Agriculture and subsistence farming play a critical role in the socio-economic well-being and livelihoods of the population of Lesotho. Many workers in Lesotho are employed in agriculture, and most rural families depend heavily on subsistence farming for both food and income. Artificial intelligence (AI) presents a transformative opportunity to address many of these challenges and empower smallholder farmers in Lesotho. AI-powered solutions can equip farmers and agriculture extension workers with tailored, real-time information and actionable guidance to improve agricultural practices.
This project aims to introduce a generative AI-powered agriculture advisory assistant that will empower agriculture extension workers and smallholder farmers by providing tailored, evidence-based guidance and real-time support to improve farming practices, enhance yields, and strengthen resilience to challenges.
The project explores:
- Collaborative Innovation: Developed in partnership with the ITU and FAO, the accessible RAG chatbot empowers extension officers and farmers with timely, data-driven decision support.
- Trustworthy Technology: The solution is built on the open-source GENIE.AI framework and uses Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) to deliver accurate advice based on verified agricultural manuals.
