Sociotechnical Imaginaries of Inclusion in Digital Agri-extension Services in the Philippines

This research aims to assess the Philippine policy and institutional landscape for digital agriextension services and the underlying mechanisms that support or constrain the digital inclusion of Filipino smallholder farmers. Using a two-phase documentary and policy analysis of academic literature, government policies, institutional reports, and related sources, the study examines both the institutional foundations and broader state narratives underpinning agricultural digitalization in the Philippines. Grounded in this political-institutional landscape, the study then articulates state-led imaginaries of inclusive agricultural digitalization using Jasanoff and Kim’s (2009) notion of sociotechnical imaginaries(STI). The assessment presents a mixed picture of agricultural digitalization: multisectoral representation in governance supports a whole-of-society approach to service delivery, while existing policies—despite their fragmentation and limitations—demonstrate continuing policy attention to digital inclusion. Similarly, the decision-making by the Philippine state and its stated program priorities have linked imaginaries of inclusive digital agriculture to notions of economic development, modernization, and globalization. Efforts to provide equal access to agricultural innovation, however, remain uneven and constrained by persistent institutional and structural barriers. The study thus calls for the institutionalization of a national policy on digital agriculture.