Smart Farming: Including Rights Holders for Responsible Agricultural Innovation

Abstract

This article draws on the literature of responsible innovation to suggest concrete processes for including rights holders in the “smart” agricultural revolution. It first draws upon historical agricultural research in Canada to highlight how productivist values drove seed innovations with particular consequences for the distribution of power in the food system. Next, the article uses document analysis to suggest that a similar value framework is motivating public investment in smart farming innovations. The article is of interest to smart farming’s decision makers (from farmers to governance actors) and a broader audience – anyone interested in engendering equity through innovation-led societal transitions.

Keywords

• agriculture
• automation
• big data
• machine intelligence
• power
• responsible innovation
• smart agriculture
• technological values