How Ethiopia built a national digital fertilizer advisory system

Key result story taken from our 2025 annual technical report.

In 2025, 49,000 Ethiopian farmers increased productivity and incomes through the HaFAS advisory system, implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture and EIAR, in partnership with CGIAR's Sustainable Farming Program. Validated through more than 2,700 on-farm trials across wheat, maize, tef, and sorghum, and delivered via extension services and digital platforms including FarmerChat and LERSHA's finance platform, HaFAS drove wheat yield gains of 16–25 percent and is now embedded in Ethiopia's national extension system. 

For years, Ethiopian farmers received blanket fertilizer recommendations that overlooked differences in soils, rainfall, field history, and management. Farmers often applied inputs without achieving desired harvests, eroding trust in extension services. Multiple projects issued inconsistent, sometimes conflicting advice, leaving farmers and extension workers unsure which guidance to follow. 

The Ministry of Agriculture and EIAR sought to unify fertilizer advisory services under a nationally managed system offering site- and season-specific guidance. Using evidence generated by the Sustainable Farming Program, a Localized Agronomy and Fertilizer Advisory (LAFA) within the HaFAS framework was developed. Powered by the NextGen Decision Support Tool, the system merges soil, climate, and agronomy data with AI and machine learning analytics to produce farm-specific recommendations. CGIAR Centers, including the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and ICRISAT, ensured scientific rigor through validation, model calibration, and field trials. A continuous feedback loop between farmers, extension agents, government, and partners enables real-time learning and refinement. HaFAS is now being adopted within Ethiopia's national extension system, with plans to reach 2 million farmers by 2030. 

In 2025, 49,000 farmers received tailored recommendations through a blended analog and digital delivery model. Digital Green's FarmerChat handled more than 15,000 queries, while LERSHA's bundled finance platform reached 32,000 farmers, linking 8,000 to credit and insurance including 1,300 women. 

Farmers saw concrete benefits: wheat yields grew by 16-25 percent, maize yields rose by 10.5-17.6 percent, and profitability increased by US$412-580 per hectare for wheat and US$195-230 per hectare for maize. Improved fertilizer use cut input costs by 20 percent. 

HaFAS replaces fragmented advice with a single, trusted, evidence-based recommendation per site and season, strengthening extension credibility and enabling consistent decision-making. Embedded feedback loops linking farmers, digital platforms, and national systems ensure the advisory evolves with changing conditions. Optimized input use also reduces emission intensity per ton of produce, contributing to climate-smart agriculture. The system represents a shift from project-based advisory to a nationally owned, data-driven platform with the foundation for long-term agricultural transformation. 

Key activities enabling success

• MoA-led partner alignment and National Decision Support Tools Coordination Platform co-chaired with EIAR.
• Capacity building for NARS researchers in data management, artificial intelligence and machine learning analytics, and system administration (2024-2025).
• Expansion of the national soil and agronomy database to more than 100,000 multi-year records.
• Migration of core scripts and databases onto the MoA infrastructure for long-term sustainability.
• National validation standards and quality assurance protocols for HaFAS.
• Sustainable Farming Program scientific backstopping with the participation of the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT and ICRISAT. 

Before, farmers received different fertilizer messages from different projects. Now HaFAS gives one nationally validated recommendation we can stand behind and improve each season. 

Dr. Birru Yitaferu, Senior Soil Scientist, Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) 

Contributing Centers: Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, ICRISAT 

Contributing external partners: Ministry of Agriculture (MoA), Ethiopia, Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR), Regional Agricultural Research Institutes (RARIs), GIZ-Ethiopia with SSHI-project, Coalition of the Willing (CoW) Ethiopia, Digital Green Ethiopia, Green Agro Solution PLC (LERSHA), ORG-Self Help Africa, Bureaus of Agriculture in Ethiopia (zonal, regional, and district)