From data to impact: IRRI’s digital vision at CGIAR Science Week 2025

By Shalini Gakhar

As climate pressures and food insecurity continue to challenge global agriculture, IRRI showcased a suite of digital innovations that aim to transform the way farmers grow food.

Nairobi, KENYA (April 2025) — The inaugural CGIAR Science Week, held in Nairobi, Kenya, was a vibrant convergence of global research leaders and innovators aiming to reimagine the food system. One of the central themes was digital transformation, with the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) offering substantial contributions to the discussions on data-driven agriculture, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and inclusion, aligning closely with the CGIAR’s 2025–2030 Research Portfolio.

Digital tools designed for farmers, with farmers

The CGIAR Digital Transformation Accelerator (DTA) is an initiative designed to accelerate the development of inclusive, AI-enabled, and data-driven digital solutions across food, land, and water systems. The Accelerator will co-create scalable innovations with partners across the Global South, amplifying impact through localized digital ecosystems.

IRRI’s showcased its digital portfolio, including tools that address challenges of gender, literacy, and connectivity:

Rice Crop Manager (RCM) – An intelligent advisory tool that delivers personalized nutrient and crop management recommendations to rice farmers via mobile, and how AI could help reduce the time for recommendations. Multidimensional Digital Inclusion Index (MDII) – Used by IRRI to assess and improve RCM’s inclusivity across variables like gender, literacy, and connectivity. This ensures digital advisory services are truly reaching and benefiting marginalized groups. Dynamic Agri-food Systems Tool (DynAg) : It is an innovative LLM-based (Large Language Model) advisory platform tailored for low-resource languages and underserved farming communities. DynAg integrates advanced features, supporting multiple user interfaces, including a mobile application and an Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system, to offer accessible,…