An overview of developments and prospects for e-commerce in the agricultural sector

This short report reviews current applications of the Internet in agriculture and the food industry and considers its prospects for the future. Developments are considered in a European context using English language examples of development.

Commerce in the European Union will total $19,060 billion by 2005, representing a third of worldwide commerce. The Internet offers a new information resource as well as an expanding marketplace. It is estimated online commerce in the EU will have gross revenue of $2,527 billion by 2005.

It is predicted there will be around 25,000 operational e-commerce sites by 2001. Of these, it is estimated between 1000 and 1500 will be for agriculture and food sector. In the US it is estimated that 14% of commerce in agriculture, forestry, and fishing industries will be online by 2005.

These developments have the potential to bring change to organisational structures. However, given the diverse and fragmented nature of European agriculture, it may be difficult to gain insights from more advanced industries or from agricultural developments abroad. This is particularly the case when comparing European farm structures with those in the United States, which currently leads e-commerce developments.

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