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Paper short abstract

This paper maps the extensive digital agriculture app landscape in Tanzania and contrasts this with the lived reality of farmers, who use frugal practices and “informal digital agriculture” practices but not the tools designed for them.

Paper long abstract

There has been extensive interest and investment in digital agriculture tools. This study identified 108 digital agriculture initiatives designed for the Tanzanian agricultural sector, primarily targeting farmers. In contradiction to the Principles for Digital Development (2014), many were not designed with intended users or reused existing apps. Instead, there is evidence of duplication, disconnected and discontinued projects, and a lack of follow-up with farmers.

The studys second part examines the actual existing knowledge systems of farmers in two rural case study locations. It shows significant digital access barriers, including gendered structural barriers (Kleine 2013, Roberts & Hernandez 2017), as well as lack funds to meet energy, data and device related costs. Further, existing knowledge practices, analogue and “informal digital agriculture practices” (McCarrick 2025), do leave a demand gap, but not in the areas frequently covered by these apps.

The paper goes beyond identifying considerable design-reality gaps (Heeks 2002) by employing script theory (Akrich 1992) to examine the embedded ideologies in the technology (Kleine 2009). Not only do many apps script farmers as passive recipients of expert knowledge, but the majority also do not give farmers choices whether to pursue input-intensive “modern” farming methods, agroecology, or a mixture of both. The paper recommends a more appropriate, inclusive and respectful approach which engages fully with farmers, recognises existing practices and respects the agency of farmers to find their own way amidst the adverse pressures, including from climate change, higher input costs, energy scarcity and transport challenges, that characterise agricultural livelihoods in Tanzania.