ICT and digital extension
How radio, phones, video, call centres, apps and AI advisers serve farm extension, evidence on impact, the digital divide, and a cost-benefit sum.
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In many countries there is one public extension worker for every several hundred or even thousand farm households, far too few to visit everyone. Meanwhile, mobile phone ownership has spread to most rural households worldwide, and radio reaches almost everyone. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) let extension reach millions of farmers cheaply, at the right time, in local languages, and increasingly allow farmers to ask questions and get answers tailored to their own crops and fields.
ICT and digital extension is a fast-growing topic in extension, agribusiness and agricultural development courses.
The range of digital tools
- Radio: still the widest-reaching medium in many rural areas; farm programmes, call-in shows and community radio. Farm Radio International and others work with broadcasters across Africa.
- Television and video: demonstration videos made with farmers, shown in villages with small projectors or shared on phones, as pioneered by Digital Green in India.
- SMS and voice messages: weather alerts, crop calendars, pest warnings and market prices sent to farmers' phones; interactive voice response (IVR) lets non-literate farmers navigate menus by keypad and record questions.
- Call centres and helplines: farmers phone advisers, often agricultural graduates, for answers in their own language.
- Smartphone apps: pest and disease diagnosis from photos, fertiliser calculators, market platforms and digital record-keeping.
- Social media and messaging groups: farmers share photos, questions and prices in groups moderated by extension staff or lead farmers.
- Artificial intelligence advisers and chatbots: conversational assistants that answer farmers' questions in local languages using knowledge bases, weather and soil data; quality depends heavily on the data, testing and local validation.
- Remote sensing and digital platforms: satellite crop monitoring, advisory services tied to insurance and credit.
What the evidence shows
Rigorous studies give a mixed but encouraging picture:
- A 2019 review in Science by R. Fabregas, M. Kremer and F. Schilbach pooled randomised evaluations of text-message advice and found modest average increases in recommended input adoption and in yields, at very low cost per farmer, so even small gains can make such services highly cost-effective.
- Phone-based advisory services and videos have increased knowledge and adoption of practices in several studies, especially when combined with trusted local facilitators.
- Results vary widely with the quality and relevance of content, timing, language, trust and whether farmers can act on the advice (access to inputs, credit and markets).
Digital tools rarely replace human extension; they work best when blended with field staff, lead farmers and farmer groups.
The digital divide
- Access: poorer, older, remote and women farmers are less likely to own smartphones or have data. GSMA estimates show women in low- and middle-income countries are less likely than men to own a mobile phone and to use mobile internet.
- Literacy and language: text and apps exclude non-literate users unless voice, video and local languages are used.
- Connectivity and power in remote areas.
- Cost of devices and data.
Designing for voice, local languages, feature phones and intermediaries (lead farmers, village agents) helps include those left out.
Risks and good practice
- Accuracy and accountability: wrong advice, especially automated, can cause losses; content needs expert review and local testing.
- Data privacy and ownership: farmers' data should be protected, used with consent, and benefit farmers.
- Commercial bias: advice tied to selling particular products should be transparent.
- Sustainability: many pilots end when donor funding stops; services need business models, public funding or both.
- Interoperability: services that share data standards and connect to public weather, soil and market data avoid duplication and let farmers move between providers.
- Feedback loops: farmers' questions are valuable data for research and extension priorities.
Is an SMS advisory service worth it?
A service sends 50 messages a season to 1 million farmers at 0.002 dollars per message, plus 50,000 dollars a year for content, staff and systems.
- Messaging cost = 1,000,000 × 50 × 0.002 = 100,000; total = 150,000 dollars, or 0.15 dollars per farmer.
Suppose 20 per cent of farmers act on the advice and each of those gains 4 per cent on a maize crop worth 200 dollars:
- Gain per adopting farmer = 0.04 × 200 = 8 dollars.
- Average gain per farmer reached = 0.20 × 8 = 1.60 dollars.
- Benefit–cost ratio ≈ 1.60 ÷ 0.15 ≈ 11.
Even if only 5 per cent act, the average gain is 0.40 dollars, still well above the cost. Such low costs per farmer are why digital advice can be cost-effective even when its effect on each farmer is small; the challenge is making sure the advice is right and reaches those who need it.
Key points
- ICTs extend the reach of extension: radio, TV, video, SMS, IVR, call centres, apps, social media, AI advisers and remote sensing.
- Evidence shows modest but very cost-effective gains in adoption and yields, varying with content quality, trust and farmers' ability to act.
- Blended approaches combining digital tools with human contact work best.
- The digital divide by gender, age, income, literacy and location must be addressed with voice, local languages and intermediaries.
- Accuracy, data privacy, commercial bias and sustainability are key concerns.
What the exams ask
- School-leaving and entrance papers: examples of ICT tools used in agriculture and their advantages.
- Degree and research-fellowship entrances: types of digital extension, evidence on impact, digital divide, cost-effectiveness, and integration with conventional extension.
- Professional examinations: designing digital advisory services, content validation, data governance, and business models.
Described in general terms: the kind of examination, not a past paper. Laisha never reproduces exam questions.
Questions people ask
Can an app replace an extension worker?
Not fully. Apps and chatbots can answer common questions quickly and cheaply, but farmers often need someone to see the field, demonstrate practices and build trust. The best systems combine both.
What if my phone is not a smartphone?
Many services use SMS, voice calls and IVR menus that work on basic phones, and radio programmes need no phone at all.
How can I tell if digital advice is reliable?
Check who provides it, whether it is based on local research and recommendations, and whether it explains its reasoning. Compare with local extension staff or experienced farmers before making costly changes.
Sources
- Fabregas, R., Kremer, M. and Schilbach, F. "Realizing the potential of digital development: the case of agricultural advice." Science 366, eaay3038 (2019).
- Aker, J. C. "Dial 'A' for agriculture: a review of information and communication technologies for agricultural extension in developing countries." Agricultural Economics 42, 631–647 (2011).
- World Bank. ICT in Agriculture: Connecting Smallholders to Knowledge, Networks, and Institutions, updated edition. World Bank, 2017.
- GSMA. The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2024. GSMA, 2024.
- Gandhi, R., Veeraraghavan, R., Toyama, K. and Ramprasad, V. "Digital Green: participatory video and mediated instruction for agricultural extension." Information Technologies and International Development 5, 1–15 (2009).
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