September 10, 2026
On Wednesday 19th August 2026, we welcomed a delegation of Chinese science communicators and digital influencers to Kenya for an exchange on how artificial intelligence can help agricultural research better understand farmers and bring their priorities closer to breeding decisions.
The visit formed part of a Gates Foundation China initiative exploring how AI can help reduce inequality and deliver impact in real-world settings. For our colleagues, it was also an opportunity to look beyond the technology itself and explore a practical question: can AI help us listen to farmers better?
The delegation began its engagement with our teams in Nairobi, learning about the organization’s market intelligence work and how insights from farmers, consumers and markets can help inform crop improvement priorities.
The conversation then moved to the field at KALRO Katumani in Machakos, where the delegation saw Sikia, an AI-powered tool developed by the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, being used in conversations with farmers.
Sikia takes a different approach from a conventional survey. Rather than moving through a fixed questionnaire, the tool responds to what a farmer says, asking relevant follow-up questions that can uncover the reasoning, preferences and trade-offs behind an answer. It can also work offline, making it practical for research in areas where connectivity is limited.
That ability to probe deeper is particularly relevant to crop improvement. Farmers make decisions based on much more than yield alone. Understanding which traits they value, why they value them and what trade-offs they are willing to make can provide breeding teams with stronger evidence when determining which traits and products to prioritize.
Seeing the tool at work also opened a wider conversation about how AI can complement, rather than replace, engagement with farmers. Its value lies in helping researchers capture more from those conversations and connect farmer insights more effectively with market intelligence and breeding.
The visit highlighted the value of collaboration across us, KALRO and CGIAR partners in exploring practical applications of emerging technologies and ensuring that innovation remains grounded in farmers’ realities.
As we continue strengthening the connection between market intelligence and crop improvement, tools such as Sikia offer another way to make farmer voices count — turning better listening into better evidence and, ultimately, better-informed breeding.
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