Digital agricultural support services are being developed at an increasingly fast pace. This is a relatively new sector that has the potential to significantly influence how we organise food systems, from farm to fork. With that it can significantly contribute to SDG2: zero hunger and other Sustainable Development Goals such as SDG8 (by creating new jobs). Digitalisation is also mentioned as an important means to contribute to action track 3 of the upcoming Food Systems Summit: Boost nature-positive production. And an increasing number of initiatives are working to increase the understanding, and contribute to the development, of these digital services.

Pledge to action sprints

Members join our ‘pledge-to-action sprints’ to collectively remove barriers. Each sprint has three steps, which will be facilitated by Netherlands Food Partnership and Bopinc. The first Pledge to action sprint is 'Narrowing the digital divide'. The second Pledge to action sprint focused on 'Commercial viability'.

Future Pledge to action sprints

Other barriers for digitalistation that we might want to remove collectively in Pledge to Action sprints are:

• User-centered design (not scheduled) There is a lack of digital services and use cases, including bundled services, that are truly desirable for smallholders.
• Overhyped technologies (not scheduled) The real added value of hyped technologies such as drones and blockchain still needs to be demystified and proven in the field.
• Local talent (not scheduled) Organisations struggle to tap into tech-savvy human capital.
• Unfavorable policies (not scheduled) There is a need for more coherence and coordination of government’s policies.

Members can bring up other barriers, depending on what requires our attention and collective action”

We welcome new members

Any organisation can join that is actively working on the development, dissemination and scaling of digital solutions that benefit agrifood value chains and the low-income producers working in these value chains. We differentiate between 3 member profiles:

Digital service providers : Organisations that sell software, apps or web/SMS/IVR services to paying customers in the agrifood sector such as food processors, individual farmers and food security programs.

Digital service customers : Organisations that purchase digital services they use themselves or disseminate among large groups of low-income producers or consumers they work with.

Digital service enablers : Organisations that directly support digital service providers and their customers to help low-income producers or consumers adopt digital solutions at scale.

Read our pledges!

Do you want to become a member or get more info? Contact Roald Klumpenaar (Bopinc) or Rojan Bolling (Netherlands Food Partnership)