KilimoAI is a mobile application that acts as a pocket agricultural expert to help farmers and extension officers detect crop diseases in maize and beans. The app is able to detect disease instantly: users snap a photo of a crop to identify problems using smart AI technology. After the detection the app provides clear tips for prevention and treatment recommendations. Farmers can use the app anywhere, even without an internet connection, find and download the tool directly from the kilimoAI Google Play Store.
53-year-old Roland Daniel Sarikikya is captivated that his mobile phone, which he once used only for calls and texts, can diagnose crop diseases at his maize plant. He lives in Seela Sing’isi Ward, a village in northern Tanzania’s Arusha Region and he learned farming from his parents, but never learned how to identify or treat crop viruses. He said, if there was a problem, he’d go to the shops and see what the sellers recommend. But the KilimoAI app on his phone quickly identified the likely cause as maize streak virus, one of Africa’s most serious viral plant diseases. ‘Kilimo’ means agriculture in Kiswahili, Tanzania’s national language. (Swahili is spoken across more than 14 countries, primarily in East, Central, and Southern Africa.)
The application was developed by the 35-year-old computer scientist Dr Neema Mduma and her colleague Hudson Laizer. Read more about it here and here.
