The role of public policies in the digitalisation of the agri-food sector. A systematic review

ABSTRACT This paper examines the roles that public policies should adopt in the process of digitalisation of the agri-food sector according to existing knowledge. For this purpose, the authors examined the rationale of the public policies’ involvement from three perspectives: the justifications for policy interventions, what should be accomplished with the policies and how the policy interventions should be conducted. A systematic review of the literature enabled the identification of the two main interrelated roles of public policies. First, public policies have an important role in ensuring equitable digitalisation of the agri-food sector. In this role, they are expected to protect the public interests, the interests of farmers and other supply chain actors that have weak bargaining power or are less organised. The other main role of public policies is to be receptive to the opportunities presented by the development and implementation of digitalisation and to enable necessary innovation. The interrelation of the two roles underlines the importance of encouraging innovation to help the agri-food sector in meeting major challenges while avoiding the unintended consequences of the technological development for weaker parties. The findings of this paper serve as a basis for further research on the specific characteristics that governments and policymakers should possess to operationalise the expected policy roles.