FAO Agricultural Development Economics Working Paper, No. 22-09.

Understanding the social implications of automation in agriculture, from tractors in low-income countries to high-tech artificial intelligence (AI) solutions found mostly in high-income countries, requires viewing technology change on farms within the broader context of the agricultural transformation and agrifood systems, as well as changing economic incentives to develop and adopt labour-saving technologies. This paper provides an overview of the social implications of automation in agriculture, focusing on labour and employment, and provides policy recommendations.

This working paper was developed as a background document for the FAO report The State of Food and Agriculture 2022 – Leveraging automation in agriculture for transforming agrifood systems and findings are available in the policy brief Enabling inclusive agricultural automation.