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https://e-catalogs.taat-africa.org/org/technologies/isat-intelligent-agricultural-systems-advisory-tool-for-climate-risk-management-and-farm-decision-making
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iSAT: Intelligent Agricultural Systems Advisory Tool for Climate Risk Management and Farm Decision-Making

Turning climate forecasts into actionable farm guidance!

iSAT is a climate information and advisory system designed to support smallholder farmers in managing climate risks through tailored, location-specific agricultural guidance. It combines climate forecasts, crop information, and local farmer knowledge using decision tree logic to generate practical recommendations for both pre-season planning and in-season farm management. 

2

This technology is pre-validated.

8•7

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

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.

Problem

  • Many development programs still face challenges in ensuring that climate information services reach smallholder farmers in a usable and understandable form.
  • Climate advisories are often not sufficiently localized or adapted to farmers’ crops and real field conditions, reducing their impact.
  • There is a persistent gap between scientific climate forecasting and practical farm-level decision-making tools that farmers can act on immediately.
  • Scaling climate-smart agriculture interventions is difficult due to limited digital infrastructure and unequal access to internet services in rural areas.
  • Integration of indigenous knowledge with scientific climate information is often weak, affecting acceptance and adoption at community level.
  • Development partners also face challenges in demonstrating clear, measurable impact on productivity, resilience, and sustainable agricultural transformation.

Solution

  • iSAT improves the delivery of climate services by providing simple, practical, and localized advisories tailored to smallholder farmers’ needs.
  • It ensures scientific climate forecasts are translated into clear, actionable farm-level decisions before and during the season.
  • The platform supports scaling of climate-smart agriculture by using multiple low-cost communication channels (SMS, IVR, radio, voice calls) suitable for rural areas.
  • It strengthens inclusiveness by combining scientific climate data with local and indigenous farming knowledge, improving relevance and adoption.
  • iSAT provides structured feedback mechanisms that help partners track impact on yields, costs, and resilience outcomes.
  • Overall, it helps development partners achieve greater reach, effectiveness, and measurable impact in agricultural resilience programs.

Key points to design your program

iSAT improves climate risk management, agricultural productivity, and resilience by providing farmers with timely, location-specific, and crop-specific agro-advisories based on climate forecasts. It helps farmers make informed decisions on crop selection, planting dates, input use, pest and disease management, and climate adaptation practices. The tool can be integrated into climate-smart agriculture, food security, agricultural extension, digital agriculture, climate adaptation, and rural resilience programs. Its adoption contributes to SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 1 (No Poverty), and SDG 15 (Life on Land).

To integrate this technology into your project, plan and budget for the following activities and prerequisites:

  • Assess climate-related agricultural risks, farmer information needs, existing advisory services, and access to communication channels in target areas.
  • Identify and target climate-vulnerable farming communities, particularly smallholder farmers operating in rainfed agricultural systems.
  • Establish partnerships with ILRI, meteorological services, agricultural research institutions, extension agencies, farmer organizations, telecommunications providers, and local development partners to support advisory generation and dissemination.
  • Support farmer registration and profiling by collecting information on location, farming systems, crops grown, and preferred communication channels.
  • Deploy and strengthen multiple dissemination channels, including SMS, IVR, voice messages in local languages, mobile applications, websites, and radio broadcasts to maximize outreach and inclusiveness.
  • Build the capacity of extension agents, community facilitators, and farmers to interpret and apply climate forecasts and advisory recommendations in farm management decisions.
  • Promote awareness and uptake through farmer organizations, cooperatives, community meetings, and extension networks.
  • Facilitate the integration of local and indigenous knowledge into advisory development to improve relevance, trust, and adoption.
  • Establish monitoring and feedback mechanisms to collect farmer experiences, assess outcomes, and continuously improve advisory services.

Track key indicators such as the number of farmers reached and actively using iSAT, adoption of recommended climate-smart practices, changes in crop yields and production costs, reduction in climate-related losses, reach of advisory services across target areas, farmer satisfaction, and improvements in resilience to climate variability.

IP

Open source / open access

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.

Read more about scaling readiness ›

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

Tested & adopted
Adopted
Tested
Testing ongoing
Egypt Equatorial Guinea Ethiopia Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burundi Burkina Faso Democratic Republic of the Congo Djibouti Côte d’Ivoire Eritrea Gabon Gambia Ghana Guinea Guinea-Bissau Cameroon Kenya Libya Liberia Madagascar Mali Malawi Morocco Mauritania Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Republic of the Congo Rwanda Zambia Senegal Sierra Leone Zimbabwe Somalia South Sudan Sudan South Africa Eswatini Tanzania Togo Tunisia Chad Uganda Western Sahara Central African Republic Lesotho
Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country Testing ongoing Tested Adopted
Kenya – –
Senegal – –

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.

Sustainable Development Goal 1: no poverty
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.
Sustainable Development Goal 2: zero hunger
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.
Sustainable Development Goal 13: climate action
Goal 13: climate action

iSAT strengthens climate adaptation by helping farmers anticipate and respond to climate variability through timely, location-specific agro-advisories.
Sustainable Development Goal 15: life on land
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

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 ›
Sustainable Development Goal 1: no poverty
Sustainable Development Goal 2: zero hunger
Sustainable Development Goal 13: climate action
Sustainable Development Goal 15: life on land
public.components.sdgs.motre
Category
Digital applications
Subcategory
Digital Advisory and Extension
Tested/adopted in Details ›
Tested & adopted
Adopted
Tested
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
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iSAT: Intelligent Agricultural Systems Advisory Tool for Climate Risk Management and Farm Decision-Making

https://e-catalogs.taat-africa.org/org/technologies/isat-intelligent-agricultural-systems-advisory-tool-for-climate-risk-management-and-farm-decision-making

Last updated on 28 August 2026, printed on Sep 5, 2026

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