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Paper short abstract

This paper examines how digital agricultural advisory services shape smallholder climate adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on data ownership, power relations, and farmer agency. It asks whether digital advice enhances resilience or reinforces dependency.

Paper long abstract

Digital agricultural advisory services—such as mobile weather forecasts, SMS-based agronomic guidance, and app-driven extension—are increasingly promoted as solutions for smallholder climate adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa. From an agricultural economics perspective, these tools promise to reduce information gaps and improve farm-level decision-making under climate uncertainty. Yet they also introduce new power dynamics around data control, knowledge production, and adaptation pathways.

This paper analyses how smallholder farmers engage with digital advisory services in climate-vulnerable regions. The study examines who accesses digital advice, how it is used, and whose knowledge is prioritised and how digital advisory services can support timely responses to climate variability—such as adjusting planting dates or input use.