Land grab / data grab

Abstract

Developments in the area of ‘precision agriculture’ are creating new data points (about flows, soils, pests, climate) that agricultural technology providers ‘grab,’ aggregate, compute, and/or sell. Food producers now churn out food and, increasingly, data. ‘Land grabs’ on the horizon in the global south are bound up with the dynamics of data production and grabbing, although researchers have not, as yet, revealed enough about the people and projects caught up in this new arena. Against this backdrop, this paper examines some of the key issues taking shape, while highlighting new frontiers for research and introducing a concept of ‘data sovereignty,’ which food sovereignty practitioners (and others) need to consider.