A Tale of Two Green Valleys: Power Struggles over Data-Driven Agro-Innovation in Kenya's Rift Valley and California's Central Valley
Lead Research Organisation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
Department Name: Department of International Development
Abstract
Digital technologies are generating massive amounts of data on farms, ranging from information about soil characteristics, local climatic conditions, cropping patterns, use of fertiliser and pesticide, labour practices, to financial behaviour. The collection and use of this data may lead to greater efficiency, more targeted use of chemicals, higher farm productivity and stronger coordination capacity. It is also likely to bring value to those outside agriculture such as finance and real estate firms, as well as public authorities like tax agencies and environmental bodies. Yet these impacts will not be neutral; some actors will benefit more than others.
This project asks who is capturing the economic and strategic value of data? Will big business use these new data infrastructures to more deeply penetrate markets and control agricultural systems? Or will small-holder farmers use them to 'de-commodify' their goods (through organic or fair-trade labeling), and increase their profits and security? Will these systems lead to more controlled workforces and thus weaker labour rights? Or will these systems allow unions to enforce stronger worker protection? Will these systems strengthen the power of US based entities or will they even the playing field for African economic actors?
Much depends on how governance evolves and which groups claim ownership and control. Our project takes a 'Political Economy' approach to these questions and thereby documents the role that politics, ideas and ideology play in determining who benefits from growth and digital transformations. We examine power struggles between actors over the control of economic and strategic value both at the local level on farms (between owners, workers, traders and agribusiness) and at the national/international level (between policy-makers and firms over public policy and finance for innovation).
We examine these power struggles in two valleys: a developed agricultural cluster (California's Central Valley) and a developing agricultural cluster (Kenya's Rift Valley). Both valleys are hugely productive agricultural heartlands and are also situated near to advanced technological clusters. We take this transnational approach because US commercial interests are part of African agriculture; one cannot understand development without understanding their power and influence. In addition, extremely important conversations are taking place within US farming about data ownership and commercialization, which are likely to have implications in Africa and other regions including the UK.
This project is important because governments all over the world are prioritizing public support for the tech industry as it is seen as the driver of future economic growth and employment. To ensure that this growth is both inclusive and transformative, it is vitally important for public officials and the public to understand the distributional impacts of digital innovation policies, particularly in agriculture, a sector that employs huge numbers of poor people across the world and serves as the ecological base of human life. Data will no doubt revolutionise our economies but we must ensure it does so in inclusive and sustainable ways.
Practically, our project aims to equip policy-makers with evidence and ideas to help them develop smarter and more inclusive digital economy policies and to raise ground-level awareness among farmers and workers about how they can expand control over their privacy and economic infrastructures. We do so through traditional outreach meetings with beneficiaries, policy briefs and publications but also through entertaining and accessible podcasts, co-produced with professional journalists. Academically, we aim to theorize the role that politics and ideas play in influencing who benefits and loses from technological innovations, and to contribute developmental and cross-national perspectives to the field of the political economy of innovation and digital economy
This project asks who is capturing the economic and strategic value of data? Will big business use these new data infrastructures to more deeply penetrate markets and control agricultural systems? Or will small-holder farmers use them to 'de-commodify' their goods (through organic or fair-trade labeling), and increase their profits and security? Will these systems lead to more controlled workforces and thus weaker labour rights? Or will these systems allow unions to enforce stronger worker protection? Will these systems strengthen the power of US based entities or will they even the playing field for African economic actors?
Much depends on how governance evolves and which groups claim ownership and control. Our project takes a 'Political Economy' approach to these questions and thereby documents the role that politics, ideas and ideology play in determining who benefits from growth and digital transformations. We examine power struggles between actors over the control of economic and strategic value both at the local level on farms (between owners, workers, traders and agribusiness) and at the national/international level (between policy-makers and firms over public policy and finance for innovation).
We examine these power struggles in two valleys: a developed agricultural cluster (California's Central Valley) and a developing agricultural cluster (Kenya's Rift Valley). Both valleys are hugely productive agricultural heartlands and are also situated near to advanced technological clusters. We take this transnational approach because US commercial interests are part of African agriculture; one cannot understand development without understanding their power and influence. In addition, extremely important conversations are taking place within US farming about data ownership and commercialization, which are likely to have implications in Africa and other regions including the UK.
