The government is testing artificial intelligence (AI) to help farmers make decisions on what to crops to plant, when to cultivate and which agricultural inputs to use, with early results indicating potential yield gains of about 20 per cent. The AI-powered season-planning and fertiliser advisory tools were presented on Tuesday, September 1, on the sidelines of the Africa Food Systems Forum at Kigali Convention Centre. These tools are part of Rwanda’s emerging use of AI in agriculture. ALSO READ: AI-powered portal to monitor farms, detect climate The tools use data on local conditions to recommend crop choices, planting periods and inputs, according to Martine Nezerwa, Chief Digital Officer at the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI), who presented the applications during the session. According to the Minister of ICT and Innovation, Paula Ingabire, AI should not be viewed as a replacement for farmers or agricultural experts, but as a tool to improve the information available to them. She said farmers across Africa still make important decisions about what to plant, when to plant and where to sell their produce with limited information. “AI could help address some of these information gaps by supporting farmers with crop diagnosis, market intelligence, climate information, pest detection and logistics,” she added. Ingabire cited platforms including e-Soko and Smart Nkunganire, saying they have addressed different agricultural challenges while also creating digital footprints and datasets that can potentially support the development of AI solutions. “AI can build on these existing digital systems and the data they have generated to provide more intelligent and personalised services to farmers,” she said. However, the minister noted that scaling AI in agriculture would require more than demonstrating that the technology works. She challenge, she said. is determining what it will take to scale these solutions and reach millions of Rwandan farmers. ALSO READ: ICT minister on how Rwanda uses AI in healthcare, agriculture She added that AI solutions should be designed to work through channels such as USSD and feature phones, as well as offline, to ensure they remain accessible to farmers who may not have smartphones or reliable internet connectivity. She also stressed the importance of developing AI solutions that reflect African conditions and languages. “An AI tool that cannot communicate in Kinyarwanda cannot deliver meaningful impact at scale among Rwandan farmers.” Solange Uwituze, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Animal Resources said Rwanda is deliberately embracing AI as it seeks to transform agriculture. “We need to do things differently because by 2050, Rwanda will need to feed more than 23 million people on a land size that will not change.” Uwituze said the country would have to explore new approaches such as vertical agriculture, with AI expected to contribute to the transformation. The government also plans to increase the reach of agricultural extension services from 35 per cent in 2023 to 69 per cent by 2029, reaching more than 1.2 million farmers, she added.
