Northrift Solutions is a leading provider of innovative technology solutions, specializing in the development and implementation of advanced systems for various sectors, including agriculture, healthcare, and finance. By leveraging technology to solve real-world problems, Northrift Solutions has established itself as a trusted partner for organizations seeking to enhance their operational capabilities and achieve sustainable growth.
Headquartered in Kenya, Northrift Solutions combines local expertise with global technological advancements to deliver customized solutions that address the specific challenges faced by their clients. Their comprehensive service offerings include software development, systems integration, and IT consulting, designed to optimize efficiency and drive digital transformation.
Northrift Solutions has a proven track record of successfully implementing projects that significantly impact their clients’ operations. Their collaboration with the Kenya Ministry of Agriculture showcases their commitment to improving agricultural practices and outcomes through the use of technology. By partnering with LiquidMetal AI, Northrift Solutions is at the forefront of introducing AI-driven innovations to enhance the productivity and sustainability of the agricultural sector in Kenya.
LiquidMetal AI is an artificial intelligence consultancy firm based in Mountain View, California, dedicated to delivering cutting-edge AI solutions to diverse industries. Our mission is to transform complex problems into innovative and efficient solutions using advanced AI technologies deployed on Cloudflare. We specialize in integrating AI systems that enhance operational efficiency, drive business growth, and provide our clients a competitive edge in their respective markets.
At LiquidMetal AI, we pride ourselves on our customer-centric approach, ensuring that each solution is tailored to meet our clients’ unique needs. Our team of experts brings together a wealth of experience in AI research, software development, and strategic consulting, enabling us to offer comprehensive services that include AI strategy formulation, custom AI model development, and seamless implementation of AI-driven solutions.
The Kenya Ministry of Agriculture’s website houses a library of PDF documents essential to the various stakeholders of the country’s agricultural sector. This includes guidelines, best practices, research findings, and policy documents that can significantly benefit farmers and other stakeholders. However, this information is spread across thousands of PDFs hosted on numerous pages throughout the ministry’s website, making it difficult for users to navigate, find, and access the information they need.
This problem is exacerbated by the technological constraints facing many of Kenya’s citizens. In Kenya, most citizens, including farmers, rely primarily on smartphones for their digital needs. Consistent internet access is often a luxury many cannot afford, so farmers heavily depend on SMS for their communications and interactions. This scenario requires a solution that can bridge the information gap and deliver valuable content in a more accessible way.
The primary objective of this project was to transform the extensive information available on the Ministry of Agriculture’s website into a format that could be easily accessed and consumed by all farmers. This involved consolidating and organizing the dispersed information and delivering it through channels that are readily accessible, such as SMS and mobile-friendly platforms. The overarching goal was to empower farmers with the knowledge they need to enhance their agricultural practices and improve their livelihoods, ensuring that even those with limited internet access could benefit from available resources.
One of the primary challenges of this project was the lack of reliable internet access for its target users — farmers, households, extension officers, non-governmental, and government officials. A significant portion of Kenyans, especially in rural/low-income areas, still rely on basic feature phones that do not have internet access. Most rural farmers interact with companies and services via SMS, as evidenced by the success of M-Pesa, a banking system that operates entirely through SMS. This reliance on SMS poses a significant hurdle for accessing information that is currently only available in PDF format on the ministry’s website.
Additionally, for those with smartphones, the technical nature and length of these documents make it difficult to discern relevant information. Northrift Solutions and the Kenyan government faced the task of effectively disseminating contextual content from a large body of PDF documents to farmers via SMS.
To address the challenges LiquidMetal developed a solution centered around a readily accessible and easy-to-use chat application. This application leverages retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) technology to provide users with accurate and relevant answers based on the extensive collection of PDFs available on the Ministry of Agriculture’s website. By using this advanced AI-driven approach, the chat application can respond to user questions and provide direct links to the relevant content within the PDFs, ensuring that farmers receive precise and actionable information.
Additionally, to address the reliance on SMS for communication among many Kenyan farmers, LiquidMetal built an API endpoint designed to deliver the same information in a format suitable for SMS-based interactions. This API ensures that responses are concise and formatted to fit within the 140-character limit of individual SMS messages, making it possible for farmers to receive valuable information directly on their mobile phones, regardless of internet access.
This dual approach—combining a sophisticated chat application with an SMS-compatible API—ensures that all farmers, irrespective of their technological limitations, can access the information they need to improve their practices and livelihoods. By bridging the digital divide and providing an intuitive and accessible solution, we empower Kenyan farmers with the knowledge and resources necessary to thrive in the agricultural sector.