This project is important because governments all over the world are prioritizing public support for the tech industry as it is seen as the driver of future economic growth and employment. To ensure that this growth is both inclusive and transformative, it is vitally important for public officials and the public to understand the distributional impacts of digital innovation policies, particularly in agriculture, a sector that employs huge numbers of poor people across the world and serves as the ecological base of human life. Data will no doubt revolutionise our economies but we must ensure it does so in inclusive and sustainable ways.
Practically, our project aims to equip policy-makers with evidence and ideas to help them develop smarter and more inclusive digital economy policies and to raise ground-level awareness among farmers and workers about how they can expand control over their privacy and economic infrastructures. We do so through traditional outreach meetings with beneficiaries, policy briefs and publications but also through entertaining and accessible podcasts, co-produced with professional journalists. Academically, we aim to theorize the role that politics and ideas play in influencing who benefits and loses from technological innovations, and to contribute developmental and cross-national perspectives to the field of the political economy of innovation and digital economy
Planned Impact
We have thought carefully about societal impact. Over the past six months, we have consulted with beneficiary communities in developing the research questions, research methods, and outreach activities. In addition, we have formed an advisory board (grouped into teams) to help continue this dialogue and make sure the research is relevant to wider communities.
The research will have broad relevance to many groups. It aims to deliver practical advice to farmers about data security, privacy and the pros and cons of different digital business models. It aims to inform data ethicists and activists about how ordinary people think about privacy, how they perceive digital risks and whether they value privacy against convenience or cost. It aims to inform those working in organizations like AGRA, Open Data Institute, the WEF and UN Global Pulse on how Open Data policies and private agreements might come to reflect everyday privacy needs as well as more explicitly economic development objectives. It aims to provide economic policy-makers with sound understandings of how digital business models work and provoke discussions about which business models and R&D arrangements might best facilitate sustainable and equitable growth. Lastly, it aims to engage all audiences (including the general public) in broader debates about the nature of digital capitalism and the social, economic and political impacts of digitization.
Impact will be driven by 3 main components: 1) professionally produced podcasts aimed at publicizing insights widely, 2) interactive website designed for education purposes and 3) outreach meetings to generate focused discussions around policy implications and solutions.
1) To make insights widely available and appealing, the team will use podcasts as the prime medium of dissemination. We have formed a communications team composed of experienced radio journalists and podcast producers. This team will join the researchers at the host institutions at stages 1 and 4 and at periodic points during fieldwork to help collect audio content and use their skills and artistic talents to develop compelling storylines. The podcasts will focus on the impacts identified above, and will be developed and agreed in consultation with the researchers. To maximize impact, these podcasts will be broadcast through the team's subscribed channels as well as through the website to ensure insights flow through existing networks and reach large audiences.
2) The website will be designed to be interactive, yet mobile user friendly. At its heart will be an educational 'tracking tool' that will explain data privacy and business models in a simple, engaging way. Building on Tactical Tech's Trackography and AFB's Transparency Evaluator, it will be designed for unions, cooperatives and development organisations for training purposes. We have decided to target organisations rather than individuals to help support collective learning and action. The website will also feature other audiovisual materials such as photos and videos, and will host a podcast archive focused on data economies. We will also design the website to be useful to teachers delivering courses on Critical Data studies as well as International Development in universities.
3) Two-day dialogue is important, so we have planned 3 outreach meetings in the UK, US and Kenya, focusing on the question: How might we re-conceptualise data as a strategic economic resource for inclusive development? These meetings will provide concrete empirical evidence about data-driven change and will be designed to help farmers and policy-makers be strategic in their dealings with Agritech firms. The team will map out data value chains and help identify policies to promote inclusive distribution of benefits. These meetings will result in 2 short policy briefs and 2 additional policy-focused podcasts.
Given the high priority accorded to social impact, we have budgeted adequately for Impact activities.
The research will have broad relevance to many groups. It aims to deliver practical advice to farmers about data security, privacy and the pros and cons of different digital business models. It aims to inform data ethicists and activists about how ordinary people think about privacy, how they perceive digital risks and whether they value privacy against convenience or cost. It aims to inform those working in organizations like AGRA, Open Data Institute, the WEF and UN Global Pulse on how Open Data policies and private agreements might come to reflect everyday privacy needs as well as more explicitly economic development objectives. It aims to provide economic policy-makers with sound understandings of how digital business models work and provoke discussions about which business models and R&D arrangements might best facilitate sustainable and equitable growth. Lastly, it aims to engage all audiences (including the general public) in broader debates about the nature of digital capitalism and the social, economic and political impacts of digitization.
