A report published on 25 February by the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) warns that a close alliance between large agricultural corporations and big technology firms is making modern farming tools hard to afford for smallholder farmers. The report, Head In The Cloud, names Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Alibaba as examples of companies using cloud platforms and artificial intelligence that attract public and private investment.
Lim Li Ching, co-chair of IPES-Food and lead author, says these developments are "deeply political" and create technological lock-ins. She warns that once farmers join proprietary digital systems it can be hard to leave without losing access to their own data and tools. The report notes the tools are expensive, energy- and resource-intensive, and depend on constant connectivity and subscription models that most smallholder farmers cannot use.
The authors list high-cost technologies that tend to favour large farms: precision agriculture services, satellite monitoring, automated livestock systems and digital platforms built on Big Tech cloud infrastructure. They warn that control of data and algorithms lets a few companies shape what is planted, how crops are grown and who benefits, and they raise concerns about commercialisation of traditional and Indigenous knowledge.
Some named companies did not respond to requests for comment. A Bayer spokesperson said digitalisation is essential for research and climate action and that farmers remain free to choose technologies. The report highlights farmer-driven examples such as the Farmers' Seed Network in China and AGUAPAN in Peru, which has conserved the genetic diversity of over 1,000 native potato varieties, and calls for long-term funding, extension services, public infrastructure and stronger data governance.
Difficult words
- smallholder farmer — a farmer who owns a small farmsmallholder farmers
- proprietary — controlled by one company, not open to others
- subscription model — regular payment system for using a servicesubscription models
- connectivity — ability to connect to the internet or network
- algorithm — set of rules a computer follows to solve problemsalgorithms
- commercialisation — process of selling or making profit from something
- lock-in — situation where users cannot easily change systemslock-ins
- data governance — rules and policies for handling digital information
Tip: hover, focus or tap highlighted words in the article to see quick definitions while you read or listen.
Discussion questions
- Have you seen digital farming tools in your country? How do they help or harm small farmers?
- What rules would you suggest for data governance to protect farmers' information?
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