AKILIMO: Digital Decision Support Tool

We know cassava

AKILIMO is a digital application that offers site-specific advice for cassava farming using decision trees and algorithms derived from field trials and modeling. Users input farm details, and the tool provides personalized guidance on planting, fertilizing, and harvesting to maximize yield and profit. It's accessible via smartphone app, printable guide, voice response, and chatbot for users of all literacy levels.

This technology is pre-validated.

8•7

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

Project adoption2

Technology integrated in the PADCV-PTA- Democratic Republic of the Congo, and ERAVCDP- Angola projects.

Project	Beneficiaries	Budget	Duration	Key figures
PADCV-PTA- Democratic Republic of the Congo Projet d’Appui au Developpement des Chaines de Valeurs en soutien au Programme de Transformation de l’Agriculture	900,000 smallholder farmers (including 450,000 women).	321 million	2024–2029	62,000 tons of certified seeds. 30,000 people trained. 5,200 hectares of irrigated rice cultivation.
ERAVCDP- Angola Eastern Region Agricultural Value Chain Development Project	240,000 households, 55% of which are headed by women. 1,200 young people (ages 15–34) involved in agricultural entrepreneurship.	211.4 million	2026–2031	2,500 ha of irrigation networks. 9 markets and warehouses. 360,000 tons of fertilizer.

See project details ›

Adults 18 and over: Positive medium

Others: No impact

The poor: No impact

Under 18: Positive high

Women: Positive low

Climate adaptability: Highly adaptable

Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement

Biodiversity: No impact on biodiversity

Carbon footprint: Much less carbon released

Environmental health: Does not improve environmental health

Soil quality: Improves soil health and fertility

Water use: Much less water used

Problem

Lack of Personalized Agronomic Guidance: This encompasses the absence of tailored advice for smallholder farmers, particularly in cassava production, leading to challenges in optimizing crop management practices and efficient input usage.
Suboptimal Farming Strategies and Productivity: Due to limited access to personalized guidance, farmers often adopt less than ideal farming strategies, resulting in lower productivity.
Resource Inefficiency and Unsustainability: Without proper guidance, farmers may not use resources efficiently and could resort to unsustainable farming practices.

Solution

Tailored Agronomic Advice: AKILIMO provides personalized recommendations for crop management, input usage, and optimization strategies tailored to specific farm conditions and requirements.
Advanced Data Analytics: The platform uses advanced data analytics and machine learning algorithms to analyze data and provide insights into optimal farming practices, enabling farmers to receive accurate, data-driven recommendations.
Resource Optimization: AKILIMO assists farmers in optimizing the use of resources such as fertilizers, pesticides, and water through tailored recommendations, leading to improved yields and reduced input costs.
Sustainable Farming Practices: AKILIMO promotes environmentally friendly and socially responsible farming practices. By following AKILIMO’s guidance, farmers can minimize environmental impact while maximizing productivity.

Key points to design your program

AKILIMO is a digital decision-support platform that uses advanced data analytics and machine learning to deliver personalized agronomic recommendations tailored to individual farm conditions. By replacing one-size-fits-all advisory services with data-driven recommendations, the platform optimizes the use of fertilizers, pesticides, and water while improving cassava productivity and promoting sustainable farming practices. It is well suited for digital agriculture, climate-smart agriculture, food security, and cassava value chain development programmes, contributing to SDGs 1 (No Poverty), 2 (Zero Hunger), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), and 13 (Climate Action). The technology creates valuable opportunities for women, youth, extension agents, and digital service providers through personalized agricultural advisory services.

To successfully integrate this technology, consider the following key actions:

Identify cassava production areas where limited access to personalized agronomic advice constrains productivity, resource-use efficiency, and sustainable farming practices.
Establish partnerships with CGIAR, national agricultural research institutions, extension services, private-sector digital partners, and farmer organizations to support platform deployment, localization, and technical assistance.
Assess digital readiness, farmer information needs, local connectivity, and access to recommended agricultural inputs to guide programme implementation.
Strengthen technical capacity by training extension agents, digital advisors, youth service providers, and farmers on the use of AKILIMO, digital advisory services, data collection, and climate-smart cassava production practices.
Promote data-driven farm management by integrating AKILIMO recommendations into extension programmes, demonstration activities, and personalized advisory services to improve resource-use efficiency and sustainable crop management.
Support digital advisory ecosystems by strengthening local technical support, farmer feedback mechanisms, and the use of platform-generated information for continuous programme improvement.
Monitor programme performance through indicators such as platform adoption, productivity improvements, input-use efficiency, farmer income, resource optimization, and the participation of women and youth.

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

Project	Beneficiaries	Budget	Duration	Key figures
PADCV-PTA- Democratic Republic of the Congo Projet d’Appui au Developpement des Chaines de Valeurs en soutien au Programme de Transformation de l’Agriculture	900,000 smallholder farmers (including 450,000 women).	321 million	2024–2029	62,000 tons of certified seeds. 30,000 people trained. 5,200 hectares of irrigated rice cultivation.
ERAVCDP- Angola Eastern Region Agricultural Value Chain Development Project	240,000 households, 55% of which are headed by women. 1,200 young people (ages 15–34) involved in agricultural entrepreneurship.	211.4 million	2026–2031	2,500 ha of irrigation networks. 9 markets and warehouses. 360,000 tons of fertilizer.

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
Ghana	–No ongoing testing	Tested	–Not adopted
Nigeria	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Rwanda	–No ongoing testing	Tested	–Not adopted
Tanzania	–No ongoing testing	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 9: industry, innovation and infrastructure

Goal 17: partnerships for the goals

Akilimo can be used by following the procedures below:

Download the App: The AKILIMO app is available for download on the Google Play Store.
Open the App: Once installed, open the app on your device.
Input Farm Details: You’ll be prompted to input specific details about your farm and farming practices.
Receive Personalized Advice: Based on your inputs, the app will provide personalized guidance on planting, fertilizing, and harvesting strategies to maximize yield and profit.
Implement the Advice: Apply the advice provided by the app in your cassava farming practices.

For more detailed instructions, you may want to check out the instructional videos available on the AKILIMO portal or the AKILIMO YouTube channel. Please note that the exact steps might vary depending on the version of the app. It’s always a good idea to refer to the official resources for the most accurate information.

Last updated on Jul 3, 2026