Impact will be driven by 3 main components: 1) professionally produced podcasts aimed at publicizing insights widely, 2) interactive website designed for education purposes and 3) outreach meetings to generate focused discussions around policy implications and solutions.
1) To make insights widely available and appealing, the team will use podcasts as the prime medium of dissemination. We have formed a communications team composed of experienced radio journalists and podcast producers. This team will join the researchers at the host institutions at stages 1 and 4 and at periodic points during fieldwork to help collect audio content and use their skills and artistic talents to develop compelling storylines. The podcasts will focus on the impacts identified above, and will be developed and agreed in consultation with the researchers. To maximize impact, these podcasts will be broadcast through the team's subscribed channels as well as through the website to ensure insights flow through existing networks and reach large audiences.
2) The website will be designed to be interactive, yet mobile user friendly. At its heart will be an educational 'tracking tool' that will explain data privacy and business models in a simple, engaging way. Building on Tactical Tech's Trackography and AFB's Transparency Evaluator, it will be designed for unions, cooperatives and development organisations for training purposes. We have decided to target organisations rather than individuals to help support collective learning and action. The website will also feature other audiovisual materials such as photos and videos, and will host a podcast archive focused on data economies. We will also design the website to be useful to teachers delivering courses on Critical Data studies as well as International Development in universities.
3) Two-day dialogue is important, so we have planned 3 outreach meetings in the UK, US and Kenya, focusing on the question: How might we re-conceptualise data as a strategic economic resource for inclusive development? These meetings will provide concrete empirical evidence about data-driven change and will be designed to help farmers and policy-makers be strategic in their dealings with Agritech firms. The team will map out data value chains and help identify policies to promote inclusive distribution of benefits. These meetings will result in 2 short policy briefs and 2 additional policy-focused podcasts.
Given the high priority accorded to social impact, we have budgeted adequately for Impact activities.
Publications
Helen Mukiri-Smith
(2022)
A DC State of Mind?: A Review of the World Development Report 2021: Data for Better Lives
in Development and Change
Iazzolino G
(2019)
Shelter from the storm: Somali migrant networks in Uganda between international business and regional geopolitics
in Journal of Eastern African Studies
Iazzolino G
(2020)
Power geometries of encampment. The reproduction of domination and marginality among Somali refugees in Kakuma
in Geoforum
Iazzolino G
(2021)
'Going Karura': Colliding subjectivities and labour struggle in Nairobi's gig economy
in Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space
Iazzolino G
(2020)
Infrastructure of compassionate repression: making sense of biometrics in Kakuma refugee camp
in Information Technology for Development
Kleibert J
(2020)
Capturing Value amidst Constant Global Restructuring? Information-Technology-Enabled Services in India, the Philippines and Kenya
in The European Journal of Development Research
Laura Mann
(2023)
The Gendered Creep of Neo-classical Economics through Digitisation
Mann L
(2021)
From Development State to Corporate Leviathan: Historicizing the Infrastructural Performativity of Digital Platforms within Kenyan Agriculture
in Development and Change
| Title | Cartoon: If a soup is sweet, it is the money that cooks it. |
| Description | This is a cartoon that has been produced by Laura Mann, Marion Ouma, Gianluca Iazzolino, Hellen Mukiri-Smith and the famous Kenyan artist, Maddo. While it is already available online, we are planning an event over the summer 2022 where we will launch it and also circulate it on Kenyan farming channels (including whatsapp groups). |
| Type Of Art | Artwork |
| Year Produced | 2022 |
| Impact | We have not yet officially launched the cartoon so it is too early to discuss impacts. |
| URL | https://blog.cartoonmovement.com/2021/12/the-future-of-farming-in-kenya.html |
| Description | This award allowed Dr. Laura Mann, Dr. Gianluca Iazzolino, Tin El Kadi, Dr. Marion Ouma and Dr. Rachel Alexander to conduct in-depth research about digitisation (i.e. the growing use of digital technologies) within agriculture within two settings: California's Central Valley, a high income context and Kenya's Rift Valley, a middle income country. We also carried out a number of interviews with tech developers, agricultural scientists and data scientists within the two regions. Finally, we carried out an employment survey of bioinformatics graduates across three Masters degree programs in Kenya and California. The project has helped nuance our understandings of the developmental impacts of digitisation in several ways: 1. First, it is very clear that digitsation is a very patchy, commercially driven process in which certain areas or crops are far more 'digitised' than others. Overall, we uncovered a huge gap in expectations and media accounts of digitisation and real-life use and impact. We suspect this gap is generated by the commercial incentives of the tech industry as well as from poor journalistic practices (journalists not confirming that digital firms are actually carrying out their stated activities). In both contexts, the uptake of digitisation by farmers is slow and limited. In California, farmers are mostly using digital technologies to conserve water and keep better records about their productivity. Only in the almond industry did we