By Jones Gadama
The Lilongwe University for Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) has emphasized the importance of adapting to Artificial Intelligence (AI) in agricultural extension services. Dr. Paul Fatch, Head of Agricultural Extension at LUANAR, made this call during a virtual meeting for extension workers on the Malawi Forum for Agriculture Advisory Services (MaFAS) platform.
This comes in response to a Microsoft report highlighting the risk of AI exacerbating poverty globally.
Dr. Fatch stressed that extension workers must prioritize creating AI-enabled apps and pages in local languages to enable farmers to harness AI’s potential. He also urged workers to raise awareness about AI’s potential misuses and vulnerabilities.
Samuel Chilumpha, a post-doctoral researcher at Wageningen University, echoed concerns about accessibility, noting that only commercial and large-scale farmers currently utilize AI due to high illiteracy rates and the lack of local language AI apps.
To address this, extension workers are producing voice notes in local languages, like Chichewa.
