Climate change continues to be a major threat to agricultural productivity, especially among the smallholder farmers who are most impacted by the unpredictability of the rains, increasing temperatures, and extreme weather events. Climate-smart farming practices (CSFPs) are one of the solutions which not only raise the productivity but also strengthen the resilience and ensure environmental sustainability. However, the adoption of these practices is still very limited mainly because of the lack of knowledge and access as well as the inadequateness of extension services. Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered agricultural extension systems have become the most recent development in this field which has led to making services to farmers more effective by being real-time, location-specific, and personalized advisory services that are capable of reaching farmers almost anytime and anywhere. This paper is focused on the use of AI-driven extension services as a means to inspire climate-smart farming practices among smallholder farmers. The study was carried out within the framework of quantitative research with data being collected through the use of structured questionnaires that were administered to 120 farmers and then analyzed by means of descriptive statistics and regression analysis. The results show that, despite a fairly good level of awareness of AI-enabled extension services, the actual use is hampered by digital literacy issues, infrastructural deficiencies, as well as socio-economic factors. Farmers who are regular users of AI-based advisory tools disclose that their decisions have been better supported leading to their increased use of CSFPs and ultimately their greater ability to cope with climate; variability. The regression analysis reveals that there is a positive and statistically significant effect of the use of AI-enabled extension on the adoption of climate-smart practices. The study concludes that AI-driven agricultural extension services can effectively support sustainable farming and climate adaptation, provided that barriers to access and utilization are addressed through policy, infrastructure, and capacity-building initiatives.
Ladejo Yomi (Fri,) studied this question.