find more creative use of digital technologies for new value creation (see below). In Kenya, very few farmers use digital apps or technologies, despite the huge amount of media hype surrounding agtech. Due to this history of start-up failure and problems of scaling, governments, private companies and donors are moving towards a strategic of platformisation instead of single, independent apps. As a result, the Safaricom Digifarm has received renewed support, although it is still in the pilot stage. In both Nairobi and the Bay Area, a very large number of tech firms claim to be 'disrupting' agriculture but very few penetrate the market in a real way. This unrealistic picture of rapid change is being reproduced widely, not just in popular magazines and newspapers, but also within some peer-reviewed economics articles and in World Bank documents. Our project points to the pressing need for all parties to better scrutinize accounts of rapid digitisation and carry out better independent studies of use and impact. 2. When it comes specifically to fintech (financial technology) applications in Kenya, we discovered that while digitial developers couch their activities in a language of economic inclusion, they target relatively lucrative market segments and do not seek to serve the vast majority of poor Kenyan farmers. As a result, it may be necessary for non-commercial actors to be more active in this field. It is also important for policy-makers to be aware of how unrepresentative userbases can be. Basing policy-making decisions on unrepresentative samples is likely to exclude large numbers of farmers from beneficial policies and to cause other negative unintended consequences. 3. The project uncovered some of the ways that digital developers are beginning to quantify (and therefore commercialise) environmental sustainability within California. Interestingly, this digitisation was most advanced in the almond sector, where the Californian Almond Board, a powerful state-based marketing order allows the industry to pool investment across farmers (Californian farmers produce 90% of the world's almonds). This structure creates an important source of investment for scientific research and business development. This board has started to think strategically about how to incentivise environmental protection by compensating farmers for introducing conservation methods. One of the larger lessons of this development is that digitisation requires financial and organisation infrastructures to scale up and experiment in this way. 4. The project also developed a new way of thinking about the potential impacts of digitisation. While critical scholarship had already highlighted how digital platform operators can 'curate' the market in line with their own commercial interests, our project revealed how platforms can also play a role in 'performing' economic theory. What we mean by this is that platform operators can effectively nudge users according to theories of human behaviour and economic models, essentially making real life actors conform with model and making these models seem 'correct'. As far as we know, our project is the first to identify this potential role of digital infrastructures in knowledge production. 4. Finally, as mentioned, our project has analysed the career trajectories of bioinformatics graduates across three Masters degree programs in Kenya and California. Bioinformatics is basically the application of data science and computer science to biology. Our analysis uncovered interesting patterns. Graduates of such programs in California tend to work in a range of private and public employers including start-ups, large established firms, universities, hospitals and other research institutes. They tend to have little difficulty finding jobs and change employers relatively easily. In contrast, graduates from similar programs in Kenya tend to cluster in international research centres or in small retail firms (largely selling international products within the domestic or regional market). A very large number of graduates from Kenyan programs do not find relevant employment and express immense frustration about their experiences. Curiously, a similar number of graduates in the two regions undertake doctoral training, with a large number of Kenyan graduates travelling abroad to do so. These patterns help us to see how bioinformatics training appears to reinforce the existing knowledge system in which US based firms are able to capture skills for commercial profits while these skills are largely filtering into the non-profit sector in Kenya. We have communicated these findings through blogposts, open access peer-reviewed papers and through our engagements at workshops and conferences. We also have a number of additional pieces currently under review or in progress, and expect further pieces to emerge and be published in the coming years. |
| Exploitation Route | We are in the process of thinking about how to share our data in a safe and ethical way with other researchers. If any other researchers are interested in accessing our data, they can write to the PI for further information. We will be making our data available through our website in turn. The postdoc on the project, Dr. Gianluca Iazzolino was awarded a new networking grant based around similar themes and hopes to extend some of the work on fintech further. Dr. Laura Mann is in the process of writing a book on digitisation and development, which will draw on insights from this project and hopefully provide a useful framework for thinking about the developmental implications of digitisation and data for developing countries. Finally, our research assistant, Tin El Kadi, has since been admitted into a PhD program where she is studying Chinese investment into Northern African tech industries. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Environment,Financial Services, and Management Consultancy,Government, Democracy and Justice,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology,Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology,Security and Diplomacy |
