricultural systems and the role of digitalization for achieving sustainability goals. A review

“…Coupling advisory services and training with financial assistance for digital technologies will increase chances that digital agriculture will be leveraged to its fullest potential. Ultimately, these type of measures may help to avoid a digital divide between large-scale and small-scale farmers in the future (Rotz et al 2019b ; Revenko and Revenko 2019 ).…”

Digitalization and AI in European Agriculture: A Strategy for Achieving Climate and Biodiversity Targets?

“…Simultaneously, further research and development is needed in many areas. Another prerequisite for the use of digital technologies is the literacy of the users, which regularly represents an obstacle to a digitalized agricultural sector, especially in developing countries (The different levels of access to relevant infrastructure are discussed under the keyword 'digital divide' [100].). In other cases, the basic infrastructure is deficient, particularly an (adequate) internet connection [17,26].…”