The impact of digitalization on the agricultural sector: How can digitalization help the agricultural sector to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the case of Belgium?

Details

Supervisors

Belleflamme, Paul

Faculty

Louvain School of Management
Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] : ingénieur de gestion, à finalité spécialisée
Master [120] en sciences de gestion, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

By 2050, the world population is projected to reach 9.8 billion individuals, which poses significant challenges such as food insecurity and unhealth, natural resources scarcity and pollution and food waste. Therefore, the current food industry must have a radical transformation to actively ensure people’s well-being and create a sustainable environment. Over the years, technology has become a major player in global industries, it is of the essence for each stakeholder within the food supply chain to follow this global trend starting with farmers. Belgium presents a unique case as half of its territory is used for agricultural purposes which made us raise concerns on the effectiveness of the system because Belgian farmers generate low profitability. All these thoughts bring us to the aim of this study, to determine the importance of digitalization in the agricultural sector and its influence on the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in Belgium. Therefore, we conducted a qualitative and quantitative approach through interviews with Belgian farmers and retailers and a survey of the Belgian population. Based on the results, two solutions that can benefit the agricultural sector emerged: to aid farmers improving in regenerative farming supported by agricultural technologies and precision farming and to introduce urban greenhouse supermarkets. The solutions highlight that digitalization has a positive correlation with the agricultural sector and can play a role to achieve Sustainable Development Goals in Belgium. In fact, by better embracing technology, Belgian farmers will increase their cropping intensity, reduce tremendously the use of natural resources, have better control of environmental unpredictable factors, ensure transparency and raise their margins. This master’s thesis develops the project management required according to the maturity level of both solutions. Finally, our thesis invites further research on this topic analyzing more in-depth the feasibility of the urban greenhouse supermarket project in partnership with professionals in this domain.