In addition to the joint comments by several US faith, farm and development groups on agroecology, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy suggests that the HLPE consider examination of how innovations in the use of digital information in agriculture might affect food security and nutrition.
Farming has always been dependent on flows of information about the weather, cropping techniques and markets, but, as in other fields, the nature and velocity of information generation has created new dynamics that are difficult to manage. These new kinds of information flows highlight the differences between agroecology, which emphasizes the inherent connections among nature, food production and human culture, and the drive for “high tech” agriculture that stresses increased yields through intensive application of chemicals, genetic modifications and highly integrated supply chains.
Analytical “big data” is collected from farm machinery, satellites and other sources that is then processed using algorithms used to predict climate, cropping and market trends. Farmers might or might not own the raw data generated from their fields, but they have no control over the information products generated from it. That information could potentially be used to affect prices, insurance rates, and perhaps even to inform investors interested in land grabs in the global North and South.
In theory, each of these new technologies could be used to support any kind of agriculture, but in practice they require massive investments in equipment and sophisticated data analysis that is out of reach of any but the largest agribusinesses. We urge the HLPE to pay special attention to the ways in which big data is gathered, aggregated and put to use, specifically identifying the various actors involved, and regulatory imperatives to ensure that the uses of big data do not exacerbate existing inequalities. We hope the HLPE can include some discussion of this emerging issue and appropriate governance measures in the study. We would be happy to work with the HLPE to identify potential experts and civil society organizations.
Sincerely,
Karen Hansen-Kuhn
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Karen Hansen-Kuhn