farmbetter: Digital AI-Driven Climate Resilience for Smallholder Farmers

Smallholder farmers across Africa and India face increasing climate uncertainty, productivity pressures, and income instability, often without access to timely, localised agronomic advice. Traditional extension systems struggle to reach dispersed rural populations, especially in low-bandwidth and low-literacy environments. farmbetter was designed to bridge this gap by delivering AI-powered, real-time farming intelligence directly to farmers in accessible formats.

farmbetter leverages AI to empower smallholder farmers with personalised farming advice that improves productivity, climate resilience, and income. The platform operates through an integrated three-in-one ecosystem comprising a WhatsApp chatbot for farmers, a mobile app for advisors, and a dashboard for partner organisations. By integrating soil health data, weather intelligence, and market information, the system generates predictive insights, pest and disease forecasts, and tailored crop management recommendations. The architecture enables advisors and institutions to coordinate interventions while maintaining farmer-centred delivery.

The solution connects farmers, advisors, and institutions within a shared digital ecosystem that supports evidence-based decision-making and efficient resource allocation. The interface is designed for accessibility, functioning in low-bandwidth environments and supporting users with limited digital literacy. Local partnerships ensure culturally appropriate guidance and trust-building at the community level. The system adapts recommendations to the local agronomic and climatic context of each deployment geography, making it genuinely relevant to farmers' lived realities.

In Africa, the platform has reached more than 50,000 farmers across eight countries. Documented outcomes include 20–30% yield increases and a 15% reduction in post-harvest losses. In India, through the AgriPath project, farmbetter collaborated with local partners to deploy AI-driven decision tools and climate-smart agricultural practices, demonstrating adaptability across diverse farming systems.

By combining predictive analytics, personalised advisory, and accessible delivery channels, farmbetter demonstrates how AI can strengthen climate resilience and improve livelihoods for smallholder farmers in the Global South. The platform provides a replicable model for scaling inclusive agricultural intelligence across regions, showing that AI advisory need not be confined to well-resourced farmers but can serve those most vulnerable to climate shocks. The integration of weather intelligence with soil health data and market information creates a comprehensive decision support system that addresses the full complexity of smallholder farming challenges—from production decisions to market access and climate adaptation strategies. Local partnerships in each geography ensure that advisory content is culturally appropriate, agronomically relevant, and trusted by farming communities.
For additional context and detailed documentation of this use case, please refer to pages 16-18 in the attached Casebook.