[Defended thesis] Mauro Florez: Digital transition in agriculture: description of its deployment and impact on the positioning of farmers in the value chain

Digital transition in agriculture: description of its deployment and impact on the positioning of farmers in the value chain

My name is Mauro Florez, and I'm a PhD student at MRM - Montpellier Recherche Management at the University of Montpellier, in association with MOISA at INRA Montpellier.

I am an agricultural engineer from U.D.C.A (Colombia). After gaining experience in the palm oil sector, I developed a strong interest in agricultural development issues, which led me to pursue my professional training in the Master's degree in Agricultural Development, Environment and Food Economics (EcoDEVA) at Montpellier SupAgro. Thanks to my end-of-studies internship, I began to discover and take an interest in the field of research, writing a dissertation on the characterization of ICT adoption on farms.

My thesis is devoted to describing the digital transition in agriculture. I seek to understand and explain the relationships that exist today between farmers and the digital technologies employed on their farms. This raises questions such as: who adopts technologies? Which technologies are adopted? How and why are they adopted? I also propose to identify and understand the factors that promote and hinder the use and appropriation of such technologies by producers, and to characterize their impacts.

Digital technology in agriculture is supposed to respond to a range of issues facing the sector. However, one of the main problems is its low adoption rate among farmers. That's why I chose this topic, with which I could contribute to the development of ideas to increase the deployment of digital in agriculture.

• Starting date: October 2019
• University : University of Montpellier
• PhD school: EDEG – Economie Gestion Montpellier
• Scientific field: Sciences de Gestion, Économie et Sociologie
• Thesis management: Isabelle Bourdon (Université de Montpellier, MRM ) et Isabelle Piot-Lepetit (Inrae, Moisa)
• Thesis supervisors: Karine Gauche (Institut Agro, Moisa) et Magali Aubert (Inrae, Moisa)
• Funding: #DigitAg – Université de Montpellier
• #DigitAg : Cofunded thesis – Axes 1 & 2 – Challenges 7 & 5

Keywords: Digital transition, Technological adoption, Appropriation, Usage, Economic performance, Value chain, Organizational capabilities, Competitive advantage

Abstract: The project focuses on describing the current state of the digital transition in agriculture and future directions. The objective is to understand and explain the determinants and obstacles to the use and appropriation of digital technology in agriculture, with a perspective that goes beyond the mere diffusion and adoption of innovations. Using concepts from the domains of economics, management and sociology, the selected approach makes it possible to characterize the heterogeneity of behaviors, the implied evolutions for current jobs, and the possibilities of changes in the positioning of farmers in the value chain. From a methodological point of view, the project will develop an analytical framework with a temporal dimension and crossing points between the different stages of the digital transition. The economic impact will be captured through the organizational capabilities approach that allows the identification of practices that generate a competitive advantage and therefore a better positioning in the value chain. Empirically, surveys will be conducted with farmers, agricultural advisers, experimental farms, and digital solution publishers to describe and understand the digital transition in agriculture. Then, interviews will be held to verify the results coming up from surveys and characterize the future directions of this digital transition.