IPES-Food has just launched a major new report on digital agriculture and innovation. It challenges the false promise of corporate-led “tech fixes” and calls for innovation from the ground up.
IPES-Food releases HEAD IN THE CLOUD: Challenging the false promise of digital agriculture and cultivating innovation from the ground up.
The report warns that a powerful alliance between Big Tech and Big Ag is rapidly expanding its control over farming through AI and digital platforms. Tech giants such as Amazon and Microsoft are increasingly shaping food production – raising serious concerns about farmer debt, dependency, inequality, and climate resilience if left unchecked.
At the same time, the report insists that grounded innovation is already happening, the ones that GIAA is supporting in our diverse territoriers. Farmers, Indigenous Peoples, and communities are pioneering bottom-up, low-cost, open-source solutions rooted in ecology and diverse knowledge systems. These approaches are delivering tangible benefits for biodiversity, resilience, livelihoods, and local economies – yet remain under-recognised and underfunded.
The message is clear: innovation is political. We must talk about, fund, and govern innovation differently. It’s time to reclaim innovation for people and the planet.
Read the report: