Meet the Rwandan student genius using AI to detect crop diseases for smallholder farmers
In a world where Artificial Intelligence (AI) is gradually being implored in many sectors in the global job space, one young genius has joined the train to develop a project that seeks to assist and empower smallholder farmers.
Theofrida Muginga who is a student from the University of Rwanda has developed an AI-powered Swahili chatbot called ‘Mkulima GPT’.
Mkulima GPT combines Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies to detect diseased crops and provide agricultural advice based on findings.
To assist its users who are mainly small-scale farmers, the app is designed with features that focus on local languages to make it more accessible.
The AI project is intended to increase production and productivity for farmers in Rwanda.
Although it is currently at its testing stage ahead of its launch in December 2023, Mkulima GPT is generating interest and feedback through a website and Whatsapp phone number created by Theofrida.
"So in this aspect, you look at so many farmers being left behind when it comes to technology, one of the technologies we are using is CHATGPT and I know most farmers don’t really know about it or they are probably not interested but we can make great use of these artificial intelligence technologies," she said in an interview with Africanews.
"What sets 'Mkulima GPT' apart is its commitment to local languages and its vision to expand services to more African languages. To facilitate accessibility, 'Mkulima GPT' has already established an online presence through a dedicated website and a WhatsApp phone number where farmers can ask queries that cover a wide range of topics, including farm preparation, maize disease management, and post-harvest procedures,” she added.
Theofrida’s background in agriculture was her motivation to develop the project which she hopes will help breach the digital divide among farmers and is looking at the possibility of including other local languages including Kinyarwanda in the technology.
"We are expecting to have multiple numbers of farmers to use this technology and we are looking at the possibility of including Kinyarwanda into CHATGPT as well. When we were developing the application we got to interact with farmers and one of the crop diseases was [head] smut.
"[Head] smut keeps [spreading] because the practices are poor, but the application keeps on reminding of the good practices and not the practices that bring back the disease,” Theofrida said.
