Tell big tech: hands off smallholders' farms

Stop the Data Land Grab

Big Tech is fighting for control of farmers fields – in Kenya, Tanzania and all around the world. This has to stop. 

THE SITUATION

In an increasing number of cases, smallholder farmers are now having to pay huge data mapping costs for access to markets they’ve sold to for years. There are three issues:

  1. It's not optional - farmers have to do it to still sell their produce
  2. The results are not shared with the farmer 
  3. It's not subsidised by the billion dollar companies that profit from smallholder farms

Then if Smallholders try to find a new buyer, they have to pay the same data costs all over again. We need to raise awareness of this injustice.

These are the farmers that grow the coffee and cocoa we enjoy every day - and they need your help.

If you think they deserve better, take 30 seconds to help stop the data land grab. The more people who join the campaign, the more we can push for change.

The declaration

I believe that smallholder farmers should control their own data and where big companies need access to it, they should pay.

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Data and Agriculture: An explainer 

 


Governments, NGOs, exporters, and agri-tech companies are increasingly collecting farm data such as GPS farm boundaries, crop types, yield estimates, farmer identities, and sustainability records.

But why is this happening?

 

Read more


 Because export markets, climate programmes, and supply-chain regulations now demand traceability and digital records under the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).

This has lead to concerns from farmers about:

  • Who owns farmer data
  • Whether they benefit from it
  • Whether companies profit more than farmers
  • Whether smallholders fully understand how their data is used

Governments, researchers, and development organisations have identified data governance, data sharing, and farmer control as major issues in digital agriculture.

This dynamic can be seen in supply chains for export crops like coffee and cocoa, where buyers require:

  • Farm mapping
  • Certification
  • Traceability systems
  • Environmental compliance

Evidence suggests the situation is mixed:

  • Sometimes buyers, NGOs, or aid programmes cover mapping costs
  • Sometimes governments or cooperatives pay
  • Sometimes farmers pay indirectly through fees or deductions
  • Sometimes mapping is technically optional but economically hard to refuse

The bigger underlying issue is that digital agriculture creates valuable data, but smallholder farmers often have less bargaining power.