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Monday, August 11, 2025

How AI is Revolutionizing Smallholder Farming in Africa with FarmerAI


In 2024, Alternative’s Ulangizi AI chatbot sparked actual change for farmers in rural Malawi by delivering real-time, region-specific agricultural insights, serving to farmers enhance their yields, increase resilience, and enhance their backside traces. For smallholder farmers residing in a few of the most distant areas on the continent, the sort of device will be life-changing. In its first 12 months, hundreds of farmers used the app to enhance their harvests and construct new pathways to prosperity.

And whereas 2024 proved {that a} single spark of innovation can brighten the lives of hundreds, 2025 is the time to increase and improve that affect throughout Africa. This February, Alternative Worldwide’s Digital Innovation Group launched into a tour of the continent to increase our efforts in Malawi and launch two new pilots for FarmerAI, the latest version of Ulangizi. In partnership with a few of the most influential establishments of their markets, FarmerAI will attain extra folks, entry extra info, and assist much more farmers throughout the continent.

How AI is Revolutionizing Smallholder Farming in Africa with FarmerAI
Ama Akuamoah, Director of Market Engagement for the Digital Innovation Group Alternative Worldwide, with Ulangizi in Malawi

FarmerAI Expands to Kenya By way of Safaricom Partnership

It began with a visit to Nairobi, the place Alternative CTO Greg Nelson signed an official settlement with Safaricom to launch FarmerAI in Kenya. As Kenya’s main telecommunications supplier, Safaricom serves tens of tens of millions of customers, together with hundreds of smallholder farmers. In partnership with Safaricom’s DigiFarm product—which already helps farmers nationwide Alternative Worldwide launched FarmerAI’s first pilot in Kenya, offering AI-powered agricultural steerage to potato farmers.

“We stay in an thrilling time of fast development due to synthetic intelligence and machine studying, and guaranteeing that this expertise helps essentially the most weak amongst us is our precedence,” stated Chief Expertise Officer Greg Nelson. “However understanding our end-users is essentially the most important a part of the puzzle. Due to Safaricom and DigiFarm, we have now authoritative knowledge that may assist us perceive the perfect practices for Kenyan farmers—and higher perceive the farmers themselves.”

Scaling FarmerAI in Ghana with Growth Financial institution Ghana

That very same week, the staff joined Growth Financial institution Ghana (DBG) for the same partnership launch in Accra. Within the first part of the Ghana pilot, 100 agricultural extension officers will use FarmerAI’s AI-driven chatbot to provideregion-specific farming steerage, serving to a whole bunch of rice farmers enhance ields and forestall plant ailments. The collaboration additionally entails GIRSAL, an agricultural establishment developed by the Malawian Ministry of Finance, which can present authoritative knowledge so FarmerAI Ghana can ship hyper-specific steerage to farmers within the area.

“It’s notably thrilling to see our work increasing to Kenya and Ghana, which is my residence nation,” stated Dr. William Derban, Alternative’s Head of Packages and Partnerships with the Digital Innovation Group. “It’s vital to notice that these two nations are high-growth nations on the continent however nonetheless rely closely on their agricultural sectors. By placing FarmerAI into the arms of smallholder farmers in these nations, we’re each combatting poverty and strengthening economies for years to come back.”

Greg Nelson, Opportunity’s Chief Technology Officer signs the Safaricom agreement with Seema Gohil, Director of DigiFarm for Safaricom
Greg Nelson, Alternative’s Chief Expertise Officer indicators the Safaricom settlement with Seema Gohil, Director of DigiFarm for Safaricom

The Way forward for AI in Farming

Collectively, these two new pilots will increase entry to invaluable data for a few of the most underserved communities on earth. Too typically, rural smallholder farmers in low- and middle-income nations face main limitations to the data that might assist them construct extra adaptable and worthwhile farmsIf farmers have questions on crops or livestock, they typically should journey lengthy distances hoping to seek out an agricultural knowledgeable at a authorities workplace—after which hope that particular person has the solutions. By way of these cross-sector partnerships, Alternative Worldwide’s FarmerAI reduces that search time to mere moments. 

After preliminary testing in these pilot phases, additional technological and social improvements will likely be designed to make these functions much more accessible. In Malawi, the place Alternative’s first AI chatbot launched, staff members Wealthy Moe and Ama Akuamoah traveled to Lilongwe to start the following chapter of Ulangizi. 

The staff hopes to quadruple the variety of Farmer Assist Brokers, neighborhood farmers who’re educated by Alternative to cascade their data to their fellow farmers, utilizing the chatbot by the tip of 2025.

“Smallholder farmers are a lifeline to meals safety globally,” stated Ama Akuamoah, DIG Director of Market Engagement. “In locations like Malawi, we work instantly with smallholders as a result of they know what’s finest for his or her enterprise. These folks develop most of their nation’s meals, like their counterparts throughout Africa, and maintain the enter that may assist us strengthen complete meals programs.”

Alternative Worldwide’s AI-driven farming options are remodeling smallholder agriculture, offering a scalable, human-centered AI mannequin that empowers essentially the most weak farmers. Due to the braveness of native establishments like Safaricom and DBG, that spark is catching hearth. We look ahead to the 12 months forward and to watching these new applied sciences unfold into the arms of hundreds extra—strengthening not solely farmers, however their households, their communities, and their economies.

 



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