Mercy Mwangi

My work explores how AI innovations can be reimagined from the typical one-size-fits all models to dynamic systems that include farmer traditional agricultural knowledge, mixed and intercropped farming systems, small plot sizes, limited finances and all the typical characteristics of a small-scale producer.

Why AGX?​

For me, this program is about making the invisible, visible. What would it really take to make AI work for the African farmer? What solutions work and what don’t? What problems are unique in smallholder farming?

It is an opportunity to bring all relevant stakeholders – researchers, founders, farmers, the public and private sector, innovators, AI tinkerers (like myself), all together, so that we can candidly answer some pertinent questions about the future of AI, specifically in Agriculture-the biggest employer in the African continent.

This is an opportunity for me to lend my voice and experience to this discussion and learn from the expertise and experiences of others.

What I hope to contribute

I want to contribute my unique experience of working directly with smallholder farmers and my technical expertise in data science to define context-aware Ag-Tech solutions.

I have worked with farmers and tech teams to co-design advisory digital tools. From this I learned how farmers make decisions, the challenges they face, the data they need and how tech can support them. Together with my knowledge in data science, I hope to contribute meaningfully to discussion about models, datasets and inclusive AI, so that we are not building for tech’s sake alone, but in the best interest of the typical rural farmer.

What ‘AI for good’ means to me

For me, AI for good is about representation and visibility in both data and design. Currently, most AI models are trained and tested in contexts that look nothing like the realities of smallholder farmers- where maize, beans, chicken and goats are often kept on the same small piece of land.

So, to me, AI for good, is not just about equality of access to AI tech (that would be great!) but more about  intentionally building AI innovations that understand and respond to the multi-dimensional nature of smallholder farming systems.