September 23, 2026
https://www.growfurther.org/the-ai-powered-app-we-financed-is-gaining-global-attention
Our project in Tanzania is making huge strides, and we are pleased to report that the research team leader there is winning international recognition for her achievements in delivering the power of machine learning and artificial intelligence to smallholder farmers.
Grow Further is funding work by The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST) to harness artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to place a powerful new analytical tool literally in the palms of smallholder farmers’ hands. Led by Dr. Neema Mduma, the team tells us in their latest quarterly report that they are continually adding new diseases and new functions to the app’s database, enhancing this tool while scaling its distribution at the same time.
The app is designed to warn farmers of the earliest signs of crop diseases or pest infestations. The tech analyses photos of the relative health of crops to give smallholder farmers assessments of what is happening and what they can do to head off these threats or minimize the damage. The researchers at this top science center in Tanzania have given their advanced smartphone application the name “kilimoAI.”
Now, word of kilimoAI and its potential is spreading quickly.
Dr. Mduma is not only a talented computer scientist and smallholder agriculture innovator, she is now also the recipient of the United Nations International Telecommunications Union’s “Innovate for Impact Outstanding Scholar Award.” The honor was bestowed to her at ITU’s recent ‘AI for Global Good’ summit held in Geneva, Switzerland.
As NM-AIST explained, “this recognition reflects the project’s contribution to applying artificial intelligence to address agricultural challenges, support smallholder farmers, and strengthen food security.”
“I am grateful to receive the Innovate for Impact Outstanding Scholar Award at the AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, Switzerland,” Neema said in response to the news. “This award recognises the work we are doing through kilimoAI to help farmers detect and manage crop diseases using AI.”
The kilimoAI smartphone app has also just earned an international patent for its technology, a rarity in nonprofit agricultural research and development. This is a very big deal, as Grow Further’s founder and President Peter Kelly can attest.
“Other than universities, there aren’t many nonprofits that can claim a single patent,” Peter, a trained agricultural economist, said.
And we saved the best for last.
Earlier this month, Mduma was recognized by Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and founder of the Gates Foundation, as among Gates’ “Heroes in the Field” for her leadership in developing kilimoAI.
Bill Gates even produced a video showcasing Dr. Mduma and the kilimoAI application. It is the highest level of recognition that any Grow Further project has ever received to date.
The team in Tanzania recently had the opportunity to showcase their work and technology at the recently held Nanenane International Agricultural Exhibition, an international showcase of East African smallholder agricultural innovation held in Dodoma, Tanzania. Neema said she was happy to attend as it was “a good opportunity to showcase kilimoAI.”
We at Grow Further would like to extend a hearty congratulations to Dr. Neema Mduma and everyone at NM-AIST for their incredible accomplishments and for the global recognition they are now receiving, from Bill Gates, the United Nations, and many others. We’re more confident than ever that this research our members are supporting will make an incredible impact on food security in Tanzania and beyond.
Proof of concept largely proven
In addition to the news of the patent and award by ITU, the team at NM-AIST recently updated us on their progress in their latest quarterly report.
While past periods were a time for basic research, development, data uploading and processing, and education, NM-AIST says they have spent this last quarter scaling up the impact of their innovation and getting it into the hands of more farmers and extension workers. And that work is ongoing.
“The project team conducted engagement meetings with district councils, agricultural extension officers, farmers and other key stakeholders in the agricultural sector,” the team reported “The meetings introduced the kilimoAI mobile application, demonstrated its role in the early diagnosis and reporting of maize and common bean diseases and discussed its implementation in the selected districts.”
The new kilimoAI app works by cross-referencing photographs with tens of thousands of other images uploaded to a system. The images are of bean and maize crops at various stages of attack by pests and crop diseases.
A smallholder farmer in the field simply takes a photograph of suspected threats and problems on their crops and asks the app to tell them what the symptoms indicate. Very quickly, the app identifies the threat–and unlike most AI software is totally transparent about how certain it is–and gives advice for how the farmer might best want to proceed to protect his or her crops. The idea is to improve crop yields through early detection and prevention.
NM-AIST says in its newest report from the field that the app has largely moved beyond the proof-of-concept phase. Farmers and agricultural extension workers are being trained on the app and are already putting it to use in field trials, providing Neema and her team with input on ways to improve or adjust it.
The kilimoAI app is already in use by tens of thousands of farmers and is now being deployed to the regions of Mbulu, Hai, and Karatu, agricultural hubs just outside of NM-AIST’s base in Arusha. With any luck, use will continue to expand through word-of-mouth and the positive impressions of ag extension workers who are in contact with Tanzanian smallholder farmers on a regular basis. The impressions of the farmers themselves will probably be far more impactful—after all, that is the demographic that Grow Further and NM-AIST are seeking to serve.
NM-AIST also reports that they are expanding kilimoAI’s functionality.
More images are being added to the online dataset to help the app identify maize common rust, bean angular leaf spots, and leaf blight. Eventually, the app should be able to identify at least seven different crop diseases just by analyzing farmers’ photos of various indications on their crops.
These new functions are being added but are not yet available for regular use. NM-AIST wants to make sure they have enough data that the app is trained on to make it work right.
Onward to bigger and better things
The recent milestones NM-AIST achieved are not to be underestimated.
This new smallholder agricultural innovation is so unique and transformative that it has earned a patent. As noted earlier, for her work on kilimoAI Dr. Mduma was also granted the Innovate for Impact Outstanding Scholar Award. It is a well-earned and well-deserved honor.
The patent and award are further indication that kilimoAI is poised to make a major impact in the world of smallholder agriculture, starting with northern Tanzania. Our partners there say scaling work will continue. Meanwhile, we are looking forward to hearing of other milestones and enhancements achieved in their next quarterly report.
— Grow Further
Photo credit: Image courtesy of The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology (NM-AIST).