Digital tools and agricultural market transformation in Africa: Why are they not at scale yet, and what will it take to get there?
Despite enthusiasm on the potential of digital innovations to transform agricultural markets in Africa, progress made thus far has been limited to small-scale experiments that often fail to scale up. Realizing the full potential of digital innovations—tools, technologies, applications, and services—...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Artículo preliminar |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
International Food Policy Research Institute
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143413 |
| _version_ | 1855538854327484416 |
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| author | Abay, Kibrom A. Abate, Gashaw T. Chamberlin, Jordan Kassim, Yumna Spielman, David J. |
| author_browse | Abate, Gashaw T. Abay, Kibrom A. Chamberlin, Jordan Kassim, Yumna Spielman, David J. |
| author_facet | Abay, Kibrom A. Abate, Gashaw T. Chamberlin, Jordan Kassim, Yumna Spielman, David J. |
| author_sort | Abay, Kibrom A. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Despite enthusiasm on the potential of digital innovations to transform agricultural markets in Africa, progress made thus far has been limited to small-scale experiments that often fail to scale up. Realizing the full potential of digital innovations—tools, technologies, applications, and services—in Africa requires not just further development of these solutions at meaningful scales, but also more nuanced evidence from both successful and unsuccessful scaling efforts. This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical evidence on the transformative potential of digital innovations for African agricultural markets with an in-depth examination of solutions that have been rolled out to date in the continent. Specifically, the review addresses the following questions: (i) how can digital innovations improve the functioning of agricultural markets in Africa? (ii) what explains the apparent failure of most pilots to scale up? (iii) what is required to realize their full potential? and (iv) what are the emerging risks and opportunities associated with these digital innovations for agricultural marketing? Although our review of the landscape and literature on market-focused digital innovations in Africa identifies several reasons to remain optimistic, the prevailing disconnect between pilots and scale-ups merits further evaluation. In particular, there is a need for more systematic assessments of both successes and failures at different stages of piloting and scaling of digital solutions. |
| format | Artículo preliminar |
| id | CGSpace143413 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| publisherStr | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1434132025-12-02T21:02:41Z Digital tools and agricultural market transformation in Africa: Why are they not at scale yet, and what will it take to get there? Abay, Kibrom A. Abate, Gashaw T. Chamberlin, Jordan Kassim, Yumna Spielman, David J. innovation digital divide market information households welfare social protection capacity development agriculture markets food security risk market information services social safety nets resilience digital technology retail markets Despite enthusiasm on the potential of digital innovations to transform agricultural markets in Africa, progress made thus far has been limited to small-scale experiments that often fail to scale up. Realizing the full potential of digital innovations—tools, technologies, applications, and services—in Africa requires not just further development of these solutions at meaningful scales, but also more nuanced evidence from both successful and unsuccessful scaling efforts. This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical evidence on the transformative potential of digital innovations for African agricultural markets with an in-depth examination of solutions that have been rolled out to date in the continent. Specifically, the review addresses the following questions: (i) how can digital innovations improve the functioning of agricultural markets in Africa? (ii) what explains the apparent failure of most pilots to scale up? (iii) what is required to realize their full potential? and (iv) what are the emerging risks and opportunities associated with these digital innovations for agricultural marketing? Although our review of the landscape and literature on market-focused digital innovations in Africa identifies several reasons to remain optimistic, the prevailing disconnect between pilots and scale-ups merits further evaluation. In particular, there is a need for more systematic assessments of both successes and failures at different stages of piloting and scaling of digital solutions. 2021-12-31 2024-05-22T12:13:58Z 2024-05-22T12:13:58Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143413 en https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.135075 Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Abay, Kibrom A.; Abate, Gashaw Tadesse; Chamberlin, Jordan; Kassim, Yumna; and Spielman, David J. 2021. Digital tools and agricultural market transformation in Africa: Why are they not at scale yet, and what will it take to get there? IFPRI Discussion Paper 2092. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134957. |
| spellingShingle | innovation digital divide market information households welfare social protection capacity development agriculture markets food security risk market information services social safety nets resilience digital technology retail markets Abay, Kibrom A. Abate, Gashaw T. Chamberlin, Jordan Kassim, Yumna Spielman, David J. Digital tools and agricultural market transformation in Africa: Why are they not at scale yet, and what will it take to get there? |
| title | Digital tools and agricultural market transformation in Africa: Why are they not at scale yet, and what will it take to get there? |
| title_full | Digital tools and agricultural market transformation in Africa: Why are they not at scale yet, and what will it take to get there? |
| title_fullStr | Digital tools and agricultural market transformation in Africa: Why are they not at scale yet, and what will it take to get there? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Digital tools and agricultural market transformation in Africa: Why are they not at scale yet, and what will it take to get there? |
| title_short | Digital tools and agricultural market transformation in Africa: Why are they not at scale yet, and what will it take to get there? |
| title_sort | digital tools and agricultural market transformation in africa why are they not at scale yet and what will it take to get there |
| topic | innovation digital divide market information households welfare social protection capacity development agriculture markets food security risk market information services social safety nets resilience digital technology retail markets |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/143413 |
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