Digital Training for System of Rice Intensification (SRI) Carried Out at Field Day in Mwea

An educational technology company, ARIFU (Akengo Kenya Company Limited), in conjunction with JKUAT’s Prof. Bancy Mati, introduced a digital SRI training app for rice farmers in Kenya during January 2022. During a Capacity Development Project for Enhancement of Rice Production in Irrigation Schemes (CaDPERP) field day in Mwea, November 17, 2022, Prof. Mati, who is also the Chairperson of the Association of Irrigation Acceleration Platform (AIAP), showed the farmers how to access the SRI digital app which she noted would help the farmers significantly in improving soil conditions and their irrigation methods. The app, which she believes is the way to go if agriculture is to reach its goal and be sustainable in the long term, is accessible to anyone with a mobile phone and provide important in providing up-to-date information to farmers. The ARIFU platform is an interactive chatbot that offers agronomic advice and financial skills training to farmers through mobile phones, giving them access to much-needed information. According to the ARIFU founder, Mr. Craig Heintzman, ARIFU is a new kind of platform that’s making quality education affordable and scalable. The Kenyan government, through the Mwea Irrigation Agricultural Development Centre (MIAD) introduced the technique (SRI) to farmers and it has proved to be an effective way of growing rice with limited water in the country. [See full article on the JKUAT website]