OneSoil Launches AI Agronomist: A New Era of Intelligent, Real-Time Farming Decisions for Africa

Stepan Zulynskyi, CEO @ OneSoil

Swiss precision agriculture company OneSoil has taken a major step forward in making advanced technology practical for everyday farmers with the launch of AI Agronomist — an intelligent assistant that turns complex satellite data, weather information, and field records into clear, actionable daily recommendations.

The new tool addresses one of the biggest frustrations in digital agriculture: having access to vast amounts of data but struggling to turn it into timely, practical decisions. Instead of switching between multiple dashboards and reports, farmers can now simply ask questions in natural language and receive concise, field-specific guidance.

How AI Agronomist Works

Built into the OneSoil platform, the AI Agronomist combines:

• Nearly nine years of proprietary satellite imagery and crop intelligence

• Large language models

• Vision-language AI capable of interpreting satellite images

• Real agronomic expertise from OneSoil’s team

  
  

Farmers can ask questions such as:

• “What has changed in my fields in the last 48 hours?”

• “Which blocks show signs of stress?”

• “Should I spray this week?”

  
  

The assistant identifies potential issues like flood damage, vegetation stress, declining crop health, or pest risks, and suggests practical management steps.

Relevance for African Agriculture

For African farmers — particularly smallholders and those in regions with limited agronomic support — this type of tool could be transformative.

Africa’s agriculture faces unique challenges: erratic weather, rising input costs, labour shortages, and limited access to qualified extension officers. An AI agronomist that works on basic smartphones and delivers advice in local languages has the potential to democratise expert-level insights that were previously available only to large commercial operations.

In South Africa, where water scarcity affects 60% of arable land and smallholders often operate with minimal support, tools like this could help:

• Detect crop stress earlier

• Optimise limited water and fertiliser resources

• Reduce unnecessary chemical applications

• Improve timing of critical operations like planting, spraying, and harvesting

OneSoil already supports over 1.16 million users globally, with a significant and growing presence in Africa. The platform helps farmers manage more than 70 million hectares annually.

Real-World Value

Early users of OneSoil’s precision tools have reported savings of between US$10 and US$85 per hectare, depending on the crop and region. With AI Agronomist, these gains are expected to increase as farmers receive faster, more personalised recommendations.

The tool is especially promising for:

• Small and medium-scale farmers who cannot afford full-time agronomists

• Regions with poor connectivity (thanks to offline capabilities)

• Crops critical to African food security such as maize, cassava, sorghum, and vegetables

Broader Industry Context

OneSoil’s move reflects a maturing AgriTech industry that is shifting focus from simply collecting data to delivering actionable intelligence. Major agribusinesses like Corteva, BASF, Bayer, and Cargill already use OneSoil’s technology, showing strong demand for reliable AI-driven agronomic support across the value chain.

For Africa, where agriculture employs the majority of the population and remains central to economic development, tools that make precision agriculture more accessible could play a vital role in improving productivity, resilience, and sustainability.

The Road Ahead

While AI Agronomist is not a complete replacement for human expertise, it represents an important step toward making advanced agronomic support available at scale — even in remote and under-resourced areas.

As connectivity improves across the continent and more localised data is incorporated into these models, AI-powered assistants could become standard tools for African farmers, helping them make better decisions in an increasingly unpredictable climate.

The future of farming in Africa may not be defined by who has the most land or labour, but by who has the best information — delivered at the right time, in the right way.