Smart Farming: How AI Tools Are Changing African Agriculture

Across Africa, artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a powerful tool for farmers who are struggling with the combined challenges of climate change, limited resources, and poor access to expert advice. From diagnosing poultry diseases in Nigeria to protecting crops in Kenya, AI-powered tools are transforming how farmers work, make decisions, and survive in an increasingly unpredictable environment.

For Edemanwan Eyo Bassey, a poultry farmer in southern Nigeria, AI may have saved her flock. When her chickens started walking strangely, she turned to Farmer.chat, an AI tool developed by San Francisco-based nonprofit Digital Green. The chatbot suggested the problem might be Newcastle disease and recommended the LaSota vaccine. “With the AI, I’ve been able to reduce the mortality rate of my birds,” she said.

Farmers like Eyo Bassey are not alone. Over 50,000 African farmers are now using AI tools to tackle everyday farming problems, from keeping aphids off pepper plants to selecting the right poultry breeds for their region. The chatbot responds in multiple languages, including local dialects like Hausa, making it widely accessible.

AI is also helping fill the gap left by overstretched extension agents (EAs), who traditionally provide expert advice to farmers. In Nigeria’s Benue State, the agent-to-farmer ratio is an alarming 1 to 23,000. But with tools like Farmer.chat, local extension directors like Veronica Igbana have trained others to use the tool, significantly easing their workload.

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These innovations come at a time when traditional aid is drying up. The recent freeze in U.S. foreign aid has disrupted several agricultural AI projects, including PlantVillage, an initiative by Penn State University that was set to receive $39 million from USAID. Despite funding challenges, PlantVillage continues to support about 15 million African farmers per season, using AI to predict pests like locusts and detect diseases such as cassava mosaic.

AI-powered solutions like PlantVillage’s Nuru chatbot and Ghana-based Farmerline’s Darli AI are also being developed locally. These tools diagnose problems and offer market insights, financial planning tips, and guidance on regenerative practices. Farmerline’s founder, Alloysius Attah, stresses that AI demystifies farming and empowers farmers to better meet global market standards.

Yet, experts warn that AI is not a perfect fix. The technology depends on data-heavy systems that consume water, energy, and rare minerals. Mistakes can also occur when tools are built without local context, like when AI maps confuse cacao crops with forest or rice fields with wetlands. That’s why researchers like Catherine Nakalembe from NASA highlight the importance of co-developing tools with local experts and farmers.

“We’ve never farmed under these conditions before,” said Annalyse McCloskey from PlantVillage, referencing the impact of climate change. “We need data to be coming in from the ground and then interpreted by scientists and AI to make predictions to better support farmers’ decisions.”

In Kenya, the impact is already visible. Justine Ong’ala used PlantVillage’s app to identify a virus affecting her cassava crop. She then helped over 300 fellow farmers who didn’t own smartphones, showing how AI is creating ripple effects even in remote communities.

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As AI continues to evolve, it is not replacing Africa’s farmers, it is equipping them. With the right support, these tools could be pivotal to building a more sustainable and prosperous future for agriculture across the continent.

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Source: Fast Company