Digital Colonialism: Is AI the New Frontier of the Battle for African Agriculture?
In this episode of The Battle for African Agriculture, Dr. Million Belay speaks with Jim Thomas, an AI Market and Power Fellow with the European AI and Society Fund who tracks the societal impacts of emerging technologies and corporate power, especially on biodiversity, climate justice, and human rights. He explains why, in his view, biodigital agriculture and generative AI fundamentally clash with agroecology.
Jim argues that these technologies are not neutral digital tools but extractive systems dependent on intensive energy use, mineral extraction, water consumption, and continuous data capture. He traces the shift from genetic engineering that tied seeds to chemicals, to digital platforms that now tie farmers to data driven prescriptions. Monsanto’s 2013 purchase of The Climate Corporation marked a turning point, repositioning the company as a data business through platforms such as Climate FieldView that collect farm level data and guide decisions through artificial intelligence.