Malawi’s food crisis is a huge concern, but artificial intelligence is helping farmers identify crop diseases and forecast drought
Alex Maere survived the destruction of Cyclone Freddy when it tore through southern Malawi in 2023. His farm did not.
The 59-year-old saw decades of work disappear with the precious soil that the floods stripped from his small-scale farm in the foothills of Mount Mulanje.
He was used to producing a healthy 850kg (1,870 pounds) of corn each season to support his three daughters and two sons. He salvaged just 8kg (17 pounds) from the wreckage of Freddy.
“This is not a joke,” he said, remembering how his farm in the village of Sazola became a wasteland of sand and rocks.
