Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the Agroecological Transition

Abstract

The development of information and communication technologies (ICT) has to meet the needs of farmers and sustainably support the competitiveness of agriculture in a rapidly changing digital world. Under certain conditions of use, digital tools could facilitate the application to agriculture of the historical, methodological and socio-economic principles defining agroecology. This chapter is composed of four sections. In the first section we define a framework to study agricultural IC tools. The second section considers how ICT should be used during the design phase of the territorial agroecological transition -an example of which is the TATA-BOX project -, before its actual implementation. The third section sets out the four types of IC tools that can usefully be applied during this transition, and provides several examples. Finally, the last section shows the various barriers that ICT specialists will have to overcome in order to provide effective support to food systems. It also discusses the contradiction that can exist between high energy-consuming technologies and an agroecological production paradigm in which a drastic reduction of the reliance on fossil energy is essential.

Agroecology for a Sustainable Agriculture and Food System: From Local Solutions to Large-Scale Adoption

“…A more connected agriculture can also be seen as an opportunity to promote agroecological agriculture by providing technologies to better implement, share, and distribute it. Leveau et al (2019) present various examples of how digital technologies could be used to support agroecological practices, including digital pest prevention strategies, new tools to facilitate biodiversity improvements, and knowledge exchange and learning platforms. Bellon-Maurel & Huyghe (2017) show that digital technologies contribute through various levers to the agroecological transition because they allow efficacy, substitution, and redesign, e.g., by helping the farmer to achieve flow loop closing and take advantage of biodiversity.…”

“…These are key questions that must be addressed (Ehlers et al 2021(Ehlers et al , 2022Walter et al 2017). Moreover, there might be fundamental mismatches between digitalization and agroecology, for example, because digital technologies could imply increases in the use of nonrenewable resources such as energy (Leveau et al 2019). Giraldo & Rosset (2022, p. 821;emphasis in original) state that focusing on technologies without also adjusting other axes of change would result in "fake or junk agroecologies."…”

“….it is absurd, as it is sometimes read, to oppose agroecology and technology." Likewise, Leveau et al (2019) report that information and communication technologies can be used in agroecological agriculture to support the application of its different principles without distorting them and that a responsible perspective should be taken, without taking the decision-making power away from the farmers (Bellon-Maurel et al 2022).…”

A Panorama of Digitalization Tendencies in the European Agriculture Sector

“…In brief, digitalization entails the introduction of high-tech technologies into on-going processes. Digitalization brings together the internet of things (IoT), information and communication technologies (ICT), big data, system integration, automated robotics, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, sensors, digital twins, machine learning, and blockchain, among others (Tilson et al, 2010); (Alm et al, 2016); (Smith, 2018); (Leveau et al, 2019), (Chen et al, 2020).…”

Experiential, Social, Connectivist, or Transformative Learning? Farm Advisors and the Construction of Agroecological Knowledge

“…These platforms offer farmers the opportunity to easily access agroecology-related knowledge, either by reading Wikitype articles or by communicating through chat rooms [28]. Other information and communication technology developments serve as spaces for connecting different actors, from farmers to citizens, thus facilitating the development and diffusion of new knowledge [29].…”