Digital platforms governing practices: how data objects reconfigure Indonesian fish farming

Abstract

Digital platforms are seen as promising tools to empower smallholder farmers and improve the sustainability of their production practices. However, realizing this promise will depend on the ways in which platforms get integrated into, reconfigure, and steer smallholder farming practices. In this paper we analyse the case of a digital platform for small-scale aquaculture in Indonesia. We build on social practice theory to understand the platformization of fish farming practices as a process in which data becomes the key organizing object in connecting a variety of farming practices. Through interviews with fish farmers, input suppliers and buyers, as well as the platform providers and user interface developers we trace how fish farmers get enrolled in the platform ecosystem. We show that with the introduction of an automated, internet-connected feeder machine at the pond, fish farming practices become datafied. The resulting data object of a ‘feed conversion ratio’ then starts to prefigure other practices of the fish farmers, such as buying inputs, getting access to finance, harvesting, and selling the fish. Next, aggregating these datafied farming practices at the platform provider's regional hubs and head quarter enables new forms of steering (sustainable) markets. Instead of a platform logic being imposed on small-scale producers, we show that platformization requires various forms of work from both platform users and providers. We conclude by reflecting on the implications of data objects traveling far beyond their original context and their potential use by other food system actors to steer smallholder practices in new directions.