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. However, farmers face persistent challenges, including climate variability, low productivity and limited access to timely advisory services. Artificial intelligence (AI) presents a transformative opportunity to address many of these challenges and support 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.
Key Features:
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Collaborative Innovation: Developed in partnership with the ITU, FAO and local stakeholders, the accessible RAG chatbot empowers extension officers and farmers with timely, data-driven decision support.
- Technology: Agrivisory is built on open-source frameworks and uses Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG). Customized to the project’s requirements, Agrivisory is a prototype that demonstrates how an AI-powered chatbot can give smallholder farmers and extension workers timely, local-language guidance on crop management, livestock care, climate-smart practices and connectivity. Its advice is grounded in verified national agricultural manuals rather than generic AI knowledge.
Agrivisory
- The Agrivisory is a prototype developed to demonstrate the RAG solution.
https://agrivisory.itu.int