Digital Agriculture and Global Food Security: Technologies, Governance, and Pathways toward Sustainable Food Systems Abstract

Abstract

Digital technologies are reshaping how food is produced, traded, and governed, and are increasingly framed as key to meeting the global food security challenge under climate and resource constraints. This review synthesizes recent evidences on how information technology–enabled “digital agriculture” influences the four classical dimensions of food security—availability, access, utilization, and stability—across diverse farming systems. Core technological building blocks were examined, including Internet of Things (IoT) sensing, remote sensing, artificial intelligence (AI), big data analytics, digital advisory services, and platform-based value chains, and map the main pathways through which they affect productivity, risk management, environmental outcomes, and inclusion. Empirical and review studies from both high-income and low- and middle-income countries suggest that digital agriculture can increase yields, improve input-use efficiency, reduce production risk, and enhance information flows along value chains, with positive implications for food availability and economic access. However, benefits are unevenly distributed and shaped by digital literacy, infrastructure, institutional support, and data governance regimes. Digital agriculture also carries systemic risks, including deepening power asymmetries over data, reinforcing industrial models of production, and excluding smallholders and marginalized groups. An integrated framework was proposed, that positions digital agriculture as an enabling layer within broader transitions toward sustainable and equitable food systems, rather than a technological “fix” in isolation. The review concludes with research and policy priorities focused on closing evidence gaps, governing data and platforms in the public interest, and designing inclusive, climate-resilient digital ecosystems that support global food security.