NextGen Advisory: Digital Advisory tool for Farmers

Empowering Farmers with Digital Guidance

The NextGenAgroadvisory is a comprehensive system that utilizes location-, context-, and climate-specific data to provide agricultural advisories. These advisories include optimal fertilizer application, integrated soil fertility management (ISFM), climate information services, climate-smart agricultural activities, pest and disease surveillance, and other relevant agricultural investments. The system uses machine learning algorithms to analyze various data points and generate precise recommendations for fertilizer application and other agricultural practices.

This technology is pre-validated.

8•7

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

Problem

Limited access to location-specific, context-specific, and climate-specific data in certain regions, which may affect the accuracy of recommendations.
Dependence on the availability and reliability of meteorological services and climate data for effective planning of planting dates and fertilizer applications.
Need for additional resources to implement climate-resilient agricultural practices.
Risk of pest and disease outbreaks despite surveillance, requiring additional measures to control these threats.
Challenges in adopting and implementing integrated soil fertility management practices due to logistical constraints or limited knowledge.
Complexity in analyzing data and generating accurate recommendations using machine learning algorithms, requiring technical expertise and adequate computing resources.

Solution

Tailored fertilizer recommendations based on location-, context-, and climate-specific data.
Integration of climate information services to optimize planting dates and fertilizer application timing.
Implementation of climate-smart agricultural activities to improve resilience to changing environmental conditions.
Provision of pest and disease surveillance to mitigate risks and protect crops.
Recommendations for integrated soil fertility management practices to enhance soil health and nutrient availability.
Deployment of machine learning algorithms to analyze data and generate precise recommendations for agricultural practices.

Key points to design your program

NextGen Advisory is a digital decision support tool that improves agricultural productivity, profitability, and climate resilience by providing location-specific recommendations on fertilizer management, integrated soil fertility management, climate-smart practices, and pest and disease management. The technology can be integrated into digital agriculture, agricultural extension, climate-smart agriculture, sustainable land management, and food security programs to strengthen farmer decision-making and optimize resource use. Its adoption contributes to SDGs 1 (No Poverty), 2 (Zero Hunger), 13 (Climate Action), and 15 (Life on Land).

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

Assess farming systems, digital readiness, extension capacity, and access to smartphones, internet connectivity, and climate information services in target areas.
Establish partnerships with CGIAR Sustainable Farming Program, national agricultural research and extension services, digital technology providers, universities, and other agricultural value chain stakeholders.
Facilitate access to the NextGen Advisory platform through smartphones, tablets, or web-based services, and ensure reliable digital connectivity for farmers and extension agents.
Implement demonstration activities and training for farmers, extension agents, cooperatives, women's groups, and youth enterprises on digital advisory services, integrated soil fertility management, climate-smart agriculture, fertilizer recommendations, and pest and disease management.
Support extension and dissemination activities to promote the adoption of digital advisory services and site-specific crop management recommendations.
Promote the participation of women, youth, and smallholder farmers in technology dissemination and adoption activities.
Implement monitoring, learning, and inclusion activities throughout the project lifecycle.
Track key indicators such as the number of farmers reached, technology adoption rates, fertilizer use efficiency, crop yields, farm profitability, soil health, climate resilience, and user satisfaction.

IP

Unknown

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

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
Ethiopia	–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 1: no poverty

Goal 2: zero hunger

Goal 13: climate action

Goal 15: life on land

The system leverages a combination of technologies including APIs, chatbots, web apps, and high-resolution maps to disseminate customized advisories.

Access the digital tool through any platform for free; all you need is an internet connection.
Data inputs for the system include soil data from SoilGrids, climate data from TerraClim, and topographic data from Amazon Web Services, which are then processed through machine learning algorithms (specifically, random forest) to predict optimal application rates and other agricultural advisories based on observed conditions and historical data.
The advisories are delivered to farmers through various channels, including mobile applications, SMS alerts, interactive voice response systems, and on-site extension services. This ensures that farmers have access to timely and relevant information regardless of their location or access to technology.
Farmers receive these advisories through videos, interactive voice responses (IVR), and other digital formats, making the information accessible and actionable.

Last updated on 2 July 2026