iSAT: Intelligent Agricultural Systems Advisory Tool for Climate Risk Management and Farm Decision-Making

Turning climate forecasts into actionable farm guidance!

iSAT is a digital advisory platform that enables the delivery of precise agricultural recommendations to farmers based on their location, crops, and real-time climate conditions. It transforms climate and agronomic data into actionable advice using decision tree logic, helping farmers make better choices on inputs, planting, and farm management throughout the season.

This technology is pre-validated.

8•7

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 8/9; level of use 7/9

IP

Open source / open access

Problem

Private sector actors often cannot deliver highly personalized and real-time advisory services to large numbers of smallholder farmers at an affordable cost.
Farmers frequently receive non-specific recommendations, which reduces trust and limits adoption of private advisory or input services.
Inefficient and untargeted use of agricultural inputs (such as fertilizer, seeds, and crop protection products) remains a challenge due to lack of climate- and location-based decision support.
Companies face difficulties in building scalable digital advisory models that adapt to different climates, crops, and local farming conditions.
There is a gap between data availability (climate forecasts, agronomic knowledge) and its transformation into simple, actionable advice for farmers.
Limited engagement channels (especially in rural areas) make it difficult to reach farmers consistently through accessible tools such as voice, SMS, or radio-based systems.

Solution

iSAT enables private actors to deliver personalized agricultural advisory services at scale using digital channels such as SMS, IVR, mobile apps, and radio.
It improves trust and adoption by providing relevant, location-specific and crop-specific recommendations instead of generic advice.
The system supports more efficient input use by giving farmers timely guidance on fertilizer, seeds, irrigation, and pest management based on climate conditions.
Its configurable design allows companies to build customized digital advisory solutions adapted to different crops, regions, and user needs.
iSAT bridges the gap between available data and practical decision-making, transforming climate and agronomic information into simple farmer-friendly messages.
It expands market reach by using multi-channel communication systems, ensuring access even in low-connectivity rural areas.

Key points to design your business plan

Climate variability creates uncertainty for farmers and businesses alike, affecting productivity, input performance, and customer satisfaction. iSAT helps private sector actors turn climate information into value-added advisory services that improve farmer outcomes, strengthen customer relationships, and create opportunities to expand market reach and service delivery.

Use iSAT to provide farmers with personalized, climate-smart advisory services, increasing the value and attractiveness of your products and services.
Use climate-based recommendations to help farmers make better decisions on seed selection, planting dates, fertilizer use, and crop management, improving customer outcomes and satisfaction.
Deliver timely advisory messages through SMS, IVR, mobile applications, voice services, or radio, allowing you to reach large numbers of farmers efficiently and at low cost.
Use iSAT to strengthen customer engagement throughout the farming season by providing continuous support before and during production, rather than interacting only at the point of sale.
Integrate iSAT into existing digital agriculture platforms, advisory services, or input distribution networks to create value-added services that differentiate your business from competitors.
Use iSAT-generated advisories to build farmer trust by providing recommendations that are tailored to local climate conditions and specific crops rather than generic advice.
Expand into new geographic markets by using the tool's location-specific capabilities to serve farmers across different agroecological zones without redesigning advisory content for each area.
Leverage farmer registration and feedback mechanisms to better understand customer needs, improve service delivery, and identify opportunities for new products and services.
Use iSAT to improve the effectiveness of extension, advisory, and customer support teams by providing them with consistent, data-driven recommendations.
Strengthen long-term customer relationships and increase retention by helping farmers improve productivity, reduce climate-related risks, and achieve better returns from their farming activities.

Positive impacts: 10

Target Groups	Positive Impacts
Smallholder farmers & youth entrepreneurs in rainfed systems	Better timing of planting and input use; Higher yields; Reduced crop losses; Improved income stability; Youth can create digital advisory-related agribusiness opportunities
Women in low-literacy farming communities	Improved access to climate and farm advice in local languages; Better household food production decisions; reduced risk of crop failure; Empowerment through access to information without literacy barriers
Farmers in climate-vulnerable regions (drought/flood-prone areas)	Early warning on droughts and floods; Improved preparedness and adaptation; Reduced climate-related losses; better resilience and recovery capacity

More...

Unintended impacts: 5
Mitigations: 5

Barriers: 6
Mitigations: 7

Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable

It supports both pre-season planning and in-season adjustments, making it highly flexible to climate variability and change.

Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement

iSAT improves farmer readiness by providing timely climate forecasts and practical guidance on planting dates, crop selection, and adaptive farm practices, helping farmers anticipate and respond to climate risks rather than react after losses occur.

Scaling Readiness describes how complete a technology\’s development is and its ability to be scaled. It produces a score that measures a technology\’s readiness along two axes: the level of maturity of the idea itself, and the level to which the technology has been used so far.

Each axis goes from 0 to 9 where 9 is the “ready-to-scale” status. For each technology profile in the e-catalogs we have documented the scaling readiness status from evidence given by the technology providers. The e-catalogs only showcase technologies for which the scaling readiness score is at least 8 for maturity of the idea and 7 for the level of use.

The graph below represents visually the scaling readiness status for this technology, you can see the label of each level by hovering your mouse cursor on the number.

