Empowering Kenyan Farmers: How AI is Revolutionizing Agriculture with Digital Green
On any given day, the world’s 570 million small-scale farmers might find themselves sowing seeds for a new crop of corn, managing pest infestations in their coffee bean fields, or monitoring ventilation in their poultry houses. They often must take these actions without guidance from researchers and other experts. Agricultural extension agents are experts employed by universities or governments to serve as a resource for farmers who are stretched thin and often carry a caseload of 1,000 to 3,000 farms.
For 17 years, Digital Green has leveraged technology to help agricultural extension agents in Ethiopia, India, Nigeria and Kenya to connect more farmers with vital information. In 2023, GitLab Foundation partnered with Digital Green through a $350,000 grant to deploy its latest tool, Farmer.Chat – a chatbot that uses AI to deliver customized advice to small-scale farmers in Kenya. As one of 13 inaugural grantees of the Foundation’s AI for Economic Opportunity Fund, Digital Green is leveraging the grant to scale Farmer.Chat from 200 users in Kenya to several thousand. By the end of 2023, 14,000 users asked 260,000 questions — and received answers in six languages.
“Very few of us thought that really archaic data systems that were created in rural agricultural extension offices in poor communities could be unlocked via AI and directly help tens of thousands of farmers in real-time,” said Matt Zieger, the Foundation’s senior program officer.
Blending Urgency With Scale
The idea for Farmer.Chat came as Digital Green’s leaders discovered that farmers in remote areas don’t always benefit from the latest agricultural research, in many cases because they can’t access it.
“Even when they're able to connect with that information, it's not always in the right form,” said Andrew Hicks, Digital Green’s head of program strategy support. “Maybe it's written in highly academic language. Maybe it's written in English. And often, these are people who aren’t online and can't just do a Google search or watch YouTube videos.”
Digital Green used a host of vetted sources to train the chatbot to answer questions, including the Kenyan Agricultural Livestock and Research Organization and high-quality open-source content. The nonprofit also created guardrails to stop misinformation or dangerous information from reaching users, such as information about banned pesticides.
“Farmer.Chat not only increases the availability of actionable information and improved access to services, but it also reaches farmers at scale to improve their incomes and close equity gaps,” said Digital Green chief strategy officer Alesha Miller. “Farmers and their crops can’t wait a week for advice when a pest problem affects their fields today and could devastate their livelihoods for the coming year.”
Expanding Reach Through AI
While some users were initially skeptical, Digital Green leaders in Kenya report that most farmers now trust its advice.
“Some of them have a wait-and-see approach,” said Dr. Jacqueline Wang'ombe, a Digital Green program manager in Nairobi County. “But we also have those who are quite willing to experiment and use all this new advice that the tool gives.”
In fact, 57 percent of users reported an improved quality of life within 45 days of using the chatbot, and another 31 percent said it saved them time. Dr. Wang'ombe believes there’s room to increase the chatbot’s reach by broadening the types of questions it can answer and services it provides. She hopes that one day, small-scale farmers can turn to Farmer.Chat for information on sources for low-interest business loans or where to sell their livestock for the highest price.
The Kenyan team recently moved the chatbot from Telegram to an app, which shows that Digital Green’s work is always transforming, said Hilda Odero, the nonprofit’s business development and communications manager.
“We don't know what the future holds for us,” she said, “but we are open to move along with the farmer and their needs.”
Return on Investment
549x ROI
Based on the results received to date, this project has increased incomes for 155,505 individuals, increasing their annual incomes by $161 per person, for a total additional lifetime earnings of $1,519 per person.
Total lifetime earnings increase across all participants: $236,212,095
$350,000 invested
