Laura A. Foster

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About

Laura A. Foster is a feminist science and technology studies (STS) scholar whose research critically examines the intersections of indigeneity, plants, gender, and emerging agricultural technologies. Her most-cited work, "Smart farming and artificial intelligence in East Africa" (2022, 45 citations), interrogates how precision agriculture—including AI-driven equipment and robotic farm workers—is promoted as a solution for food security and poverty alleviation. Foster challenges these techno-optimistic narratives by centering Indigenous knowledge systems and gendered labor practices, revealing how smart farming can reinforce colonial power dynamics and marginalize smallholder farmers, particularly women. Her scholarship bridges postcolonial STS, feminist theory, and environmental humanities to expose the hidden costs of agricultural modernization. Foster’s work has been influential in shaping critical conversations around AI ethics, food sovereignty, and decolonial approaches to technology in the Global South. By foregrounding the voices and practices of Indigenous and women farmers, she offers a vital counternarrative to mainstream agricultural innovation discourse, demonstrating that truly sustainable and equitable food systems must reckon with histories of colonialism and ongoing structural inequalities.