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As an African I am so anxious with the establishment of the International Digital Council for Food and Agriculture. For a long time information gap between developed and developing countries has been to the disadvantage of developing countries. Because internet has no borders it is my hope that this Council will foster information sharing which will reduce information gap between countries. I am sure one day the whole world will sing the same song in addressing issues of food and agriculture. It is at that time then agricultural service providers, producers, processors and consumer will share data that will enable every partner to benefit from the sector without causing harm to another.

Since digital in Agriculture implementation is an important aspect as the changes in the information technologies advanced at international level and every country using the digitalization besides fast track of communication. 

This improves fastest use of right information tech, and R&D on field with latest use of extension technology, and transfer of technology in a specific country, along with the downloading and bringing easy way of technology developed in the world.

This is a fast step of less developed countries along with lively hood of Agriculture in tropical countries including India which is highest number of population , ie even today 65% population had an art and lively hood of agriculture, which is not counted by occupation, even though taxes paid by small farmer to big farmer.

How we can do it?

1. Let all member governments and non members to establish national level digital council, and associate with FAO, along with other international organizations participated....

2. make a plat form for direct slae /logistics-- on food front(unprocessed)

3. Develop the latest innovation center to enable to asses 

4. Interaction and dispute redressel 

5. rights and do`s and dont do`s.

6. association of international organizations and its monitoring/funding and developing of projects from time to time

7. association with R&D organizations both governmental, NGO`s and etc. including private one

8. Food matrix

9. Agricultural index

10. commandent on sessions and proposals cell with if any complaints.

These 10 points by initiating further involvement of regional level counted.

BY 

Dr. Prof. K B NaRayana

Professor at Jaipur international university -- India

chairman - IAMMA., Hyd/India, & @ USA.

1. What are the potential entry points for government to address challenges and foster the development of digital agriculture?

The Digitalisation Council can have on its mandate to work with the WTO and other like-agencies to ensure trade facilitation in the buying and selling of goods and services for agric tech. I think this point can fall under infrastructure or remain as a stand-alone point.

2. How can the establishment of the Digitalisation Council address the numerous barriers to adoption of these technologies?

To its principle of accessibility, ensuring visibility of the solution it proposes should be a high priority. The Digitalisation Council should strive to ensure farmers across the world know about its role and how they can benefit from its activities.  

3. Do you think that the roles identified for the Digital Council are suitable for facing the agrifood systems challenges outlined above?

Another possible role under the policy and regulatory framework that can be taken up by the Digitisation Council is the role of advocating globally for the reduction in the cost of specific agric technologies so this can benefit poorer countries. A similar strategy as those used by the Global Fund to renogotiate prices for life-saving malaria, TB or HIV drugs so that patients from poorer countries can afford.  Advocacy for the reduction of prices can therefore be targeted such that the reductions only benefit the poorer countries.

Good governance is lacking in the developing countries due to inefficiency of the relevant public service organizations. The red tape and tightly defined mandates of these organizations make their services almost non accessible for the stakeholders. An appropriate approach would be Academia-Industry-Government Nexus, providing win win situation for everyone.

Scientific Societies may contribute their services to the stakeholders across Food Value Chain through their expert groups and partner organizations. Dairy Science Park has come up with a Good Governance Model. Www.dairysciencepark.org.pk/services-2

English translation below

Ministerio de Agricultura y Ganadería

Respuestas para Nota Conceptual: Consejo Digital Internacional para la Alimentación y la Agricultura

1. ¿Cuáles son los posibles puntos de partida para que el gobierno aborde los desafíos y promueva el desarrollo de la agricultura digital?

Para establecer una política pública debemos entender el estado del uso de herramientas tecnológicas en la agricultura. En un país como Ecuador, no son difundidas y no ha sido desarrollada la confianza en el uso de dichas herramientas, además por el alto costo de las mismas. Por lo tanto, se debe iniciar el reconocimiento de tecnología que esté en pleno uso para identificar las razones por las que su utilización es más difundida.

Existen varios desafíos a superar como el acceso a la información, alfabetización digital y precios poco asequibles, pero estos desafíos son transversales a la dinámica de producción de los pequeños productores, ya que este sector no tiende al uso de estas herramientas, por lo tanto tenemos que considerarlos como población meta a través de la asociatividad.

2. ¿Cómo puede la creación del Consejo Digital abordar las numerosas barreras para la adopción de estas tecnologías?

La identificación del estado situacional del país en cuanto a uso de herramientas tecnológicas, el intercambio de experiencias y las alianzas entre países podría ser las principales barreras a abordar inmediatamente, el consejo debe de llegar a acuerdos definidos.