| Description | Dr Laura Mann has been conducting long-term research on digitisation in East Africa for the past ten years and has taken part in policy discussions in the United Nations in Geneva, the European Parliament in Brussels and the UK government's own Foreign Office in Oxford and London. Her research has moved the discussion around ICT4D away from discussions simply about internet connectivity towards considering about how digital technologies interact with existing economic value chains and processes of value creation and capture. This project has built upon her previous work in the outsourcing sector, tea, tourism and urban transport sectors to explore the ways in which digital technologies are interacting with agricultural value chains and science and has allowed her to look at processes of value creation between geographical regions: Kenya and the United States. This ESRC funding allowed Dr. Mann to build the research skills and profile of her team of researchers including the postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Gianluca Iazzolino, 2 research consultants, Dr. Marion Ouma and Dr. Rachel Alexander and the PhD student, Tin El Kadi. Together, the team traced digitisation across three agricultural value chains in each region (avocados and coffee across both, and almonds in California and potatoes in Kenya), interviewing farmers, processors and aggregators and other actors, as well as managers from 30 agriculturally oriented tech firms in the Bay Area and 21 in Nairobi. In total, the team interviewed 182 respondents. In Kenya, Dr. Mann did additional interviews with researchers working in international research organisations and universities and together with Dr. Alexander, carried out a 410-person Linkedin survey of bio-informatics graduates from both regions. This survey revealed the degree to which graduates are using their bio-informatics skills and how these skills contribute to regional economic development. During the life of the project, Dr. Laura Mann and her collaborators continued to be invited to take part in high level policy discussion with the Africa Group of the UN and WTO, the European Parliament, the UK's Department for International Trade, Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, among others. The research has also been presented in several academic settings where non-academic audience members were present including at Copenhagen Business School, Berkeley Africa Colloquium, the Luskin School of Public Affairs at UCLA, and the School of Business at the American University in Cairo. The team also established a very strong collaborative relationship with the Indian organisation, ITforChange and have now written three think pieces for the organisation, which have been widely read and shared online. Dr. Laura Mann has also participated in two training events with this organisation, the first- a course for Indian policy-makers and students interested in digitsation and the second a course aimed at students and policy-makers in the Middle East interested in digitisation from a gender perspective. Approximately 200 students, primarily from India and the Middle East, attended these events. In addition to these high-level policy engagements, the team worked with podcasters from both East Africa and the United States to disseminate their findings through the airwaves, including through the very popular US based podcast, Benjamin's Walker Theory of Everything and as well as through radio shows on the Kenya Broadcast Corporation and Biovision Africa Trust (a radio show aimed at Kenyan farmers). The team also worked with the famous Kenyan cartoonist, Maddo and another PhD researcher, Hellen Mukiri-Smith to produce a cartoon about the findings that was disseminated with non-academic groups. Finally, the research team released a number of policy-focused blogposts about our project through the Africa@LSE blog, which 24,000 reads per month with the majority of readers based in African countries. In addition to these published outputs, Dr. Laura Mann is also writing a book manuscript about the project for both academic and non-academic readers, which will hopefully be released in 2024. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2017 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Financial Services, and Management Consultancy,Government, Democracy and Justice,Manufacturing, including Industrial Biotechology |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal,Economic,Policy & public services |
| Description | 2 hour intensive discussion with Marie-Louise Wijne Senior Policy Advisor Digitalisation Bureau for International Cooperation, Dutch government |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or Improved professional practice |
| Impact | Marie-Louise Wijne was particularly interested in learning more about how Dutch donors should be supporting digital skills and data science training. I spoke about the need to combine training with complementary industrial policies that might help increase the absorption of such skills within the domestic economy. |
| Description | Invited presentation for Laura Mann by the South African delegation to the UN in Geneva to speak at the UN's e-commerce week on a "Panel Discussion on An African Digital Structural Transformation" |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| URL | http://unctad.org/en/conferences/e-week2018/Pages/MeetingDetails.aspx?meetingid=1711 |
| Description | Participation in European Parliament Hearing on ""Digitalisation for Development: reducing inequalities through technology" on the 11th of April 2018. |
| Geographic Reach | Europe |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| URL | http://www.eppgroup.eu/event/Digitalisation-for-development%3A-reducing-inequalities-through-technol... |
