Two major agricultural transformations are currently being promoted worldwide: digitalisation and ecologisation, that include different practices such as organic farming and sustainable intensification. In literature and in societal debates, these two transformations are sometimes described as antagonistic and sometimes as convergent but are rarely studied together. Using an innovation system approach, this paper discusses how diverse ecologisation pathways grasp digitalisation in the French agricultural sector; and do not discriminate against organic farming. Based on interviews with key representatives of conventional agriculture, organic agriculture and organisations that promote or develop digital agriculture, we explore how these actors perceive and participate in digital development in agriculture. We show that although all the actors are interested and involved in digital development, behind this apparent convergence, organic and conventional actors perceive neither the same benefits nor the same risks and consequently do not implement the same innovation processes. We conclude that digitalisation has different meanings depending on the actors’ paradigm, but that digital actors fail to perceive these differences. This difference in perception should be taken into account if digital development is to benefit all kinds of agriculture and not discriminate against organic farming and more widely, against agroecology.
Digital agriculture is likely to transform productive processes both on- and off- farm, as well as the broader social and institutional context using digital technologies. It is largely unknown how agricultural knowledge providing organisations, such as advisors and science organisations,...
Modern agriculture and food production systems are facingincreasing pressures from climate change, land and wateravailability, and, more recently, a pandemic. These factors arethreatening the environmental and economic sustainability ofcurrent and future food supply systems. Scientific andtechnological innovations are needed more...
The Australian story of farmer innovation in Conservation Agriculture reveals a complex interplay of policy, economics, science, and farming. Farmer experimentation with Conservation Agriculture began in the 1960's and has continued to this day where around 80%-90% of Australia's 23.5...
This paper details the analytical framework used for developing a nested understanding of systemic innovation capacity in an AIS. The paper then introduces the two case studies, along with the data and methods of analysis, followed by a presentation of...
Latin America has historically been a vanguard of agroecology. In Nicaragua, an agroecological transition is occurring, with three decades of building a groundswell based on the farmer-to-farmer movement and the recent institutionalization of agroecology in national law. Yet, problems remain...