According to the leading development agencies and policy-making institutions, digitalisation of agriculture is hailed to be a 'game-changer', with highly transformative effects. The use of digital technologies is expected to enhance efficiency of production, processing, and trade, resulting in higher incomes for farmers and more sustainable farming practices. Digital agriculture is perceived as essential in meeting the Sustainable Developments Goals of ending hunger (SDG 2) and poverty (SDG 1). It has found its way into numerous policy agendas and recommendations, including into the UNFCC National Adaption Plans, in which digital agriculture has been attributed the power to 'leapfrog' development pathways of countries in the Global South.  

Concerns, however, have been accompanying this high degree of optimism. As showcased by a publication in Nature Sustainability in 2020, a consensus is now established on the existence of 'digital divide', as one undesired social repercussion of digital agriculture. Other adverse social, economic as well as environmental impacts of digitalisation, however, have not been given the same amount of scrutiny. Nevertheless, voices critical of the existing digitalisation policies that go beyond the problem of the digital divide are emerging across different continents:  

In light of these criticisms, the aim of this workshop is to critically assess the appropriateness of the current policy approach to digital agriculture across the three different regions, Africa, the US and Europe. In particular, we are interested in exploring whether e-commerce, advisory services, precision farming applications and other digital tools do serve sustainable development objectives. In turn, we suggest that the majority of these tools should rather be interpreted as an extension of growth-oriented model of development, but under a 'digital disguise'. In short, is digital agriculture a step towards 'Digitalising Food System Transformation' or towards 'Digitising the Status Quo'?