Deconstructing the role of ICTs in agricultural development using the diverse economies framework

Abstract

ICT4D research is predominantly governed by discourses of instrumental usage of ICTs and measurable ends dictated by official policies. Particularly in agricultural production, farmers are cast as tool-users expected to use ICTs to achieve pre-determined goals. The article argues that such approaches undermine the multiple situated ways in which farmers transform through ICTs, and new thinking strategies are needed to legitimize undervalued meanings of ICT-driven change. Drawing from economic geography the article introduces the diverse economies framework as a tool that helps validate indigenous knowledge by unpacking the centrality of informal livelihood practices. This is explored empirically through a seven-year-long qualitative study with a farmers’ cooperative in South India. The findings reveal forms of ICT-enabled change and empowerment that do not fit with official discourses of development but are critical for farmers’ sustainability. The article concludes that legitimizing indigenous knowledge requires a concerted academic effort to make diversity visible.