Nairobi: Governments in the region can use the Political Economy and Policy Analysis (PEPA.AI) as a digital tool to help them quickly generate policies that can be used in implementing Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies. A user can utilize PEPA.AI to define a policy issue, such as low crop yields in a specific region, and then use the tool to analyze the political and economic factors contributing to the problem, suggesting potential solutions to improve the situation.
According to Kenya News Agency, during a training session for scientists and experts from the National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems (NARES) from Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA) member countries in Nairobi, Dr. Sylvester Baguma, Executive Director of ASARECA, emphasized the potential of the PEPA.AI tool. He highlighted that the tool would enhance the use of climate foresight data by decision-makers, thus improving climate adaptation and building reliance on African agriculture.
Dr. Baguma noted the traditional challenges of data analysis for policy creation, stating, "We are used to a situation whereby we spend a lot of time cracking data to write something, but here with the use of Pepper AI, we can quickly generate relevant policies and look at institutional mechanisms for implementing climate-smart agriculture technologies within a little time."
The training aims to empower stakeholders from the 15 member countries of ASARECA to utilize the PEPA.AI tool effectively. This empowerment is timely as experts can now extend their training to farmers, fostering sustainable production and resilient agri-food systems. Dr. Baguma also mentioned ASARECA's commitment to intensifying technology promotion and innovation programs to strengthen AI tool utilization.
Dr. Jonathan Mockshell, a senior scientist from Alliance Biodiversity-CIAT, identified the region's primary challenge as increasing the adoption of regenerative agroecological practices. He highlighted gaps in innovation scaling, institutional arrangements, governance, policies, and financial mechanisms. The PEPA.AI tool, developed with an AI-backed model, aims to rapidly generate insights essential for decision-making and creating an enabling environment for adopting agroecological practices.
Dr. Mockshell explained that the tool facilitates the identification of crucial practices, policies, and environmental factors, supporting farmers in making informed decisions about CSA practices. He emphasized the importance of partnerships with national stakeholders to ensure the tool's reach and effectiveness in scaling innovation.
Lydia Kimani, Executive Director for Agribusiness for African Markets, praised the speed and efficiency of PEPA.AI in generating policy briefs to address climate change issues. "We want to use Pepper AI to generate relevant policy briefs to deal with climate change and variability, so that our farmers are given the right information by the policy makers and the right decisions are made that will benefit them," she stated.
Joab Osumba, Agriculture Policy and Resource Mobilization Lead Adaptation, noted that the PEPA.AI tools would provide more information, enabling faster progress and efficiency compared to traditional methods. ASARECA, a Sub-Regional Inter-Governmental Organization of NARES from 15 member states, including Kenya, continues to implement Agricultural Research for Development initiatives in Eastern and Central Africa.