Source: SEAMEO BIOTROP's Research Grant | 2021
Abstract:
The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted
agro-food supply chains and a substantial shift in demand and composition of food and agriculture
commodities.One of the strategies to address the disruption is by applying
digital technologies in food and agriculture sector,
and during the pandemic, digitisation and digitalisation have been accelerated by the GoI as one of
the strategies for economic recovery. This study systematically mapped the
studies and the applications of
digital technology use in the food and agriculture sector, and analyzed the implications of the Covid-19
pandemic on digital
technologies research and applications of the sector.
A systematic review
evidence evaluation was harnessed for this study to obtain
data, which subsequently was translated into a thematic
map and an interactive map.
The study showed that Covid-19 has
hampered some food and agriculture activities
but has positively accelerated digital technologies for the sector.
Digital technologies, studied and
utilized for Indonesia's food and agriculture sector, are primarily websites,
the internet of things (IoT), GPS and
GIS technology, artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and robotic.
About 22.83% of reviewed literature discussed the ripple
effects of the pandemic on digitalized
food and agriculture sector in Indonesia. Digital studies are still
concentrated on the island of Java,
as seen at this interactive map: https://agriculture40studies.gis.co.id/ although internet penetration
and the proportion of individuals using the internet have increased
in the last five years.
This study reported that the
Government of Indonesia (GoI) had issued national initiatives and policies supporting digital technologies in the
food and agriculture sectors. However,
a minimal number of both initiatives and policy has mainstreamed the Covid-19 pandemic. An interactive map of digital
agriculture companies can be found at this link: https://agriculture40companies.gis.co.id/ and most of the companies are in the form of farmers advisory, mechanization platforms,
digital marketplace, e-commerce, traceability,
food delivery, and peer-to-peer lending. These applications are
primarily concentrated in Java island
and have benefited digital technologies, such as IoT, blockchain, artificial intelligence, smartphone or android,
mobile apps, GPS/GIS,
and drones. Start-up
companies have applied
strategic measures to cope with the pandemic
implications, and some activities of the companies are suspended.
The GoI has initiated the
transformation earlier than the establishment of ASEAN Digital Transformation initiatives. These strategies and agendas
at the regional level were made
during the pandemic and one of the recovery measures to deal with the effects
of the Covid-19 pandemic. To date,
regional "call for action" initiatives on agriculture digitisation and digitalisation are still limited
although these initiatives have integrated national
strategies and agendas
from ASEAN Member
States (AMSs), especially Indonesia. ASEAN agriculture 4.0 initiatives need to be
more actualized to the ground supported with good management of project lifecycle to achieve the intended
deliverables.
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