Harnessing AI to scale agricultural extension: Opportunities and emerging pathways

This presentation explores the potential of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to expand and strengthen agricultural extension services, particularly for underserved farmers in low-resource settings. It highlights key opportunities, including scalable and cost-effective advisory support, personalized recommendations, multilingual engagement, and improved access to agricultural information through AI-powered platforms. Drawing on emerging field experiences, the presentation shows how voice-based tools, familiar communication channels such as WhatsApp, and continuous feedback mechanisms can increase farmer engagement, trust, and knowledge sharing. It also identifies critical challenges, including limited local data, risks of misinformation, and the difficulty of capturing farmers’ real-world decision-making processes. The presentation concludes by outlining priorities for the next generation of AI-enabled extension systems, emphasizing data innovation, human-centered design, language inclusion, and rigorous model testing to ensure effective and responsible deployment. -Abstract generated by Copilot AI 2.2