Fungi represent a highly nutritious dietary staple that can be essential for supplying cost-effective protein, vitamins, and minerals to populations around the globe; however, their successful cultivation requires extensive training and specialized knowledge to carefully calibrate a range of environmental variables. Internally displaced populations located in Northern Syria depend on extremely limited traditional oyster mushroom farming, which falls short of meeting local consumption requirements. Numerous international and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) supporting Syrian refugees run mushroom-farming programs. They have encountered considerable difficulties and obstacles in mushroom farming among the intended participants. Thus, the two core questions steering this investigation are: (1) How might organic mushroom farming be advanced via a reliable and low-cost intelligent cultivation system? (2) In what ways can organic mushroom farming methods be streamlined to assist internally displaced persons and Syrian refugees? This investigation examines the mechanization of mushroom farming by designing and implementing an intelligent oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus) cultivation system for remote surveillance and adjustment of environmental conditions—temperature, humidity, air quality, and light—within the growing space. Additionally, ready-made and purpose-built, intuitive web interfaces were created to enable growers to survey and operate their farms via the Internet remotely. Consequently, a trustworthy and economically viable intelligent oyster mushroom cultivation system was designed and successfully implemented in this study. The system encompasses remote surveillance and operation via intuitive interfaces. This makes mushroom farming more straightforward not only for displaced populations and refugees but also for mushroom growers in nations with limited financial resources. This research can aid in the elimination of poverty and hunger, in accordance with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals one and two.
Artificial intelligence is increasingly positioned as a transformative force for climate-smart agriculture, promising simultaneous gains in productivity, efficiency, and sustainability. Across agricultural policy, innovation systems, and digital farming markets, AI is presented as a solution to climate uncertainty, resource scarcity, labour pressures, and food-security demands. This review examines that promise through a critical lens. The dominant narrative surrounding AI-enabled climate-smart agriculture often treats optimization as a neutral technical process. Yet algorithmic systems do not merely improve farming decisions; they also define what counts as efficiency, which outcomes are prioritised, and whose knowledge becomes authoritative. This raises important questions about power, agency, and sustainability. The objective of this critical review is to interrogate the politics of AI in climate-smart agriculture. It synthesises evidence on the tensions between productivity, efficiency, sustainability, farmer agency, data sovereignty, and governance. The review asks how algorithmic optimization reshapes agricultural futures and who benefits from this transformation. The review draws on peer-reviewed articles published across agricultural innovation, sustainability science, digital agriculture, artificial intelligence, and critical data studies. Rather than reporting new empirical data, it develops a critical synthesis of existing debates and identifies conceptual gaps in current scholarship. The review finds that algorithmic farming is not simply a technical evolution of precision agriculture. It is a contested political terrain in which sustainability goals, commercial interests, data infrastructures, and farmer autonomy are negotiated. A critical research agenda is needed to ensure that AI contributes to equitable, democratic, and ecologically resilient agricultural futures.