A New Green Revolution (GR) or Neoliberal Entrenchment in Agri-food Systems? Exploring Narratives Around Digital Agriculture (DA), Food Systems, and Development in Sub-Sahara Africa

Abdul-Rahim Abdulai

Journal of Development Studies, 2022, vol. 58, issue 8, 1588-1604

Abstract: This paper adopts a document analysis to describe the expected developmental effects of agricultural digitalization in Africa and the potential drivers to the narratives that echoe such effects. Narratives show that digitalization is expected to bridge information and knowledge gaps in agriculture; promote food security; increase climate change/environmental sustainability; provide employment and empower the youth; promote gender and women empowerment; and enhance livelihood resilience in rural areas. With these findings, I argue that, though partly justifiable, private-sector led digitalization, with it’s optimistic technocratic narratives, follows, entrenches, and extends the ‘transformational rhetoric’ of the existing international development-driven African Green Revolution efforts to improve smallholder and rural lives through technological diffusion. However, without critical considerations of political-economic issues affecting its proliferation, as well as their implications on power structures and class restructuring, these narratives mask potential neoliberal incursions. Thus, issues of connectivity and the digital divide issues, the slow pace of technological adoption, scaling of digital solutions, and the weak enabling environments must be addressed to potentially make benefits inclusive. The initial suggested political-economic discussions of the narratives inject much needed critical perspectives into the early conversations by showing the potential drivers and motives of digitalization, as well as the tendencies to [among others] further concentrate power and restructure the dynamics of social classes in Africa.

Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00220388.2022.2032673 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:jdevst:v:58:y:2022:i:8:p:1588-1604

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/FJDS20

DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2022.2032673

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Development Studies is currently edited by Howard White, Oliver Morrissey and Ken Shadlen

More articles in Journal of Development Studies from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().