2.2 Gender-inclusive digital agriculture: Acknowledging the critical role of women farmers The FAO reports that women form 43% of the agriculture workforce globally, while another estimate by the UN highlights the fact that women produce approximately 80% of the food in developing countries, mainly in predominantly agrarian or emerging economies transitioning to the industrial or service sectors.33 However, women farmers’ influence in the agriculture sector is minimal because of gender discrimination and because decision-making largely rests with male members of households. The low proportion of landholding among women is one critical reason behind women farmers’ limited role in decision- making processes. Limited access to smartphones for women in these circumstances is another critical challenge. Many agritech services – advisories, for example – are delivered through smartphones, and without them women are not able to access or implement advice effectively. Their lack of phone-operating skills when conducting more complex tasks such as making or receiving online payments or downloading or registering for apps is another big hurdle. As the use of agritech expands, women farmers must not be left behind in the sector’s transformation journey. Digital inclusion will remain difficult until gender roles are redefined in agriculture and women’s rights of access to information and decision-making are mainstreamed. However, as multiple stakeholders engage with the transition – which is likely to be a long-term intervention – in the shorter term, agritech can focus on driving this change through partnerships with women’s collectives, such as women’s cooperatives or self-help groups that are working on capacity- building for women farmers. Such organizations have been operating for decades, challenging discriminatory social norms, building women’s capacity to become successful entrepreneurs and demonstrating the power of community-based organizations in driving change. Agritech can build in women farmers’ inclusion in digital agriculture in four ways: –Enhancing access – identifying digital and physical or human channels to increase access to digital technologies and agritech –Co-creating digital solutions specifically for women farmers, forging collaborations with the private sector, innovators, agricultural universities and women farmers’ organizations –Supporting agritech adoption through capacity- building and post-sales services via on-the- ground agents –Identifying and highlighting risks and harms, and building capacity to mitigate these in the early stages of the adoption journey; issues such as data privacy must be included in capacity- building as well as product design Gender-inclusive digital architecture FIGURE 3 Driving gender-inclusive digital agriculture Enhance access Create solutions focused on women farmers Build capacity for adoption Highlight risks and identify mitigating factors in product design Source: World Economic Forum80% of the food in developing countries is produced by women, mainly in predominantly agrarian or emerging economies. Agritech: Shaping Agriculture in Emerging Economies, Today and Tomorrow 18

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