Abstract:
“End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture” is one of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations in 2015. New approaches are needed to achieve food productivity and food safety while limiting negative environmental impacts. Academic and corporate interest in Information Systems which enable sustainable agri-food production has escalated in recent years. Hence, the purpose of this study is twofold. First, it presents the background introduction, theories, literature review and analysis of information systems in agriculture. Second, it proposes a conceptual framework for such a system to guide the development of Agri-Food Data Ecosystem (AFDES) in developing nations. A Farming Recommendation System (FRS) which is a subsection of AFDES is implemented and evaluated following the Design Science Research methodology guidelines. The proposed system links multiple stakeholders in agri-food production chain and provide a data sharing platform for them. The lessons learned are useful to both practitioners and academics, as the identified practical problems, the proposed conceptual framework and the prototype are evaluated by domain and technique experts with positive feedbacks. Due to resource and time constraint, this research does not receive sponsorship from organizations or governments which makes big data storage, big data gathering and system promotion a big problem. Future research can focus on enhancement of functionalities for the rest sections of agri-food supply chain other than production. This research is using China as an example to design and validate the national AFDES. Adapting the system to other developing nations is expected in further study.
