A file image of a farm.
In 2024, Opportunity International’s Ulangizi AI chatbot sparked real change for farmers in rural Malawi.
By delivering real-time, region-specific agricultural insights, the tool enabled smallholder farmers to increase yields, strengthen their resilience, and improve their financial performance.
Within its first year, thousands of farmers reported better harvests and new pathways to prosperity.
The success of Ulangizi proved that a single spark of innovation could brighten the lives of thousands.
In 2025, that spark is being fanned into a larger initiative designed to reach millions across Africa.
Inspired by Ulangizi’s impact, Opportunity International has now launched the Technology Advisory Council (TAC), a group of technology and investment leaders dedicated to scaling AI and digital solutions for communities living in extreme poverty.
“Opportunity International has spent the last 50 years seeking innovations to better serve people living in the deepest poverty in the world, and today’s tools have the capacity to achieve real transformation,” said Opportunity International CEO Atul Tandon.
“Our new Tech Advisory Council aims to design for even greater impact, always with our clients front of mind.”
From a Local Solution to a Global Vision
Ulangizi was built to meet a specific need: helping farmers navigate unpredictable weather patterns, crop pests, and limited extension services.
Its localized advice on planting schedules, soil care, and crop protection gave farmers information that was once out of reach.
The results went beyond productivity: improved harvests translated into more food on tables, higher household incomes, and a stronger national food supply.
For Opportunity International, the tool confirmed a key lesson from decades of work: when solutions are designed around the realities of users, transformation is possible.
The decision to establish TAC ensures that future technologies are developed with the same human-centered approach and can be scaled across the Global South.
Scaling FarmerAI Across Africa
Building on Ulangizi’s momentum, Opportunity International decided to expand in 2025.
Its Digital Innovation Group launched FarmerAI, the next generation of the chatbot.
FarmerAI expands reach, leverages deeper datasets, and builds partnerships that allow farmers to receive hyper-specific advice at scale.
In February 2025, the team toured Africa to extend efforts in Malawi and launch two new pilots.
In Nairobi, Opportunity CTO Greg Nelson signed an agreement with Safaricom, Kenya’s largest telecommunications provider, to integrate FarmerAI into its DigiFarm platform.
Potato farmers are now receiving AI-driven guidance to optimize planting, reduce losses, and increase yields.
The team then moved to Accra, Ghana, where a pilot was launched with Development Bank Ghana (DBG) and agricultural risk-sharing institution GIRSAL.
In the first phase, 100 extension officers were using FarmerAI to provide region-specific guidance to rice farmers—helping prevent crop disease and improve productivity.
This data-driven approach allows FarmerAI to offer precise, actionable advice tailored to regional climate conditions, soil types, and local farming practices.
Strengthening Partnerships
Now with the establishment of the Technology Advisory Council, Opportunity International plans to expand and deepen its partnerships in a more strategic way.
The Council will guide Opportunity’s Digital Innovation Group and the Collaboration Laboratory (CoLab), an accelerator that has already developed AI tools to support entrepreneurs living in extreme poverty.
The Council will champion the role of these emerging technologies in the fight to end extreme poverty.
“We live in an exciting time of rapid growth thanks to artificial intelligence and machine learning,” said TAC Chair Greg Nelson.
The council will also further collaborations with its partners, Safaricom in Kenya, the Malawi Ministry of Agriculture, the Development Bank of Ghana, and global NGO GiveDirectly, to ensure that AI and digital tools reach the communities that need them most.
These partnerships illustrate how cross-sector collaboration can amplify the impact of technology, enabling tools like FarmerAI to reach more people, gather more data, and deliver more meaningful results.
As TAC Chair, Nelson emphasized the council’s mission:
“Alongside my new colleagues, we can open pathways to innovation that empower the most vulnerable around the world.”
Looking Ahead
From Ulangizi in Malawi to FarmerAI across Kenya and Ghana, Opportunity International’s approach demonstrates how technology can drive tangible change.
For farmers, it means access to precise guidance, higher yields, and stronger resilience to environmental and economic shocks.
For the organization, the launch of TAC represents a commitment to shaping innovation with purpose, ensuring that AI tools are designed, tested, and scaled in ways that maximize real-world impact.
What began in Malawi’s fields is now poised to serve as a model for expanding AI-driven solutions across Africa, helping communities build stronger livelihoods and more resilient food systems.
With TAC guiding the development of future digital tools, the organization is set to continue expanding FarmerAI’s reach, incorporating new datasets, and exploring innovations that support the agricultural sector while keeping the needs of farmers at the center of design and deployment.
ABOUT OPPORTUNITY INTERNATIONAL:
Opportunity International is a global nonprofit that has been equipping people to build sustainable livelihoods and educate their children for 54 years.
Opportunity provides 21 million families with innovative financial resources, training, and support to grow their small businesses and send their children to school.
In 2024, Opportunity International and its partners helped fund more than 19,000 schools that reached 3.4 million children.
