Kenya has kickedoff an agritech initiative leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and satellitesto help empower the country’s agricultural sector.
Dubbed the Crop Measurement and Evaluation (CrOME), the system is anticipated to boost food security and improve yields in agri-related industries in the East African country.
Philip Tigo, the government’s Special Envoy on Technology, served as chief guest at the launch on Wednesday, held at the Nairobi headquarters of the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRHO).
Addressing delegates, he noted food security decisions were currently constrained by fragmented and inconsistent data.
“In the age of AI, food security must be built on intelligence, not guesswork,” Tigo said.
This lack of data was weakening insight on production, climate risks and supply-demand dynamics.
CrOME is designed to provide operational products such as maps by crop type, yield forecasting, field boundaries, crop condition monitoring and disaster/damage mapping to strengthen early warning and response, he said.
CrOME is the culmination of efforts by the Microsoft AI for Good, NASA Harvest Consortium, Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development and Kenya’s Ministry of Agriculture.
In a related development, Kenya is exploring digital enablement of its tea value chain.
Meeting in Nairobi on Wednesday, John Tanui, Principal Secretary: State Department for ICT and Digital Economy, discussed the issue with Willy Mutai, CEO, Tea Board of Kenya.
Their meeting focused on expansion of e-commerce platforms for direct market access, deployment of traceability applications to strengthen brand integrity and premium positioning, and the use of digital hubs to empower smallholder farmers with data, transparent pricing and global reach.
“Digital infrastructure is no longer peripheral. It is central to increasing farmer earnings, strengthening transparency and building trusted global brands,” Tanui said.
Kenya is the world’s largest exporter of black tea and the third-largest tea producer globally after China and India.
Share
