Abstract
The aim of this chapter is to examine strategies for digitalizing agriculture. The first part of the chapter examines strategies for digitalizing agriculture in Africa. This part begins with an analysis of the role of agriculture in Africa, and it attempts to answer the question of whether African can feed itself and the world through its own agriculture. The first part will also consider strategies for innovating and computerizing Africa's agriculture. The second part of the chapter will examine agricultural trends and strategies in the European Union. This part will focus specifically on the trends of digital-oriented and smart farm developments. The final part of the chapter will consider strategies for digitalizing agriculture in Latin America and Asia.
TopIntroduction
In this chapter, we will address strategies for digitalizing agriculture. In the beginning of the chapter, we will deal with agricultural farms in Africa because African agriculture is highly fragmented and, to some extent, resembles agriculture in other countries.1 This is in contrast to American agriculture, which is based on large farms (around 169 hectares) that are maximally automated and computerized. Despite this, they pollute the environment and produce unhealthy food. Smaller farms, on the other hand, usually produce healthy organic food. After discussing strategies for Africa, digital and automation strategies for European, Latino, and Asian countries will be discussed. Defining such a strategy is beneficial if it is seen in the context of other countries and their practices.
It should be noted that most countries with small farms, including Poland, could benefit from adopting the strategy discussed below in regard to Africa, tailoring this approach to their needs. Farming in Poland, for example, is highly fragmented. In 2013 there were 1,428,400 farms. Individual farms employ about 100,000 people and comprise 91% of the total agricultural area, including livestock farms. The average area of a farm in Poland is 11.54 hectares. There is also a territorial diversity of holdings. More robust fragmentation can be observed in the south and east of the country, while a higher concentration of land occurs in the northern regions.
As is shown in Table 1, the level of development of Polish farms is comparable to Greece, the lowest in Europe (although the table does not list all EU countries). In other words, Polish agriculture still has a lot to learn to match countries with higher levels of agriculture.
Table 1. Level of agriculture in selected countries of the European Union (2006) (Ziętara, n.d.)
Economy
Level | Level of Agriculture (Size of Farm in ESU) |
| High | Low |
| High | Belgium
Denmark
Holland
France
Germany
U. Kingdom | 97.9
101.0
137.6
74.7
90.8
111.3 | Austria
Finland
Italy
Ireland
Sweden | 29.4
40.4
28.9
20.7
50.7 |
| Low | Czech Rep.
Slovakia | 107.7
127.0 | Greece
Lithuania
Poland
Hungary | 9.4
64.7
10.2
18.2 |
Note: ESU = European Size Unit
The European Size Unit (ESU) is a measure of the economic size of a farm. One ESU is equivalent to 1,200 EUR of surplus of economic value, taking into account the cost of living of the farm owners.
Ziętara (n.d.) writes:
Key Terms in this Chapter
Bioeconomy: Economic activity that involves the use of biotechnology to produce goods and services.
Green Revolution: The development and use of agricultural technologies in the 1950s and 1960s that led to a large increase in agricultural production.
Precision Farming: The use of computer technologies to observe, measure, and create optimal crop conditions.
Supply Chain Management: The management of the flow of goods and services.
Enterprise Resource Planning: Software that helps to integrate and manage central business processes.
Smart Farms: The management of farms using computer technologies.
Biotech Crops: Crops derived from the use of biotechnologies.
Organization for African Unity: An intergovernmental organization established on May 25 th , 1963 that included 32 African countries.