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1 Opola, Felix Ouko; Langan, Simon; Arulingam, Indika; Schumann, C.; Singaraju, N.; Joshi, Deepa. 2023. Beyond the digital divide: a multi-dimensional approach to enabling digital inclusivity in food, land, and water systems. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). CGIAR Initiative on Digital Innovation. 29p.
Digital technology ; Social inclusion ; Frameworks ; Indicators ; Food systems ; Land resources ; Water systems ; Digital divide ; Social structure ; Participation
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052344)
(358 KB)
In what is proclaimed as the ‘fourth industrial revolution’, digital innovation is thought to have the potential to provide solutions to key challenges facing food production and consumption together with the support of sustainability of the underpinning support of land, and water systems. Nowhere is this more the case in less-industrialised countries, which largely have agrarian based economies. Applications of digital innovations include faster and more reliable communication, better collection, analysis, and storage of data, enhancing democratic processes and transparency in governance, affordable financial services and can provide the basis for decision support. However, there is a risk that people with less formal education and skills and little resource endowments as well as particular groups of people such as women will be excluded from participating or benefiting from digital innovation, the so-called digital divide. In addition, there is a risk that people, communities, and societies may be disadvantaged or harmed by digital innovation processes. Digital inclusivity within food, land and water systems are approaches in digital innovation need to include the differing needs and resources of men, women, youth, indigenous communities who produce most the world’s food in smallholder land holdings. Here we provide the state-of-the-art evidence from peer reviewed literature and other literature in support of these statements. On the basis of this and our wider anecdotal experience we present, a holistic multi-dimensional framework for digital inclusivity. The aim of the digital inclusivity index (and supporting tools) is to provide a resource to guide to transform and change development and application of digital innovations. Specifically, it provides governments, funders, researchers, and development agencies a framework on how to assess, minimise and lessen exclusion from digital innovation. This is achieved through increasing awareness of the characteristics of digital exclusion, recognising the needs of the actors that they target with digital interventions which are more inclusive, making interventions more participatory and mitigating any potential harm that can be caused by digital innovation. We also argue that the approach to digital innovation needs to be set within the context of a wide ranging ‘digital ecosystem’ where different actors contribute knowledge and resources, and digital innovation goes beyond the adoption and use of technologies to include changes in preexisting social arrangement and institutions.
2 Opola, Felix Ouko; Langan, Simon; Singaraju, N.; Arulingam, Indika; Schumann, C.; Jacobs-Mata, Inga; Nortje, Karen. 2023. An index for enabling socially inclusive digital innovation processes in food, land, and water systems. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). CGIAR Initiative on Digital Innovation. 13p.
Digital technology ; Innovation ; Social inclusion ; Food systems ; Land resources ; Water systems ; Guidelines ; Stakeholders ; Participatory approaches ; Indicators
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052346)
(264 KB)
Currently metrics for assessing digital inclusivity focus on evaluating the outcomes of digital innovation rather than the process of developing such innovations. Digital inclusivity has five different dimensions, spanning both technical and social aspects, and therefore requires a holistic approach to attain. We propose a digital inclusivity index as a holistic and standard guideline for enabling digital inclusivity in food land and water systems. Since formal research and development is skewed towards the Global North, such an index may embody the perspectives and interests of organisations based in the Global North, and will therefore require testing, validation and co-development with stakeholders based in the Global South.
3 Steinke, J.; Schumann, C.; Langan, Simon; Müller, A.; Opola, Felix Ouko; Ortiz-Crespo, B.; van Etten, J. 2024. Fostering social inclusion in development-oriented digital food system interventions. Agricultural Systems, 215:103882. [doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2024.103882]
Digital innovation ; Digital agriculture ; Digital divide ; Information and Communication Technologies ; Intersectionality ; Social inclusion ; Women
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H052692)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X24000325/pdfft?md5=397457eb92a438d4736e601d13e0529f&pid=1-s2.0-S0308521X24000325-main.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H052692.pdf
https://vlibrary.iwmi.org/pdf/H052692.pdf
(0.96 MB) (978 KB)
CONTEXT: Digital innovations can enhance the participation of often-marginalized social groups – including women and resource-poor farmers in low- and middle-income countries – in sustainable, profitable food systems. But digital interventions can also reinforce existing inequities by further increasing the competitive advantage of user groups privileged with literacy, access to smartphones, or high investment capacity. To ensure that the digital transformation in the Global South leaves no one behind, therefore, deliberate efforts are needed to promote the inclusivity of emerging digital innovations. To date, however, there is a lack of practical guidelines and tools to critically assess, demonstrate, and enhance the inclusivity of digital food systems interventions. Too often, inclusivity remains a blurry concept and distant objective. In result, digital development researchers and practitioners have limited incentives for investing time and effort into safeguarding inclusivity. OBJECTIVE: With this short communication, we intend to contribute to future, practice-oriented discussions about social inclusivity in development-oriented digital interventions for sustainable food systems. We provide a critical reflection on the current discourse around digital inclusion in development context and outline challenges and opportunities for considering inclusivity in the design and deployment of digital food system innovations. METHODS: Drawing on literature as well as the authors’ own experiences with the design and implementation of digital innovations within research-for-development, we highlight ‘blind spots’ in the current discourse around digital inclusion in low- and middle-income country context. We then develop practical suggestions for overcoming these limitations. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: We propose a concrete agenda for enabling researchers and other innovation stakeholders, including donors, to contribute to more inclusive digital food system innovation in low- and middle-income countries. First, a standard concept and procedure is required for transparently assessing the inclusivity of digital services. Second, as many digital development stakeholders work under resource constraints, simple design tools can help them effectively consider social inclusion criteria during the design of digital solutions. Lastly, a stronger emphasis on inclusivity is required throughout the research-for-development system, ensuring that design processes themselves are inclusive, rather than considering only the final digital products. SIGNIFICANCE: As the importance of digital innovation keeps growing within the wider agricultural development discourse, this article helps researchers and practitioners gain conceptual clarity on the goal of digital inclusion. Through concrete suggestions on how inclusivity could be considered in practice, the article promotes a more equitable, inclusive digital transformation of food systems.
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