SIWA team engages Obuasi East farmers to assess app impact on decision-making

The DIPPER Lab SIWA team has engaged farmers in the Obuasi East Municipal as part of an evaluation of the Smart Indigenous Weather App (SIWA).

The meeting formed part of efforts to assess how farmers, particularly women, are using the app and how it is influencing decision-making at the household level.

SIWA was introduced to farmers in the municipality last year.

 Since then, the team has held periodic meetings with users to gather feedback to improve the app.

 During the latest engagement, the team reviewed some of the app’s prediction charts with farmers to assess their accuracy.

The ObaaSIWA initiative is being implemented under the Gender and Responsible Artificial Intelligence Network as part of efforts to develop the Gender Equality and Digital Inclusion (GEDI) framework and the SIWA mobile application.

The project is funded under the EmpowerHerAI initiative.

The meeting is part of a collaboration between DIPPER Lab and GRAIN to develop digital tools that support gender equality and responsible artificial intelligence across Africa.

The Gender and Responsible Artificial Intelligence Network (GRAIN) is funded under the Artificial Intelligence for Development (AI4D)

Gender Lead, Dr. Elikplim Abui Tamakloe, engaged women farmers to evaluate the app and gather input on how it can better meet their needs.

The Climate Change and Ecosystem Monitoring Lead, Dr. Enoch Bessah, advised farmers on addressing agricultural challenges and encouraged men to “adopt inclusive practices in the use of the app”.

He noted that “the involvement of women in the ObaaSIWA project remains important to its implementation”.

 Director of Agriculture for the Obuasi East Municipal, Mr. Osei Yaw, commended the team for the continuous evaluation process and urged farmers to “introduce the app to others within their communities”.