Digital Technology and Services for Sustainable Agriculture in Tanzania: A Literature Review

Gilbert E. Mushi, Giovanna Di Marzo Serugendo and Pierre-Yves Burgi
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Gilbert E. Mushi: Department of Informatics and Information Technology, Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro 3038, Tanzania
Giovanna Di Marzo Serugendo: Computer Science Center, University of Geneva, 1227 Carouge, Switzerland
Pierre-Yves Burgi: Division Système et Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication, University of Geneva, 1204 Geneva, Switzerland

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 4, 1-17

Abstract: Digital technology has the potential to eradicate extreme poverty and food insecurity to the majority of smallholder farmers in the world. This paper aims to identify knowledge gaps on digital technology for sustainable agriculture and assess their availability to smallholder farmers worldwide. The particular case of Tanzania receives special attention. We conducted an extensive literature search from relevant databases for review. The advanced digital technology in agriculture, mostly used by large scale farmers, significantly contributes to sustainable agriculture. However, the existing digital services for smallholder farmers lack sustainability in the agriculture context and hardly meet the needs for a comprehensive set of services in a complete farming cycle. In most developing countries, Tanzania case included, digital technology and services respond to a challenge at a particular stage of the farming process or to a specific value chain. Based on this literature review, we identify inequalities among large and small farmers, as well as environmental challenges caused by ICT itself. To conclude we provide suggestions for improvements for smallholder farmers: developing a digital platform that addresses smallholder farmers’ challenges in a complete farming cycle, bringing together the stakeholders at a country level, in order to achieve sustainable agriculture and support adoption of cutting-edge digital technology. These suggestions will be the starting point for future research.

Keywords: digital technology; sustainable agriculture; smallholder farmers; ICTs services; precision agriculture; smart farming; farmers services; Tanzania (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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