City Research Online

Abstract

Digital technologies in agriculture are typically portrayed as enabling more sustainable production while increasing productivity. Yet, commercial solutions rarely address the root causes of unsustainable farming, limiting the uptake of more radical solutions such as agroecology. We conducted fieldwork on 11 UK small-scale agroecological farms investigating their adoption of digital technologies. Far from being anti-technological, agroecological farmers are currently poorly supported by appropriate digital tools. Further, the collaborative nature of agroecological farming, market productivity pressures, and regulatory requirements necessitate complex data practices for coordination, planning, monitoring, and learning. These data practices require labour that is often hidden and causes tension within farms. We develop these insights into a set of guiding principles for designing digital technologies appropriate for agroecology and suggest concrete design opportunities. We present a call to action for HCI to reimagine digital agriculture beyond capitalism and work with existing farmer-led grassroots networks towards technological sovereignty.

Publication Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Additional Information:	© The authors, 2026. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Publisher Keywords:	agriculture, agroecology, digital agriculture, agri-tech, sustainability, appropriate technology
Subjects:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GF Human ecology. Anthropogeography H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA75 Electronic computers. Computer science S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General) T Technology
Departments:	School of Science & Technology School of Science & Technology > Department of Computer Science School of Science & Technology > Department of Computer Science > Human Computer Interaction Design
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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