Christina Matsenga had a problem: her goat had stopped eating.
The farmer from Ndodo, a village in Malawi’s Lilongwe district, knew a smartphone-based chatbot could help — even if she didn’t have a smartphone herself. Matsenga turned to an in-person farmer support agent who opened WhatsApp on her own smartphone, took photos of the goat, and sent them to a number linked to a chatbot called Ulangizi.
Normally, Matsenga would have to travel 25 miles to the capital to her local government agricultural extension officer. But within seconds, the chatbot sent recommendations on how to treat the animal in Chichewa, the local language, which the agent read aloud to Matsenga.