Digital revolution for the agroecological transition of food systems: A responsible research and innovation perspective. (December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bellon-Maurel, Véronique; Lutton, Evelyne; Bisquert, Pierre; Brossard, Ludovic; Chambaron-Ginhac, Stéphanie; Labarthe, Pierre; Lagacherie, Philippe; Martignac, Francois; Molenat, Jérome; Parisey, Nicolas; Picault, Sébastien; Piot-Lepetit, Isabelle; Veissier, Isabelle
• Is Part Of: Agricultural systems. Volume 203(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-12
• Subjects: Digital revolution -- Agroecological transition -- Food systems -- Responsible research and innovation -- Interdisciplinary research; INRAE National research institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment -- RRI Responsible Research and Innovation; Agricultural systems -- Periodicals; Agriculture -- Environmental aspects -- Periodicals; 338.16
• DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2022.103524
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0308-521X

Abstract

Abstract: CONTEXT: So far, digital technology development in agriculture has mainly dealt with precision agriculture, often associated with conventional large-scale systems. The emergence of digital agriculture - based on the triptych of "new data sources / new processing methods / new inter-connection capacities (internet)" - opens up prospects for mobilizing digital technologies to accelerate the deployment of other forms of agriculture, such as agroecology. A specific research agenda must therefore be built to redirect researchers specialized in digital technologies towards these new issues. This construction is significant because digital technology and agroecology are disruptive innovations that shake up the actors' practices, agricultural innovation ecosystems, and value chains. OBJECTIVE: An interdisciplinary group of INRAE researchers (covering 10 scientific departments) was mandated to carry out this reflection, with the objective of developing a research agenda to better couple digitalization and agroecology, in order to pave the way for responsible digital farming. The group used the framework of responsible research and innovation. METHOD: Over 18 months, the group met monthly by video-conference, to overcome the interdisciplinarity barrier, and at three face-to-face seminars, where creative design exercises were carried out (based on a world café format, and "remember the future" method). This work gave rise to three prospective lines of research aimed at putting digitalization at the service of agroecology and local food systems. These topics prioritize research that fosters innovations in digital technology, as well as organisations and policies that (1) accelerate the agroecological transition on the farm and in the territories, (2) manage the territories as commons, (3) empower farmers and consumers. Then, the group examined these three prospective lines of research from an RRI perspective as well as three current research topics on digital agriculture (digital soil mapping, precision agriculture, technologies for food wastage reduction). RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: This work allowed us to highlight the gaps between current research on digital agriculture and the RRI expectations, and the tensions (between rationalization and diversity of farming systems, between complexity of agroecological systems and the need for simplification of models, and finally between data speculation and frugality). We were also able to refine the specific scientific questions of each prospective line of research and finally to draw attention to the key levers that will have to be integrated if these research efforts are to be approached from an RRI perspective. SIGNIFICANCE: This contribution shows RRI can be used not only to reflect on research practices but also as a framework to build a research agenda paving the way for responsible digital agriculture. Graphical abstract: Unlabelled Image Highlights: So far, research on digital technologies has focused on precision agriculture and has rarely addressed smallholders' issues. Our interdisciplinary group aims at building a research agenda to foster an agroecology-based digitalization of agriculture. Three lines of research were built in creative sessions and studied via Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) principles. RRI helped us both to express original research questions and to raise key issues for correctly addressing them. RRI has been useful for building this research agenda on smart agriculture, by combatting researchers' own path dependency.