Are digital technologies really a silver bullet for development in the Global South?


Digital technologies are supposed to solve the challenges of climate change, projected population growth, land conflicts and food insecurity, especially in rural areas. Yet NGOs, government institutions, and private companies are increasingly adopting a trial-and-error approach as they recognize the limitations of transferring Western science and technologies to the global South.

This book presents the ambivalent practices and implications of digital pilot projects which aim to 'develop' both farming communities and locally adapted innovations in East Africa. Inspired by laboratory ethnographies in Science and Technology Studies, it explores the practices of testing and developing digital technologies in rural Tanzania. The multi-sited ethnography, which takes in agricultural fairs, conferences, documents, online courses, tech hubs, project offices, villages and fields, centres on three case studies, namely DAST (a digital land-formalisation tool), STAS (an AI system for agricultural productivity) and iPlus (an e-extension tool). Rather than viewing these technologies simply as welcome tools to promote connectivity, empowerment and increased production - as commonly advanced in development policy - this book foregrounds the (un)intended consequences of the planning, set-up, maintenance and results of digital pilot projects. Against the backdrop of conflicting logics between testing technologies and developing Tanzanian agriculture through them, this book considers their (un)predictable impacts on new actors, the character of development and the trial communities in rural Tanzania.