| Description | Participation in expert meeting at UNCTAD in Geneva on 19th-20th of March 2018. I spoke on the panel: "Digital technologies, economic diversification and structural transformation". The event was well attended by diplomats from across the world but primarily Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. |
| Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| URL | http://unctad.org/en/pages/MeetingDetails.aspx?meetingid=1693 |
| Description | ITforChange Platform |
| Organisation | IT for Change |
| Country | India |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | ITforChange, an Indian based NGO, conducting research and activism in the realm of digital rights and economic inclusion in digital economies. They have received funding from the IDRC to support research by a network of scholars across the world on digital platforms. The organisation invited Laura Mann to be an adviser to the project and to contribute a White Paper to help frame the debate around digital platforms and economic inclusion. In June 2018, Laura Mann was invited to attend a workshop with members of the network in Mumbai, India, where she had the opportunity of hearing about the progress of the 15 or so projects involved and present emerging insights from our own project. In October 2020, Gianluca Iazzolino, Marion Ouma & Laura Mann were invited to contribute a second White Paper about digitisaion and the covid pandemic. Then, in October 2021, Laura Mann was invited to take part in a workshop for students interested in feminist approached to the digital economy and is currently writing a third white paper for the organisation about feminst approaches to the digital economy. |
| Collaborator Contribution | We have written two white papers (and a third in progress) and as a result of the various meetings, we have built research networks with scholars from Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Canada, Belgium, India, the Philippines, China, Indonesia, Zimbabwe and Nigeria. |
| Impact | We have written 2 White Papers for the organisation and are in the process of writing a third. They are all listed in the outputs section of research fish. |
| Start Year | 2018 |
| Description | Blogpost: Good for Whom? Reading between the lines at Digital Davos |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | This was a blogpost written in response to the WEF 'Great Reset' virtual conference in January 2021. I analysed all of the conference's entries concerning digitisation and development, provided a critical commentary on the narrative being advanced by various actors at the conference, pointing out the ways in which their vision of digitisation might make economic development more difficult for developing countries. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/internationaldevelopment/2021/05/24/good-for-whom-reading-between-the-lines-... |
| Description | Blogpost: On the ground the reality is different: policymakers in Kenyan agriculture should beware limits to platform knowledge |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In this blogpost, Marion Ouma and I discuss the implications of our research project for policy-makers in Kenya. In particular, we draw attention to the limits of knowledge generated by a patchy process of digitisation and the dangers of using unrepresentative samples of farmers to draw policy lessons. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2021/04/15/policymakers-kenya-agriculture-beware-limits-platform... |
| Description | Blogpost: The digital advance into rural Kenya has a social cost for a 'new' type of farmer |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In this blogpost, Gianluca Iazzolino provides an analysis of the aspects of our project that deal with fintech. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2021/04/08/digital-advance-into-rural-kenya-has-social-cost-new-... |
| Description | Blogpost: The platformisation of rural Kenya is reshaping the balance of power within agricultural production networks |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In this blogpost, I share insights from our project about how platformisation may be reshaping economic theory, facilitating an infrastructure by which economists and other social theorists can nudge individuals towards compliance with behavioural models. This blogpost is similar to our academic paper on the same subject, but rewritten for a more general audience. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2021/04/01/platformisation-digital-rural-kenya-reshaping-the-bal... |
| Description | Blogpost: What about the crates? Rethinking digital farming in Kenya |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In this blogpost, Gianluca Iazzolino provides an analysis of the development of the agtech scene in Kenya, drawing on insights from the research project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2021/03/25/what-about-crates-rethinking-digital-farming-agricult... |
