Navigating Transformative Agricultural Technologies on the Path to Food System Transformation
Abstract. Modern agriculture encompasses various existing or emerging technologies, such as robotics, nanotechnology, synthetic proteins, cellular agriculture, gene-editing technologies, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and machine learning, which can have a significant transformative impact on the future of agricultural and food systems. These technologies underpin concepts such as vertical farming, digital agriculture, the bioeconomy, circular agriculture, and aquaponics. Examples of these concepts include different strands of agroecology, such as permaculture, regenerative agriculture, and ecological intensification, which may themselves require the use of various technologies and often incorporate indigenous knowledge. These approaches can also be connected to and integrated with digital technologies. This requires responsible innovation processes that entail anticipating the potential impacts of agricultural technologies through inclusive processes, as well as responding to emerging outcomes and adjusting the direction and course of transition pathways. This paper emphasizes the need to pay greater attention to the inclusion and exclusion effects associated with agricultural technologies and to anticipate their potential impacts through inclusive processes.
Keywords: agricultural technologies, innovation systems, food system, sustainability transitions, agricultural innovation