Sustainable food systems and agriculture: the role of information and communication technologies

Abstract

Food security refers to the transformation processes needed to move towards sustainable food systems. Digitalization is one of the most important transformational processes in world agriculture and food production and sale systems. The paper considers the contribution of information and communication technologies (ICT) to the transition to sustainable development within the food chain (production, processing, distribution, consumption). Particular attention is paid to precision agriculture as a food production model that integrates many ICTs. ICTs can facilitate the transition to agri-food sustainability by increasing productivity and resource efficiency, reducing management costs and improving coordination in the food chain. The paper also discusses some disadvantages of ICT and factors limiting their use in agriculture.

How to Prevent and Cope with Coincidence of Risks to the Global Food System

“…Considering the contribution of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to the transition to sustainable development within the food chain (production, processing, distribution, consumption), particular attention is paid to precision agriculture as a food production model that integrates many ICTs. ICTs can facilitate the transition to agri-food sustainability by increasing productivity and resource efficiency, reducing management costs, and improving coordination in the food chain (94). These emerging technologies should be scaled up, but only with careful consideration for their impact on smallholders, nutrition and health, and employment.…”

Digitalization Of Agricultural Sector: Outlook In Russia

“…According to the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia, there are only 5 IT specialists per 1,000 agricultural workers, investments in digital technologies are no more than 10 rubles / ha, while in the European Union (EU), these values are 25 IT specialists and 350-500 rubles / ha accordingly. Russia took the 23rd place in the Digital Society Index 2019 ranking of countries for the development of the digital society (Serbulova et al, 2019).…”

“…The research interest in digitalization of agriculture is growing annually, a significant number of works of domestic and foreign authors are devoted to various aspects that directly or indirectly solve the problems of the process, the aspects of state support, legal regulation are analyzed, the projects and experience of their implementation, problems and obstacles, deterrents, etc., are discussed (Boev et al, 2020;Butyrin & Butyrina, 2019;Guzueva et al, 2020;Ivanov, 2018;Khabarov & Volegzhanina, 2019;Ognivtsev, 2019;Panov et al, 2019;Semkin, 2019;Serbulova et al, 2019;Sokolova & Litvinenko, 2020)…”

Assessment of interregional economic integration based on the integral indicator of the level of socio-economic development

“…In contemporary conditions, various methods are applied for assessing the state of socio-economic development of the region, as well as different kinds of ratings [5][6][7][8][9].…”

“…Next, the particular values of the desirability functiondi. The value of the super criterion (generalized indicator D) is determined as a geometrical mean value di: (5) The generalized desirability function D is some abstract construction and possesses the following qualities: the function is quantitative, specific, general, and universal indicator of the object quality (along with the properties of adequacy, efficiency, and statistical sensitivity). In this regard, function D can be used as a criterion for assessing the level of socio-economic development of regions.…”