| Description | Conference Paper: Ali, M. and L. Mann (2021) "The curious appeal of cash transfers across three diverging political contexts in Sudan" Social Policy in Africa Conference (in honour of Thandika Mkandawire) November 22nd 2021, online (Johannesburg). |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Muez Ali and Laura Mann presented their CPAID research at the 'Social Policy in Africa Conference (in honour of Thandika Mkandawire)'. The paper provided an overview of the development of cash transfer programs in Sudan and discussed the limitations of the most recent program to address Sudan's entrenched and racialised inequality. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Conference Participation: 4S (Science and Technology Studies) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I presented a paper at the conference. This is the full reference: Mann, L. (2020) "Digital Infrastructures as Rent Infrastructures: Understanding New Pathways of Capital Accumulation and Structural Transformation within Contemporary Digital Capitalism(s)" 4S Conference, online (Prague), August 20th, 2020. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Conference participation: "Convergence or Divergence? Control over Knowledge and Technology in the Contemporary Global Economy" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Tin El Kadi and I presented a paper at the Development Studies Association Conference in July 2021 that drew on some insights from the project. It was entitled, "Convergence or Divergence? Control over Knowledge and Technology in the Contemporary Global Economy". |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| Description | Contribution to the production of a radio program on digital technologies and organic agriculture broadcasted by Biovision, a Nairobi-based organisation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Musdalafa Lyaga, a member of the project's public engagement team, and the host of radio program broadcasted by Biovision, produced an episode on digital technologies and organic agriculture based on the insights from our study discussed during two workshops. one held in London in 2018 and another held in Nairobi in 2019. The podcast producer explicitly credited both the PI and the Co-I in the webpage of the episode. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2020 |
| Description | Contribution to the production of an episode on specialty coffee of the podcast Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Benjamen Walker, a member of the project's public engagement team, and the host of a very popular podcast, produced an episode on specialty coffee based on the insights from our study discussed during two workshops. one held in London in 2018 and another held in Nairobi in 2019. The podcast producer explicitly credited both the PI and the Co-I in the webpage of the episode. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://theoryofeverythingpodcast.com/2019/12/wake-up-and-smell-the-coffee/ |
| Description | Digital Feminist Economies |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In April, 2022, we are organising an LSE workshop on 'feminist digital economies,' where we will bring together feminist economists and those working on digital economy, to discuss the impacts that digitisation may have on the position of women workers within the global economy. Insights from our project will be shared. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Facilitation of a workshop at a small farm expo |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Laura Mann facilitated a workshop in collaboration with Ildi Cummings Carlisle from CalAgRoots and Chris Bross from iFixit on digital technologies in agriculture. About 100 people came to the workshop and were mainly small farmers. Some preliminary results of the project were shared and we used interactive voting technology to gauge public understandings and ideas about digital technology in agriculture. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.eventbrite.com/e/small-farm-tech-expo-tickets-60311847359# |
| Description | Invitation to present at EPP Hearing on digitalisation for development, European Parliament, 11 April 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Both the PI and the postdoc researcher were invited to present their research at the EU Parliament in Brussels before an audience of policymakers and politicians concerned with different aspects of the digital economy. The presentation sparked a debate on how to regulate the sector. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Invitation to present at UNCTAD seminar series |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | I presented my research to professionals within the UNCTAD. This is the full reference: Mann, L. and J. Kleibert (2018) "Capturing Value amidst Global Restructuring? Economic Development and Information and Technology-Enabled Services in India, the Philippines and Kenya" UNCTAD Research Seminar Series, Palais des Nations, Room VIII, Geneva, Switzerland, March 20th 2018. http://unctad.org/en/pages/MeetingDetails.aspx?meetingid=1794 |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Invitation to present at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development: Multi-year Expert Meeting on Enhancing the Enabling Economic Environment at All Levels in Support of Inclusive and Sustainable Development, and the Promotion of Economic Integration and Cooperation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | We presented our project and ideas at the UNCTAD expert meeting. The audience was primarily diplomats and other policy-makers interested in digital development. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://unctad.org/system/files/non-official-document/cimem8_2018_Mann.pdf |
| Description | Invitation to present to the workshop "Inclusive or Exclusive Global Development? Scrutinizing Financial Inclusion", University of York, 21 November 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The paper "Does greater predictability lead to greater inclusivity? Emerging trends in the platformisation of small-holder finance in Kenya" was presented at a workshop organised by the University of York and funded by the Young Scholars Initiative. The workshop was attended by around 100 participants, including academics and students across a broad range of disciplines (sociology, economy, geography, anthropology, development studies), policymakers and no profit organisations. The presentation elicited a discussion and laid the groundwork for a long post on the blog of the Young Scholars Initiative and a peer-reviewed article. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Invited Presentation by the Indian organistion, ITforChange in an international conference on Platforms in the Global South, 14th and 15th of June 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Need to add here. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Invited Presentation to the Globalization, Transnationalism & Development Colloquium at Maastricht University, the Netherlands, May 16th 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Laura Mann was invited to present at Maastricht University's Globalization, Transnationalism & Development Colloquium, where I presented our work. On the same day, Laura Mann also led a discussion group on contrasting notions of redistributive justice across North and South. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://macimide.maastrichtuniversity.nl/events/16052018-gtd-colloquium-by-laura-mann/ |
