Agriculture digitization, power and food system sustainability

Many international institutions working in the field of food policy have appealed to digitization as the cornerstone of future food system sustainability strategies. However, some works have cast doubts on an excessive emphasis on digitization benefits, highlighting some risk of negative side effects that would hamper, instead of facilitating, food system transition. By crossing the literature on the risks of digitization with that on power and sustainability, the paper stresses the importance of the concept of power for assessing the effects of digital technologies on food system sustainability. One conclusion is that to ensure that digitization is consistent with sustainability objectives, public intervention should address some critical issues, such as: data sovereignty, increased surveillance and corporate control over farming practices, increased influence of corporate power on state regulatory choices.