Global AI Impact Commons
FarmerChat - AI-Powered Agricultural Advisory for Inclusive Growth and Climate Resilience
United States
Agriculture
Implementing Organisation
Digital Green
United States, California, San Francisco
Implementing Point of Contact
Eric Firnhaber
Sr. Director, Communications
Contributor of the Impact Story
Digital Green
Year of implementation
2023
Problem statement
Smallholder farmers produce a significant share of food in India and low- and middle-income countries, yet they face persistent barriers to productivity and income growth. Public agricultural extension systems, while critical, are often underfunded and overstretched.
Impact story details
Digital Green is a global nonprofit that uses digital technology and artificial intelligence to improve the livelihoods, resilience, and agency of smallholder farmers. Founded in 2008, Digital Green began by using participatory videos to amplify the reach of public agricultural extension systems. Today, Digital Green operates across South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, working closely with national and sub-national governments to strengthen extension systems.
AI Technology Used
Key Outcomes
Efficiency
Productivity
Access
Reach
User Experience
Satisfaction
Inclusion
Equity
Accuracy
Quality Improvement
Resource Efficiency
Resilience
Risk Reduction
Impact Metrics
Reach and usage
Post-Implementation
Reached over 830,000 farmers and extension workers across India and Sub-Saharan Africa, handled more than 7.4 million queries, Users average 8-12 queries monthly
Access and Inclusion
Post-Implementation
FarmerChat is delivered in 15 languages and is made accessible via text voice and image
Confidence in decision making
Post-Implementation
40 -60% users reported improved confidence in decision-making, 70% farmers adopted new practices within 30 days
Implementation Context
India, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Brazil
Over 850,000 onboarded smallholder farmers and frontline extension workers
Key Partnerships
Governments of Bihar, Odisha, and Karnataka, One Acre Fund, OpenAI, Meta, Google, Microsoft
Replicability & Adaptation
Supporting Materials
* The data presented is self-reported by the respective organisations. Readers should consult the original sources for further details.