3. En su opinión, ¿Considera que las funciones identificadas para el Consejo Digital son adecuadas para hacer frente a los desafíos de los sistemas alimentarios antes mencionados?

Las funciones del consejo están previstas para poder crear un centro de información para la consulta tanto de países como productores y también el espacio para debatir proyectos, metodologías y normativa para el fomento del uso de herramientas tecnológicas, pero también se podría instaurar un equipo técnico dentro del consejo con el que se pueda trabajar situaciones específicas de los países miembros como también la búsqueda de fondos para instaurar proyectos de investigación y desarrollo en el campo.

4. ¿Qué estructura de gobernanza debería implantarse para que el Consejo pueda cumplir su propósito?

La estructura presentada es favorable para el correcto procedimiento del consejo, ya que las bases serán los grupos de trabajo que podrán ser divididos por los diferentes enfoques con un mismo objetivo que tendrán los países para el desarrollo de las mesas, siendo esta la oportunidad de desarrollar propuestas de normativas y asistencia a países para el fomento del uso de herramientas como producto de cada uno de los grupos a formar.

1. What are the potential entry points for government to address challenges and foster the development of digital agriculture?

To establish a public policy, we must understand the current use of technological tools in agriculture. In a country like Ecuador, these tools are not disseminated and the confidence in their use has not been developed due to their high cost. Therefore, fully operational technologies should be identified to determine the reasons for their widespread use.

Several challenges need to be addressed, such as access to information, digital literacy and unaffordable prices. However, they are not linked to the production dynamics of smallholders, since this group is usually unfamiliar with the aforementioned tools. Therefore, small-scale farmers must be considered a target population through the adoption of a collaborative approach.

2. How can the establishment of the Digital Council address the numerous barriers to adoption of these technologies?

Analysing the current use of technological tools, exchanging experiences and developing partnerships between countries could be the main barriers that need to be addressed immediately. The Council must reach clear agreements.

3. Do you think that the roles identified for the Digital Council are suitable for facing the agrifood systems challenges outlined above?

The roles identified for the Council are intended to create a knowledge hub for countries and farmers and a forum to discuss projects, methodologies and regulations aimed at promoting the use of technological tools. A technical team could also be created within the Council to provide support for country-specific situations and seek funding to develop research and development field projects.

4. ¿ What governance structure should be in place in order for the Council to serve its purpose?

The proposed structure allows the Council to adequately serve its purpose. Based on working groups, these could be categorized by the different country approaches, sharing all a common goal. This would be an opportunity to draw up normative and assistance proposals -as an outcome of each of the different groups- to promote the use of technological tools.

Dear colleagues, first let me thank you for the very commendable initiative, which, in my opinion, comes at the right time. I value the opportunity to contribute to the set up of the International Digital Council. My inputs are below. I look forward to interacting more with the community in the near future. Daniele Manzella (FAO, CBDT)

Question 1.

I think that the global challenges that the concept note puts forward, are comprehensive. However, I suggest strengthening the data ownership section by including policy and legal analysis of data ownership from the angle of access and use. Property is an important component but access and usability are equally fundamental. In this regard, open data vs. negotiated access is a dichotomy that is emerging in several sectors (e.g. plant sequence data) and the division between "data rich" and "data poor" is sharp. My suggestion is to connect this area of work to the 'digital divide", by adopting a capability approach, i.e. by strengthening not only the capacity to generate data, but also the analytical capacity of developing countries.

Question 2.

I suggest adding:

Being responsive to scientific evidence: the action of the Digital Council shall be informed by scientific evidence, including from social sciences, regarding e.g. responsible innovation pathways, technology absorption capacity. The Digital Council will produce a reflexive process whereby scientific evidence is generated and acted upon, and experience with implementation is then reviewed.

Question 3.

I suggest that the table insert into the innovator gap, the digital divide challenge.

Contribution received through the e-Agriculture platform

Question 1

The land holdings in developing countries like India is very small. Networking of small holding farmers to increase the acreage as single large piece of land by FPO's & NGO's is essential. Government should focus on it to develop Digital Agriculture.

Latest technologies which are suitable for the small farm lands are Drones & Robots .These technologies should be promoted and utilized.

There should be a separate individual policy to encourage Digital agriculture by the Governments and it should be govern by agriculture research institutions, agriculture machinery manufactures, progressive farmers.

Government should allocate sufficient funds to develop innovative technologies which are suitable to small & Marginal farmers.

In order to reduce Suicidal deaths in the farming sector, the government should provide farm inputs, machinery, loans at lower interest rates with minimal documentation and also provide minimum support price by establishing digital agri markets and make sure that digital markets are implementing without fail. The Digital markets to be audited for fair practices.

Question 2

Arrange to transfer upgraded technologies from the developed countries.

