{"id":6633,"date":"2019-11-18T10:44:32","date_gmt":"2019-11-18T07:44:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/africasustainabilitymatters.com\/?p=6633"},"modified":"2026-01-11T05:30:41","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T05:30:41","slug":"west-africa-boot-camp-seeks-artificial-intelligence-fix-for-climate-hit-farmers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/2019\/11\/18\/west-africa-boot-camp-seeks-artificial-intelligence-fix-for-climate-hit-farmers\/","title":{"rendered":"West Africa Boot Camp Seeks Artificial Intelligence Fix For Climate-Hit Farmers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Nellie Peyton<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data analyst Fabrice\nSonzahi enrolled in a course on artificial intelligence (AI) in Dakar, hoping\nto help struggling farmers improve crop yields in his home country of Ivory\nCoast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is part of an\ninaugural batch of students at a new AI programming school in Senegal, one of\nthe first in West Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Its mission is to\ntrain local people in using data to solve pressing issues like the impact of\nclimate change on crops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dakar Institute of\nTechnology (DIT), which opened in September, is running its first 10-week boot\ncamp with nine students in partnership with French AI school VIVADATA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I am convinced\nthat by analyzing data we can give (farmers) better solutions,” said\nSonzahi, 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He plans to bring his\nAI skills to Ivorian startup ATA Solution, which advises farmers on how to\nmaximize scarce resources like land and water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company already\ncollects data such as soil PH, temperature and moisture levels, said Sonzahi,\nwho works with the startup as an analyst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With AI, that data\ncould be processed to show exactly when and where farmers should add water or\nfertilizer, and help strengthen their understanding of crop losses, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Data scientists across\nthe continent are beginning to experiment with machine learning as a tool to\nhelp farmers cope with increasingly erratic weather, from modelling the fastest\nroute to market, to detecting problems in fields with drones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Cameroon, a new\nmobile phone app called Agrix Tech allows farmers to photograph a leaf affected\nby blight and then, using AI, diagnoses the problem and recommends treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A project launched in\nKenya this year also uses AI to crunch big data and give smallholder farmers\nrecommendations such as when to plant, in a bid to avert food shortages,\naccording to French technology firm Capgemini.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But knowledge of AI and training opportunities are slim, especially in West Africa where fixes for crop failure are sorely needed, said DIT director Nicolas Poussielgue\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read more>><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Nellie Peyton Data analyst Fabrice Sonzahi enrolled in a course on artificial intelligence (AI) in Dakar, hoping to help struggling farmers improve crop yields in his home country of Ivory…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6634,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rayscohosting.best\/ASM\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}