Fostering social inclusion in development-oriented digital food system interventions
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 increas...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2024
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/139546 |
| _version_ | 1855533747486588928 |
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| author | Steinke, Jonathan Schumann, Charlotte Langan, Simon J. Müller, Anna Opola, Felix Ouko Ortíz Crespo, Berta Etten, Jacob van |
| author_browse | Etten, Jacob van Langan, Simon J. Müller, Anna Opola, Felix Ouko Ortíz Crespo, Berta Schumann, Charlotte Steinke, Jonathan |
| author_facet | Steinke, Jonathan Schumann, Charlotte Langan, Simon J. Müller, Anna Opola, Felix Ouko Ortíz Crespo, Berta Etten, Jacob van |
| author_sort | Steinke, Jonathan |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | 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. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace139546 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publishDateRange | 2024 |
| publishDateSort | 2024 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| publisherStr | Elsevier |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1395462025-10-26T12:56:17Z Fostering social inclusion in development-oriented digital food system interventions Steinke, Jonathan Schumann, Charlotte Langan, Simon J. Müller, Anna Opola, Felix Ouko Ortíz Crespo, Berta Etten, Jacob van design digital divides intersectionality women women's empowerment 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. 2024-03 2024-02-20T21:13:45Z 2024-02-20T21:13:45Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/139546 en Open Access Elsevier Steinke, Jonathan; Schumann, Charlotte; Langan, Simon; Müller, Anna; Opola, Felix Ouko; Ortiz-Crespo, Berta; and van Etten, Jacob. 2024. Fostering social inclusion in development-oriented digital food system interventions. Agricultural Systems 215(March 2024): 103882. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2024.103882 |
| spellingShingle | design digital divides intersectionality women women's empowerment Steinke, Jonathan Schumann, Charlotte Langan, Simon J. Müller, Anna Opola, Felix Ouko Ortíz Crespo, Berta Etten, Jacob van Fostering social inclusion in development-oriented digital food system interventions |
| title | Fostering social inclusion in development-oriented digital food system interventions |
| title_full | Fostering social inclusion in development-oriented digital food system interventions |
| title_fullStr | Fostering social inclusion in development-oriented digital food system interventions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fostering social inclusion in development-oriented digital food system interventions |
| title_short | Fostering social inclusion in development-oriented digital food system interventions |
| title_sort | fostering social inclusion in development oriented digital food system interventions |
| topic | design digital divides intersectionality women women's empowerment |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/139546 |
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