Weak infrastructure and low digital literacy are hindering ASEAN farmers from fully adopting digital technologies. Photo credit: ADB.
Farmers across Southeast Asia are increasingly deploying technology to improve productivity, but challenges like weak infrastructure and low digital literacy hinder adoption.
To accelerate adoption, ASEAN members states should prioritize investments in rural connectivity, digital skills, and financing mechanisms, according to a policy brief from the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA). Multi-stakeholder partnerships and integrated data systems are also vital as well as aligning national strategies with ASEAN guidelines.
The policy brief assesses the use of digital tools across agricultural value chains, identifies barriers to technology adoption, and analyzes enabling policy frameworks. The brief is based on a survey of 824 respondents in Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam
ERIA’s recommendations are relevant to BIMP-EAGA as the subregion aspires to become a food basket in ASEAN and the rest of Asia. To achieve this goal, the subregion needs to adopt labor-saving technologies to ease the burden of an aging workforce. These technologies are also expected to increase the productivity of farmers and fisherfolk.
Current technology use
According to the survey, smartphone-based solutions, such as advisory applications, digital payments, and marketplaces, are the most widely adopted across the region.
The main motivations for adopting digital technologies are economic: reducing production costs (67%), increasing productivity (65%), and promoting labor efficiency (56%). In Indonesia, 83% of the respondents cited expanding market opportunities as the main driver, while in Cambodia, 55% reported adopting technologies to address labor shortages.
At the production stage, 37% of respondents reported using farming advisory applications, while in distribution and marketing, 44% use digital payment systems and 38% are in digital marketplaces. These technologies are relatively accessible, affordable, and easy to use. The least adopted technology is a digital traceability system, which is critical for ensuring transparency and quality assurance along the supply chain.
Some of these apps are available via various online channels. Agri Ai: Smart Farming Advisor, for instance, is a mobile application that provides agricultural information in English, French, Spanish and Arabic. The app has 50,000 downloads so far on the Google Play Store. In the Philippines, the government runs a platform that provides integrated nutrient and crop management information to help rice farmers increase their productivity and profitabilty. The service is free and was developed with the help of the International Rice Research Institute and the Philippine Rice Research Institute.
Looking ahead, respondents identified drones and digital marketplaces as the most desired technologies for future adoption. In Viet Nam and Cambodia, drones are used in monitoring and precision farming. In the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and the Philippines, digital marketplaces are seen as key tools for expanding market access. In Brunei Darussalam, 76% of respondents anticipate increased demand for automation technologies. These types of technologies are expected to reduce costs by automating some farm work like the application of pesticides and fertilizers. In the United States, herbicide application technologies, which can selectively spray weeds instead of crops, have been able to reduce herbicide costs by 80%. Farmers are also deploying robots equipped with sensors to control the amount of fertilizer applied on individual seeds during planting. The technology is estimated to save 352 million liters of starter fertilizer annually across US corn farms.
The survey also reveals that environmental objectives—such as climate change mitigation and environmentally friendly farming practices–remain a secondary motivation.
Challenges
Ensuring wider adoption of technologies entails addressing constraints, such as lack of financing, limited human resource capacity, and underdeveloped infrastructure.
The high cost of technology adoption remains the most cited challenge by respondents, particularly for smallholders. Low digital literacy among farmers also slows adoption.
Inadequate rural connectivity and mechanization infrastructure also limits access to digital tools. “While most ASEAN countries have integrated digitalization into their national policy frameworks, few have operationalized these into detailed technical or sectoral initiatives,” said the policy brief.
Fragmented data systems and limited availability of reliable agricultural information, meanwhile, compound the problem.
Recommendations
The policy brief proposes six policy strategies to accelerate digitalization in ASEAN’s agriculture and food systems while ensuring inclusiveness and sustainability.
1. Invest in digital infrastructure and connectivity. Governments should prioritize investments in digital connectivity and data infrastructure tailored to rural needs. Granting incentives to encourage private sector participation is also key. Widening broadband access and improving mechanization facilities will also improve adoption.
2. Enhance digital skills and capacity building. Integrating digital literacy and technology management training into national agricultural extension programs is vital. Tailored curricula and continuous learning models can help bolster farmers’ digital skills and foster peer-to-peer knowledge exchange.
3. Expand access to finance and reduce adoption costs. Governments, with financial institutions, should establish financing platforms that provide flexible credit schemes, while ensuring appropriate risk safeguards. Promoting inclusive and innovative financing models can unlock adoption at scale.
4. Promote public–private partnerships and innovation ecosystems. This entails encouraging partnerships among technology providers, startups, investors, and research institutions. Public–private collaboration can foster research and development, improve technology reliability, and attract investments in scalable digital solutions. ASEAN can also explore regional innovation hubs to support startup collaboration and knowledge sharing.
5. Develop integrated agricultural data systems. Establishing secure, interoperable agricultural data centers that consolidate farm-level and environmental data is also vital. Such systems enable precision agriculture, climate risk modelling, and informed policy design while ensuring data protection and interoperability across borders.
6. Align national and regional frameworks for coherent implementation. ASEAN members should develop national digital agriculture strategies aligned with regional guidelines that promote the use of digital technologies for agriculture. There should also be roadmaps covering data governance, financing, and inclusion of smallholders. At the regional level, ASEAN should deepen cooperation in technology transfer, data-sharing platforms, and digital ecosystems. The regional guidelines should then be translated into country-specific action plans to ensure coherent implementation.
The policy brief said adopting these policies will not only help ASEAN drive growth but also build resilient, climate-smart, and sustainable food systems for the future.