Scaling readiness score of this technology

Maturity of the idea 8 out of 9

Uncontrolled environment: tested

Level of use 8 out of 9

Common use by projects NOT connected to technology provider

Maturity of the idea										Level of use
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

Positive impact 10

Target Groups	Positive Impacts
Smallholder farmers & youth entrepreneurs in rainfed systems	Better timing of planting and input use; Higher yields; Reduced crop losses; Improved income stability; Youth can create digital advisory-related agribusiness opportunities
Women in low-literacy farming communities	Improved access to climate and farm advice in local languages; Better household food production decisions; reduced risk of crop failure; Empowerment through access to information without literacy barriers
Farmers in climate-vulnerable regions (drought/flood-prone areas)	Early warning on droughts and floods; Improved preparedness and adaptation; Reduced climate-related losses; better resilience and recovery capacity

Unintended impact 5

Target Groups	Unintended Impacts	Mitigation Measures
Smallholder farmers & youth entrepreneurs in rainfed systems	Over-reliance on advisory messages without local judgment; Unequal benefit between digitally connected and non-connected farmers	Train farmers on combining isat with local knowledge; Ensure m ulti-channel access (SMS, IVR, radio, voice)
Women in low-literacy farming communities	Risk of exclusion if men control phones; Misunderstanding of complex information	Use voice-based (IVR) messages in local languages; Promote women group-based access and simplified messaging
Farmers in climate-vulnerable regions	Misinterpretation of forecasts leading to poor decisions; Possible overdependence on forecasts	Strengthen training and extension support; Combine isat advice with indigenous knowledge and continuous guidance

Barriers 6

Target groups	Adoption barriers	Mitigation measures
Smallholder farmers & youth entrepreneurs in rainfed systems	Low digital literacy; Limited phone/internet access; Trust issues in digital tools	Provide training via extension agents; Use SMS, IVR, and radio; build trust through farmer groups and demonstrations
Women in low-literacy farming communities	Limited phone ownership; Cultural restrictions on technology access	Use voice-based systems; Promote shared access models; Engage women groups and community leaders
Farmers in climate-vulnerable regions	Weak infrastructure and connectivity; Limited extension coverage; Distrust due to climate uncertainty	Use offline-friendly channels (radio, IVR); Strengthen extension partnerships; Improve local validation and communication of forecasts

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Kenya	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted
Senegal	–No ongoing testing	–Not tested	Adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - warm	Subtropic - cool	Tropic - warm	Tropic - cool
Arid	–	–	–	–
Semiarid				–
Subhumid	–	–	–	–
Humid	–	–	–	–

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 1: no poverty

iSAT helps reduce rural poverty by improving farmers’ productivity, lowering production costs, and increasing incomes through better climate-informed farming decisions.

Goal 2: zero hunger

iSAT supports food security by enabling farmers to optimize crop choices, planting dates, and farm management to increase yields and reduce climate-related losses.

Goal 13: climate action

iSAT strengthens climate adaptation by helping farmers anticipate and respond to climate variability through timely, location-specific agro-advisories.

Goal 15: life on land

iSAT promotes sustainable land use by guiding farmers toward efficient input use and climate-smart practices that protect soils and ecosystems.

1. Access the system (Contact the institution for support)

Farmers access iSAT through different channels depending on local availability:

Mobile or web application (for smartphones or internet users)
SMS or Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system (for low or no internet areas)
Voice messages or phone calls in local languages
Radio broadcasts in some rural communities

2. Registration

To start receiving services, the farmer must register:

Registration is done via call center, online platform, or agricultural extension agents
The farmer provides key information such as:
- Location
- Crops or farming system
- Type of climate information needed
- Type of phone or access channel available

3. Receive pre-season advice

Before the planting season:

iSAT provides seasonal climate forecasts (e.g., rainfall levels, drought or heavy rain risk)
Farmers receive guidance on:
- Which crops are most suitable
- Best planting periods
- Recommended crop varieties adapted to expected conditions

4. Follow in-season updates

During the growing season:

iSAT sends regular updates based on real-time or forecasted conditions
Farmers receive advice on:
- Fertilizer application timing
- Pest and disease control (e.g., armyworm alerts)
- Irrigation or water conservation measures
- Responses to dry spells or heavy rainfall

5. Apply decision-tree recommendations

iSAT uses structured decision logic:

Farmers follow simple “if–then” type guidance based on climate conditions
Example:
- If heavy rain is expected → adjust fertilizer or protect crops
- If dry spell is expected → apply water-saving practices or switch strategies

6. Receive training and support

Farmers are supported through training sessions led by extension agents or experts
Training helps them understand:
- How to interpret climate information
- How to apply recommendations correctly
- How to adapt practices to local conditions

7. Use feedback and improvement loop

Farmers share information on:
- Yields achieved
- Costs and input use
- Effectiveness of advice
This feedback helps improve future advisories and system performance

Downloads

Managing_climate_iSAT_2025_compressed.pdf (PDF, 1.21 MB)
iSAT_DigitalTool (1)_compressed.pdf (PDF, 464.62 KB)
iSAT use case in Senegal.pdf (PDF, 2.59 MB)
Picture 1 (002).png (PNG, 92.2 KB)

Last updated on Aug 28, 2026

International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)
Jacob Emanuel

Technology from

PRMS

Commodities

Maize Cowpea Groundnut Millet + 1 more

Sustainable Development Goals Details ›

public.components.sdgs.motre

Subcategory

Digital Advisory and Extension

Tested/adopted in Details ›

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Where it can be used Details ›

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones.

Target groups

Farmers Advisory and Extension Services Cooperatives and Agribusinesses

iSAT: Intelligent Agricultural Systems Advisory Tool for Climate Risk Management and Farm Decision-Making

IP

Problem

Solution