Support & facilitate the strong bi-lateral relationships between the countries where technologies are available to suit the local conditions.

Assist and provide required funds/financial assistance to the research institutes, universities, progressive farmers who are involved in adopting precision agriculture to scale up the digital agriculture.

Assist in setting up agricultural advanced technological parks to train progressive farmers and early adopters.

Boosting up research and development activities in universities & farm mechanise industries along with popularisation of inexpensive technical tools among small scale farmers to increase the profit.

Adopt low, medium and High technology in digital agriculture in steo wise.

Question 3

Aggregation of existing research and resources: to be reviewed to implement at the developing nations.

Highlights of new technologies: technologies which are used in NASA (e.g.: LIBS) remote sensing technologies to be examined and adopted in digital agriculture.

A synthesis of the way that target farmers can progress in implementing various digital technologies: The new innovative technologies should be developed based on the domestic conditions, crops, livestock, poultry, weather pattern.

How to guide for officials or small holder farmers for business model development and technology: the council should provide digital agri service providers to train the farmers and digital agri tools providers on lease /rental to adopt new technologies.

Question 4

Success stories on digital agriculture around the developing countries to be filmed and shown to small and marginal farmers to adopt and scale up the digital agriculture.

The above suggestion may be included in working group.

Question 5

Digital Agriculture Benefits for small & Marginal farmers:

The rapid economic changes in developing countries are creating new scopes for digital agriculture. Previously the agriculture is resource based nature and now it is entering in to knowledge based era.

Due to increase in population, availability of land diminishing, the small scale farmers’ productivity required to be increased. To organize the total system of agriculture towards a low input, high efficiency and sustainable agriculture we need to modify the available innovative technology to suit domestic conditions, crop type, weather pattern.

Since the digital technology difficult to understand small & marginal farmers, we need to provide training and service providers and Digital agriculture tools to be provided at affordable cost by Government or Corporate sectors.

Adoption of Digital Agriculture will help in

Increase in farm production and Profit.

It will provide better decision support system (DSS).

It will improve soil productivity.

It will improve water quality.

It will improve wildlife habit.

sustain natural resources for generations to come.

it will helps us in protecting the environment.

This digital agriculture tools helps farmers to complete their tasks in reduced working hours and lowers production costs.

Digital Agriculture makes farming more interesting for future generations.

Contribution received through the e-Agriculture platform

Question 1

the basic requirements for the farmer :

1) Best quality of seeds

2) Fertilizers/Bio fertilizers

3) Agrometeorological services for remote areas (for controlling major loss during folds or dry spell)

4) Marketing services

Above mentioned four (4) services addressed by the government by direct or indirect it helps to foster the development of digital agriculture.

The digital agriculture can also help to farmers related new schemes, subsidy or technology

Question 1. What are the potential entry points for governments to address challenges and foster the development of digital agriculture?

In addition to the challenges listed in the concept note are the lack of systems thinking and less reference to indigenous knowledge even at the design stage of digital innovations in agricultural systems. Given the dichotomy in digital literacy in the global north and south, governments must aim for a bottom-up approach to policy design and aim for a citizen-centered policy-making process in contrast to what is currently pursued in most countries especially in the global south. Like the proposed council for food and agriculture, governments must set up policy venues within food producing centers and measure the transformation process of integral digitization of agriculture from farm to fork. 

Question 2. How can the establishment of the Digital Council address the numerous barriers to adoption of these technologies?

Be  Reflexive: the council must periodically reflect on propositions made to quickly adapt to fast changes in the digital innovation landscape.

Be  Anticipatory: Be forward-looking and potentially predict future the phase of digital agriculture through proactive thinking.

Question 3: Do you think that the roles identified for the Digital Council are suitable for facing the food systems challenges outlined above?

The council must have 'advocacy' clearly stipulated in their roles and function to ensure they play a significant role in engaging governments and key actors in drawing attention to the need for investment in digital agriculture as equally as peace and security.

Trust of information

The digital platforms are mushrooming in developing countries, each claiming authentic and reliable information to actors of the agri-tech value chain starting from the farmers, processors, retailers and consumers. Such multiplicity of digital platforms present issues of trust of the information source which make information available, as well as on the quality of the information provided. Many input suppliers for instance, may be misleading the farmers by exaggerating the potential of inputs or technology. How this is going to be regulated? Will the council come out with mechanisms to regulate information flow from digital platforms? It is also linked with the availability as also the quality of data, which affect the decisions at different levels. In developing countries, this is one of the serious limiting factors that often data are not correct. How the council will tackle this.

I believe, there is need of more webinars, regional consultations, workshops and face to face meeting before the digital council start functioning.