| Description | Outreach and Brainstorming Meeting with Communication Team in London, June 2018 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Laura Mann and Gianluca Iazzolino hosted the communication team for a three day workshop in London, where we discussed the key themes of the research project and facilitated a brainstorming session to formulate ideas for possible media stories. The communication team consisted of two podcasters from the United States, two radio producers from Kenya, a podcast producer from Rwanda based in Germany (who attended via skype due to visa issues) and members of our advisory board, who presented on the first day and helped inspire discussions and ideas for the second day. Over the course of the next two years, these producers will be developing content about the research project for agricultural and general audiences, making our research more accessible and interesting to wider communities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | Paper presentation at African Studies Association in Africa - Nairobi, 24-26 October 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation of the paper "Harvesting data: Emerging trends in the platformisation of small-holder finance in Kenya", co-authored with Laura Mann |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Paper presentation at ECAS Edindurgh 2019 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Around 20 people attended the presentation of the paper "Harvesting data for digital credit, emerging trends in the platformisation of small-holder finance in Kenya", co-authored with Laura Mann. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Participation in Training: Feminist Institute, IT for Change conference, October 2021 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | I co-taught a course organised by the Indian organisation, ITforChange about feminist approaches to the digital economy. The students were a mixture of Indian IT professionals, activists, Masters students and policy makers working within the digital economy (about 160 students in total). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://itforchange.net/sites/default/files/1959/IT-for-Change-Invites-Applications-for-a-Two-day-On... |
| Description | Participation in external course, University of Michigan, USA. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Undergraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Laura Mann and Muez Ali presented their research on Sudan to students at the University of Michigan Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies (CMENAS), on October 24th, 2022, as part of an event on education and social policy in the Middle East. The second part of the presentation incorporated findings from Laura Mann's ESRC project on digitisation, about the absorption of bio-informatics skills in the Kenyan economy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| Description | Participation in launch of new governance indicator |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Laura Mann was invited as a discussant of the launch of the new Berggruen Governance indicator at the Luskin School of Public Affairs. At this event, representatives of all the major governance indicators presented including World Value Surveys, Pew Global Attitude Surveys, Afrobarometer, Freedom House Index, Rule of Law Index, Human Development Index, among others. Laura Mann was able to draw on her research to challenge some of the more problematic ways these various organisations were conceptualising and quantifying governance. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.berggruen.org/events/advancing-governance-indicator-systems-the-2022-conference/ |
| Description | Podcasters Team Meeting and field trip in Nairobi |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | Laura Mann and Gianluca Iazzolino hosted the communication team for a three day workshop in Nairobi, where each podcaster presented her/his idea and received feedback from the rest of the group about how to develop the idea into a more concrete podcast narrative. We also met one on one with each podcaster to plan out the task ahead and to come up with a schedule and budget for each story. The communication team consisted of two podcasters from the United States, two radio producers from Kenya, a podcast producer from Rwanda based in Germany and several Kenyan academics and digital professionals. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Presentation of research to policy-makers, businesspeople and academics at Copenhagen Business School |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Laura Mann and Rachel Alexander presented their research on the absorption of bio-informatics skills as a conference at Copenhagen Business School on June 8th 2022. Academics, policy-makers, businesspeople and other audience members participated in a dialogue around the benefits of digitization for African economies. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.cbs.dk/cbs-agenda/indsatsomraader/inequality/arrangementer/african-futures-digitalizatio... |