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AI technology helps small-scale farmers in Malawi to become more resilient to climate change

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  Published in Science and Technology on Friday, September 12th 2025 at 10:54 GMT by Associated Press
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AI‑Powered Climate Forecasts Help Malawi’s Small‑Farmers Stay on Course

In the highlands and lowlands of Malawi, a new partnership between technology companies and local agricultural NGOs is giving small‑scale farmers a fighting chance against increasingly erratic weather. An artificial‑intelligence (AI) platform that blends satellite imagery, real‑time weather data, and machine‑learning models is now being used by thousands of growers to decide when to plant, how much fertilizer to apply, and when to seek out markets—cutting losses from droughts and floods and boosting yields in a country where agriculture accounts for more than a quarter of the national GDP.

The initiative, unveiled in late 2023, is a joint effort between the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and a Nairobi‑based startup called AgriVision. Its core technology is a cloud‑based dashboard that runs a suite of algorithms trained on over 15 years of climate data for Malawi’s 28 regions. According to AgriVision’s CEO, Njeri Ng’oma, the platform predicts micro‑climate events—such as a 10‑day dry spell or an unexpected surge in rainfall—with an accuracy of 82%, far exceeding the traditional bulletins that often arrive days after the fact.

“Farmers used to wait for the national weather service, which could be delayed and too coarse for a single plot,” Ng’oma explains. “Now, they get alerts directly on their phones, in local Chichewa, telling them exactly when to sow maize or irrigate cassava.”

The service works in tandem with the Malawi Agricultural Development and Food Security Programme (MADFS), a public‑private partnership that already runs farmer‑training workshops across the country. Each MADFS facilitator receives a tablet pre‑loaded with the AI dashboard and a basic “smartphone” for farmers who own one. During the rainy season, the platform sends push notifications recommending the optimal planting window for maize, bean, and millet, and even suggests the precise mix of chemical and organic fertilizers to maximize soil health. In the event of an expected severe drought, the system warns farmers to conserve water and shift to drought‑tolerant crops like sorghum.

Farmer testimonials underscore the tangible impact. Mary Kachere, a 38‑year‑old maize farmer from the Southern Region, says she has doubled her yield since adopting the AI alerts. “Before, I’d plant at the wrong time and the rains would come too late,” she recalls. “Now, the app tells me exactly when to sow and I’ve seen a 45% increase in my harvest.” Similarly, Mugisha Banda, a smallholder in the Northern Region, uses the platform’s “market price tracker” to decide when to sell his produce, avoiding the common trap of selling in oversupplied markets at a low price.

Beyond immediate crop decisions, the AI system also feeds into a climate‑risk insurance model co‑developed by the Malawi National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and the African Development Bank. By quantifying expected rainfall deficits, the insurance product offers a safety net for farmers who experience losses. In the first year of pilot testing, 12% of farmers opted into the insurance scheme, citing the lower premium and faster claim processing.

The technology is not without challenges. Rural connectivity remains uneven; about 20% of the farmers in the pilot regions reported sporadic internet access. To mitigate this, the program includes a satellite‑phone backup system that delivers alerts via text messages. Literacy barriers are also being addressed through audio alerts in Chichewa and through in‑person demonstrations at community gatherings.

Looking ahead, the coalition plans to scale the platform to cover 10 million acres of farmland across Zambia, Tanzania, and Mozambique by 2027. The World Bank’s “Climate‑Smart Agriculture” grant, which funded the Malawi pilot, has earmarked additional resources for adapting the AI models to other crops such as coffee and tea—commodities that are also vulnerable to climate volatility.

The partnership’s success also hinges on continuous data collection. AgriVision has partnered with local universities, including the University of Malawi, College of Agriculture, to monitor soil health and crop performance. The data feeds back into the machine‑learning algorithms, creating a virtuous cycle of improvement. “Every new dataset refines our predictions,” says Dr. Elias Makasa, a data scientist at the university. “It’s not just about forecasting; it’s about building resilience.”

While the AI platform may be a technological marvel, its real triumph lies in its human‑centric design. By combining cutting‑edge machine learning with on‑the‑ground training and market integration, Malawi’s small‑scale farmers now have a tool that translates the uncertainty of climate into actionable, profitable decisions. In a continent where climate change threatens food security, such innovations could set a template for other nations grappling with similar challenges.