New report points to a delivery gap for Agri-food Digital Solutions in ASEAN
Grow Asia and IFAD present strategic pathways to accelerate digital adoption for millions of Southeast Asian farmers, backed by evidence from across the region
SINGAPORE — 30 October 2026 — Grow Asia and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) have released a landmark report, Accelerating Smallholder Digital Adoption at Scale in ASEAN: Strategic Pathways, which finds that the region's core constraint in reaching farmers with digital tools is not a shortage of technology or innovation — but a delivery gap: an underdeveloped delivery system.
The report, one of the major outputs of the Smallholder Economic Empowerment through Digital Solutions (SEEDS) project, jointly implemented by Grow Asia and IFAD with funding from the Republic of Korea's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA), was presented to the Senior Officials and Ministers at the 26th Meeting of the ASEAN Ministers on Agriculture and Forestry Plus Three (AMAF+3) in Singapore on 30 October 2026.
Drawing on primary research across ASEAN Member States, including field studies and human-centred design workshops with smallholder farmers in Cambodia, the Philippines, and Viet Nam, the report identifies four mutually reinforcing priority areas to strengthen the region's digital agriculture delivery system:
Invest in foundational digital and data infrastructure, including rural connectivity, interoperable farmer registries, payment rails, and data governance;
Strengthen last-mile delivery capacity by digitally enabling cooperatives and intermediaries, upskilling extension systems, and integrating lead farmers and rural youth into delivery networks;
Accelerate inclusive adoption through financing and risk-sharing mechanisms aligned with smallholder cash flows, and prioritise digital tools that strengthen climate resilience;
Institutionalise public–private–philanthropy partnership (4P) mechanisms and strengthen regional coordination through a neutral, trusted convening function.
The report also outlines four investment pathways to mobilise greater private and blended finance into the system — from positioning foundational infrastructure as market-enabling investment, to unlocking last-mile capital for the "missing middle" of agri-SMEs, aggregators, and service providers.
The findings align with the ASEAN Food, Agriculture and Forestry Sectoral Plan 2026–2030 and the Action Plan for Sustainable Agriculture in ASEAN, both of which embed digital innovation as a cross-cutting enabler of food security, climate resilience, and inclusive rural development. The report also supports the vision set out in the ASEAN Leaders' Declaration for Food, Agriculture and Forestry Towards 2045 and the Philippines' 2026 ASEAN Chairmanship priorities on regenerative and resilient agriculture.
Beverley Postma, Executive Director of Grow Asia, said: “This report confirms what our field-level teams have been telling us: the solutions exist, but they are not consistently reaching the farmers and businesses who need them most. The gap is in the delivery system — in how we connect infrastructure, institutions, and incentives so that digital tools become a sustained part of farming life, not a one-season experiment. ASEAN has every ingredient to lead the world in tropical digital agriculture. What is needed now is strategic, coordinated execution — and the willingness to invest in the delivery architecture that turns ambition into farm-level impact.”
Reehana Raza, Regional Director, Asia and the Pacific Division, IFAD, said: “Digital transformation is reshaping agriculture in Southeast Asia, but it will only deliver for small-scale farmers if it reaches the first mile. SEEDS has shown how partnerships with governments, the private sector and farmers’ organizations can make that happen. This report offers ASEAN Member States a practical roadmap to move from fragmented pilots to country-led digital systems that link rural people to markets, jobs and resilience.”
From findings to action: Grow Asia is already responding
The report's release coincides with the first wave of programmes designed by Grow Asia to respond directly to its findings. Earlier this year, Grow Asia and the Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture Viet Nam (PSAV) announced the launch of a first-of-its-kind AI skills training programme for up to 100,000 rice and coffee farmers in Viet Nam, in partnership with Edufarmers International Foundation and Viet Nam's National Agricultural Extension Centre (NAEC). Thanks to grant funding from Google.org, the ambitious programme places practical, farmer-centric AI tools directly into the hands of smallholders — helping them make better decisions on planting, crop protection, and adaptation to climate variability.
This initiative exemplifies the delivery-system approach the report advocates: blending public, private, and philanthropic investment; working through trusted government extension channels; and designing for farmer realities from the outset.
About the SEEDS Project
The Smallholder Economic Empowerment through Digital Solutions (SEEDS) project was launched in 2023 by IFAD and Grow Asia with financial support from the Republic of Korea's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA). SEEDS aimed to accelerate and scale social and economic development for small-scale farming families in Cambodia, the Philippines, and Viet Nam through digital and ICT solutions. Implementation was delivered through Grow Asia’s country partnerships: the Cambodia Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture (CPSA), the Philippine Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture (PPSA) and the Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture Viet Nam (PSAV).
About Grow Asia
Grow Asia is a non-profit organisation established by the World Economic Forum in partnership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). As an Entity Associated with ASEAN, Grow Asia works with all eleven Member States to build inclusive, resilient, and sustainable food systems in Southeast Asia by convening public, private, and philanthropic partners and blended finance. Its network spans a regional secretariat in Singapore and five Country Partnerships across the region, engaging hundreds of partner organisations and reaching millions of smallholder farmers with technology, training, and access to finance.
About IFAD
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is the only international financial institution exclusively focused on transforming rural economies. IFAD invests in rural people and their communities, strengthening agri-food value chains and building food security, shared prosperity and stability. Today, IFAD and its partners have nearly US$23 billion invested in ongoing projects that are transforming rural economies.
A wide range of photographs and broadcast-quality video content of IFAD’s work in rural communities is available for download from IFAD’s Digi Hub.
Media contacts
Frederique Glazener, Grow Asia – frederique@growasia.org
Yamini Lohia, IFAD – y.lohia@ifad.org
Notes to editors:
The report was produced by Grow Asia and IFAD under the SEEDS project, co-authored with Erika Balzarelli, Founder of The Sustainable Smallholder, with funding from the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
The full report, Accelerating Smallholder Digital Adoption at Scale in ASEAN: Strategic Pathways, is available for download at www.growasia.org/digital-report.
This project was funded by the Republic of Korea's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA).
