𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗔𝗴𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 || 𝗘𝗽𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗱𝗲 𝟮𝟬 - 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗘𝗱𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗢𝗻𝗴𝘄𝗲𝘀𝗼 𝗝𝗿.
The Digital Battle for Africa’s Farms: Resistance vs Big Tech
In this episode of The Battle for African Agriculture, Dr. Million Belay speaks with Edward Ongweso Jr.
@bigblackjacobin writer, editor, tech critic, and co-host of This Machine Kills, about biodigitization and the political economy behind digital technologies entering agriculture. Edward explains that technologies are never neutral or inevitable. They are shaped by political and historical conditions and by the interests of those who finance them. Using examples from insulin development to Uber’s restructuring of labor markets, he argues that what appears as innovation is often the outcome of corporate strategy and political lobbying rather than pure scientific progress.
Turning to agriculture, Edward describes “digitization” as a term companies use when what they often mean is privatization by another route. He warns that biodigitization can subject land, ecosystems, and farming practices to a logic of quantification, surveillance, and transaction, where corporations seek to extract maximum value. When agriculture falls “under the thumb of large corporations,” he says, everyone but the corporation loses. From Monsanto’s seed lawsuits to platform lock-in through data control, intellectual property law, and debt, he outlines how dependency and enclosure make it extremely difficult for farmers to exit once they are absorbed into such systems.
Yet Edward ends on a note of cautious hope. He expresses more optimism about resistance in Africa than in the United States, arguing that local resistance can “pack a bigger punch.” He urges vigilance as tech firms promote AI and biodigital solutions, warning that Silicon Valley has a long history of using crises and vulnerable regions as experimental grounds. At the same time, he insists that if communities, farmers, and movements build sustained resistance and demand democratic control over technology, including over data, infrastructure, and governance, then alternative futures remain possible.
Listen to the full conversation
YouTube
youtube.com/watch?v=uItVLBvF…
Spotify
open.spotify.com/episode/4lf…
Apple Podcast
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcas…