KM INSIGHT RESEARCH BRIEF October 2024
Knowledge Management
Farmers Get Agricultural Information Through Artificial Intelligence (AI)
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Opportunity Farmer Support Agents (FSAs) Use a ChatBot/Generative AI Tool, Embedded in WhatsApp, to Answer Farmer Questions Research Overview In Malawi, between February and April 2024, Opportunity tested a chatbot/generative AI solution with 150 users. The solution was dubbed “Ulangizi,” or “advisor” in Chichewa, the main language in Malawi. It was designed for use by Opportunity Farmer Support Agents (FSAs) to easily and rapidly provide accurate answers to smallholder farmer questions using a WhatsApp interface in either English or Chichewa, with text or voice interaction, and even by sending photos. The information the chatbot searches originates from the Malawian Ministry of Agriculture. Key Conclusions The following high-level conclusions emerged from tracking queries and surveying users: 1. High quality and rapid speed of information: The majority of queries (84%) were answered, and 62% of users are likely to recommend Ulangizi to others. 2. Practical relevance to farmers: More than half of the queries generated a response that impacted farming practices. 3. Around 1/3 became frequent users: Around half of the users trained still used Ulangizi a month afterwards, a figure that declined to 30% three months after training. 4. Strong benefits for FSAs: Ulangizi boosted FSA confidence and respect, and saved time for around half of users. 5. Profile of satisfied users: Most likely to recommend Ulangizi were frequent users, Chichewa users, younger users, and men. 6. Suggested improvements: The Ulangizi text interface was easy to use, in English and Chichewa, but users were less satisfied with the voice engagement, which generated 65% of suggestions for improvement. Scale-up Plans Opportunity plans to replicate the AI solution for farmers in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Ghana in 2025.
RESEARCH CONTEXT The Opportunity Agricultural Finance Program and Opportunity’s Digital Innovations Group. Opportunity International (Opportunity), a global microfinance support organization, aims to empower people living in poverty to transform their lives, their children’s futures, and their communities. Operating in multiple Sub-Saharan African countries, the Agricultural Finance Program (AgFinance) helps smallholder farmers to grow more and earn more by accessing training, financial services, and other support. Opportunity reaches target smallholder farmers – 53% of whom are living in poverty and 56% of whom are women – through community-based Farmer Support Agents (FSAs). FSAs are lead farmers whom Opportunity trains and equips to train smallholder farmers, link them to finance, and track their data. FSA use smartphones, provided by Opportunity, in data collection and training, but most smallholder farmers do not have smartphones and many are located in areas with weak or no cell phone service, which is how most people access the internet in Sub-Saharan Africa. Opportunity’s AgFinance program is supported by the Digital Innovations Group (DIG), who use human-centered design to identify, adapt, and deploy modern technology solutions to challenges facing Opportunity clients. In 2024, Opportunity’s DIG team started to focus on bringing the power of AI solutions to people living in poverty. The Challenge of Access to Agricultural Information. Given the challenges with modern communications, coupled with limited outreach/availability of government extension agents, many smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa struggle to find solutions to pressing agricultural challenges. Radio and word of mouth are common sources of farming information, with the former often being too general and the latter limited in accuracy and depth. Although FSAs are experienced and relatively successful small-scale farmers, and Opportunity provides further training in good agricultural practices, their knowledge remains limited. Their farmer-clients often ask the FSAs questions that they cannot answer. To get answers, FSAs consult government agricultural extension agents, which can take time and may require them to travel to government offices to get an in-person response. Opportunity digital experts saw potential solutions through AI, accessed by FSAs. While there are some AI solutions in use in Sub-Saharan Africa that also deliver agricultural information to farmers, they are app-based requiring digital literacy and not grounded in content specific to Malawi’s environment. ♦