Bringing AI-powered agricultural advice to avocado farmers in Murang'a County

When Persea mites tore through avocado orchards in Murang'a County this year, threatening up to a 50% drop in yield, farmers had almost nowhere to turn for reliable information on how to respond. Within 30 minutes of learning a prevention guide existed but wasn't reaching farmers, Agriconnect had it live and accessible to every farmer on the platform. It's a small moment that captures the larger bet behind this pilot: that a WhatsApp-based AI advisory tool - built on a platform farmers already use daily - can close the gap between agricultural knowledge and the people who need it, faster than traditional extension services ever could.

Akvo partnered with the Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services Kenya (KeFAAS) and the Women Farmers Association of Kenya (WoFAaK) to pilot Agriconnect with avocado farmers in Murang'a County. The pilot is testing how a WhatsApp-based AI advisory platform can extend the reach of agricultural extension services - without asking farmers to change the tools they already use.

Above: Joseph, an avocado farmer near Nairobi, shares his expertise during a field visit. Conversations like these shape how Agriconnect is built - from the ground up.


Partners

Cisco

Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services Kenya (KeFAAS)

 


Locations

Kenya


Sector

Agriculture


Services

App development

The challenge

Avocado farmers in Murang'a County face a familiar problem: when pests, disease, or crop management questions arise, there's no fast way to get reliable advice. Extension officer-to-farmer ratios are low, physical visits can take days or weeks, and farmers have no direct channel for real-time feedback on pressing issues. The result is delayed decisions, avoidable crop losses, and an extension system that can't keep up with demand.

This challenge became acute this year with the arrival of Persea mites, a pest new enough to Kenya that almost no literature existed on it. The mites spread rapidly through avocado trees, causing them to shed their leaves and severely curtailing yield. Farmers were bracing for losses of up to 50%, and had nowhere reliable to turn for answers.

The solution

Agriconnect gives farmers a direct line to trusted agricultural advice through WhatsApp - a platform they already know and use daily. Farmers send questions by text or voice note in their own language and receive instant AI-generated responses drawn from a locally curated knowledge base. When a farmer wants further support, the question is passed to a trained digital connector who reviews an AI-suggested response and sends back verified, context-specific advice.

Proof in practice: responding to the Persea mite outbreak

When Akvo reached out to farmers with Agriconnect, their first question was how to prevent and mitigate the Persea mite infestation. Because the pest was so new to Kenya, the little literature that did exist was poorly distributed, and farmers simply didn't have access to it.

During discussions with one of the cooperative agronomists, the team learned that a prevention and mitigation guide already existed - the agronomist had simply struggled to get it out to farmers. Using Agriconnect's ability to update its knowledge base on the fly, Akvo added the guide to the avocado knowledge base. Within 30 minutes, farmers who had found nothing on Persea mites through Agriconnect could access detailed information on:

  • Prevention and mitigation steps for Persea mites
  • The pest's life cycle

This is the case for Agriconnect in a single moment: an existing but poorly distributed piece of knowledge, turned into something every farmer on the platform could access in half an hour, far faster than any traditional extension channel could manage.

How the pilot was rolled out

The rollout followed Akvo's approach of engaging local institutions from the start.

  • Akvo and KeFAAS convened meetings with Murang'a County Government as a key partner, given their lead role in public extension services.
  • Akvo then trained six young entrepreneurs recruited by KeFAAS as digital connectors - frontline agents who bridge the technology gap between the platform and farming communities. These digital connectors use local farmer groups, cooperatives, and community networks to introduce Agriconnect and onboard farmers.
  • Between March and June 2026, targeted hands-on training sessions were conducted across three sub-counties in Murang'a. These sessions focused on practical demonstrations: how to use the WhatsApp interface, how to get AI-generated advice, and how to request expert support for more complex questions around pest and disease management.
  • Critically, the pilot was designed to include farmers without smartphones. Digital connectors provide assisted onboarding - registering farmers and demonstrating the platform on their own devices, ensuring access isn't limited by hardware.
Above: Hosting a workshop on Agriconnect in Kenya

Early results

The pilot is still in its early stages, and a fuller picture of impact will emerge through upcoming farmer focus group discussions. 

So far, Agriconnect has been rolled out in three value chains across Kenya, resulting in:

  • 1700 farmers onboarded to Agriconnect
  • 20 digital extension officers trained and active 
  • Three knowledge bases built around three value chains, drawing on government guidelines and locally validated agronomic materials

Agriconnect, built with the support of Cisco, is continuously being improved as we learn from farmers and extension officers in the field. We're refining features based on what they tell us works, introducing new language capabilities, and building new knowledge bases to support other value chains, locations, and contexts.

 

Above: The Akvo team with the Murang'a Avocado Farmers Cooperative Union