Closing the gap toward data-driven agriculture for all

Integrating data into agriculture has the potential to generate better yields, reduce food loss, and offer fairer compensation to smallholder farmers, who play a major role in global food production. Unequal access to data infrastructure, however, widens the gap between different socioeconomic groups. While digital technologies can revolutionize farming practices by lowering transaction costs, improving monitoring accuracy, and creating new markets, the benefits are not equitably available to those who need them most. Many countries with large populations of poor and marginalized people lack the data needed to effectively target interventions and allocate resources for agricultural development and food security.

To address these challenges, it is crucial to focus on both traditional sources of development data (household surveys) and new ones: remote sensing technologies, mobile geospatial device data, and social media data. Integrating these complementary sources can provide valuable insight and enable data-driven smart agriculture for everyone.

The scarcity of high-quality agricultural data leads to suboptimal decision-making that hinders economic growth and perpetuates poverty and hunger. Closing the agricultural data gap is essential for evidence-based decisions and investments that foster agricultural development and achieve Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2), zero hunger.

The 50x2030 Initiative

In response to this need, the 50x2030 Initiative to Close the Agricultural Data Gap was launched. This 10-year, $500 million program aims to improve the capacity of low- and lower-middle-income countries to collect, analyze, interpret, and apply data in agricultural decision-making. The initiative builds on existing programs and supports countries in building robust national agricultural and rural statistical systems. It emphasizes collecting high-quality disaggregated data to monitor inequality and effectively target programs, as well as integrating innovative technologies and new data sources, while strengthening national data ecosystems through improved skills, communication, policies, and practices.

A global collaboration

The initiative is a collaboration between development agencies, multilateral implementers, and partner countries. Funding comes primarily from partner countries, with support from the World Bank and philanthropic organizations. The goal is to ensure equity in data-driven smart agriculture, allowing all countries and farmers to reap the benefits of the digital revolution and to make evidence-based policies and investments that enable equitable development in agriculture.