AI-based tools for smart farming

Large areas of agricultural land in the west and the north of Africa are heavily degraded, mainly because of unsuitable agronomic systems and inappropriate management. The EU-funded SustInAfrica project aims to empower smallholder farmers, small and medium-sized enterprises and various government and non-governmental organizations in Ghana, Burkina Faso, Niger, Egypt and Tunisia to successfully intensify food production and deliver ecosystem services in a sustainable and resilient manner. The project will strive to attain this by providing a comprehensive analysis of local ecosystems, in addition to offering soil, water and plant health management strategies.

The project consists of 16 partners from 11 countries (Finland, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Austria, Ireland, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Niger, Egypt, Tunisia). It is funded in the Horizon 2020 framework over a period of five years (2020 – 2025). The close collaboration between partners in Europe and Africa ensures that all developed technologies and frameworks can be systematically and realistically evaluated in demonstration trials by African farmers and also that insights and results of the project are disseminated to relevant stakeholders.

Within the project, the research group “Data Science” from the Institute of Computer Science at the University of Hildesheim is helping to develop smart AI-based farming technologies for plant production. Such technologies are essential for monitoring plant performance and pests for sustainable production intensification. Within the project, the University of Hildesheim in particular develops AI-based computer vision technologies to automatically detect and classify pest insects that are relevant for high-value crops. The computer vision models can be deployed in the form of a mobile phone app that enables farmers to quickly assess pest pressures on the field and adapt crop management accordingly.

Date:
2024

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