Women farmers need better financing to benefit from AI

Women farmers require improved financing to fully capitalize on the benefits of artificial intelligence and digital technologies, according to Shobha Shetty, a senior agricultural adviser at the World Bank. Shetty warns that women are often treated like statistics when it comes to digital access and risk being left behind in the face of climate change, food insecurity, and multiple global crises.

The CGIAR report highlights that rising fertilizer prices due to conflicts and El Niño weather events are exacerbating pressures on smallholders, particularly women. Shetty emphasizes that increasing women's usage of digital agricultural tools like AI-powered climate and pest advisories is just one aspect of the challenge; affordability, influence over design, and benefits from generated value are equally crucial.

She stresses that investments in digital agriculture must go beyond merely counting beneficiaries, instead focusing on ensuring these investments truly benefit more women. In Ethiopia, a World Bank experiment using psychometric testing for credit scores instead of financial collateral yielded a 47% higher loan uptake by women, leading to increased business survival rates during the pandemic and conflict.

Access to loans via mobile money accounts in Uganda also provided women with 15% higher profits compared to cash loans. To make agricultural finance work for women, Shetty argues that investments must connect better information with affordable products, repayment schedules aligned with farm income, and payment channels women can control.

The GAFSP, which has invested nearly US$2.5 billion in low-income countries since 2010, has recently launched a Business Investment Financing Track to address the financing gap for small- and medium-sized agricultural enterprises.