1
Overview of agriculture in Commonwealth Asia
Of the eight (8) Commonwealth member countries in Asia, five (5) are classified by the United Nations Statistics Division as South-Asian countries. The other three (3) are in the South-East Asian region.
Below is a summary of characteristics of agriculture in Commonwealth Asia
- The agriculture, forestry and fishing sector contribute an average of 11.07 per cent to the GDP of Commonwealth Asia and employs 22.15 per cent of the population.1
- Agricultural land makes up 36.2 per cent of the total land area and 25.47 per cent of the land is arable.
- The rural population plays a major role in agricultural activities in the Asian Commonwealth with 53.01 per cent of the total population residing in rural areas.
- The Asian continent is an important global food hub. It accounts for 19 per cent of the global food and agricultural exports and 31 per cent of imports.2
- Approximately 90 per cent of the world’s rice supply emanates from Asia.3 In countries such as Pakistan, Central Asia and Malaysia, rice fields cover more land than any other crop grown.
- Most farms in the Asian Commonwealth countries are smallholder in nature with an average farm size of 1.8 hectares.4
“The Asian continent is an important global food hub”
“Climate change in Commonwealth Asia is having adverse effects on agricultural productivity”
Systemic constraints affecting agriculture in Commonwealth Asia
Countries across Commonwealth Asia face several systemic constraints to developing their agricultural sectors.
These include:
- Climate vulnerability and agricultural productivity
- Access to finance and investment
- Market, trade and supply chain issues
- Women and youth inclusion
2
3
State of digital agriculture in Asia
The state of digital agriculture in the region is assessed using the digital agriculture framework described under the methodology section.
It consists of (I) digital agriculture innovations, (II) agriculture data infrastructure, (III) business development services, and (IV) the enabling environment for the digitalisation of agriculture.
“Most farms in the Asian Commonwealth countries are smallholder in nature.”
i
Digital agriculture innovations
- Digital agriculture solutions in Commonwealth Asia predominantly provide crop-based pre-harvest advisory services (78 per cent) and market linkages solutions (40 per cent).
- Most (99 per cent) of the digital agriculture solutions in sampled Commonwealth Asia are mobile applications.
- Most of the solutions are drawn towards farmer-driven offerings, mainly funded by the private sector.
Distribution of digital agricultural solutions by use case
Crop-based pre-harvest advisory
Market linkages
Financial access and insurance
n=101 solutions
ii
Agriculture data infrastructure
- Four of the eight countries in Commonwealth Asia (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka) have state-provided soil health card initiatives.
- All the Commonwealth countries in Asia have weather data and forecasts provided by state meteorological bodies.
- Smallholder farmers in the region hardly capture and maintain records of their farm operations.
- For all the eight member countries in Commonwealth Asia, state-issued digital identity card systems exist.
- With the exception of India and Sri Lanka, no other country in Commonwealth Asia has an active national farmers registry.
“Smallholder farmers in Commonwealth Asia hardly capture and maintain records on their farm operations.”
iii
“Innovations have been able to reach places that they would not have gone due to subsidisation models.”
iv
Enabling environment for digitalisation
The enabling environment for agriculture digitalisation consists of technology-related and non-technology-related enablers and barriers.
Technology-related enablers include access to internet-enabled and mobile devices, penetration of smartphone devices, network coverage, and internet-related infrastructure that enables digital solutions and technologies.
Non-technology-related enablers include regional demography, education levels amongst farming populations, mobile network-friendly policies, and financing models for mobile devices.
Internet use, proportion of population
Commonwealth Asia
Brunei Darussalam
Singapore
Malaysia
India
Policy recommendations to fast-track digitalisation
Recommendations for Commonwealth Africa countries to increase investment in digital agriculture innovation and scale-up solutions to market include:
- Reducing the import tariffs on mobile devices and tax rates on mobile broadband connections
- Including freely available high quality data solutions in developed digital solutions
- Improving interoperability among systems and frameworks
- Using farmer groups as a gateway for extending digital agriculture solutions to smallholders
- Formulating standards to guide use and implementation of digital technologies and advanced technologies
4
Footnotes
1 Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, FAOSTAT. Data retrieved on August 8, 2021. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data
2 Economic Report (2016). Asia-Pacific: agricultural perspectives. https://economics.rabobank.com/publications/2016/february/asia-pacific-agricultural-perspectives/
3 Fukagawa, N.K. and L.H. Ziska (2019). Rice: Importance for Global Nutrition.
4 OECD (2018). Agricultural Policy Monitoring and Evaluation.