Is There a Farming App in Kinyarwanda? Yes, and You Can Talk to It

Yes. Umujyanama is a free, AI-powered farming app that works in Kinyarwanda from the first screen. You can ask its AI adviser a question by voice in Kinyarwanda and hear the answer read aloud, so a farmer does not need to read English, or read much at all, to use it. It is on the App Store for iPhone and runs in the browser on any phone at umujyanama.hekitari.com. Hekitari's Smart Farm Manager also works in Kinyarwanda, for farms and cooperatives that want a managed setup.

What does "in Kinyarwanda" actually cover?

All of what a farmer reads or hears: the menus and buttons, the verdict on each field, the soil and weather advice, the error messages, the adviser's answers and its voice. Crop disease and pest names keep the name an agro-dealer knows them by where there is no settled Kinyarwanda name, so you can ask for the right product at the shop.

How do you ask Umujyanama a question by voice?

• Open a field and tap Baza Umujyanama ("ask the adviser"), or open the adviser from the home screen
• Tap the microphone. The first time, the phone asks your permission to use it
• Ask your question in Kinyarwanda, in your own words
• The answer appears in writing and is read aloud

Speaking needs a connection. With no network you can type the question instead: it is kept on the phone and answered when the connection returns. Your conversations are kept on your phone, not on Hekitari's servers.

What can you ask the adviser?

Asked from inside a field, the adviser has that field's whole record in front of it: the crop, the variety, the planting date, the satellite readings, the soil and the weather. So you can ask about your own maize rather than maize in general. Questions like these suit it:

• Why is my field behind what it should be at this stage?
• Rain is forecast this week. Should I wait before applying fertiliser?
• What does the soil on this field need for beans?
• Which crops would suit this piece of land next season?

It gives advice from data; it has not walked your field. Before a costly decision, or when a problem is spreading, check its answer with an agronomist or your extension officer.

Can it diagnose a sick plant in Kinyarwanda?

Yes. Open the field's Indwara tab, then tap Fata ifoto to photograph a leaf, stem or fruit up close, or Hitamo mu mafoto to choose a picture you already have. The adviser diagnoses it knowing the crop, its stage and what the satellite shows on that field, and answers in Kinyarwanda with treatments available in Rwanda.

What do the words in the app mean?

For an extension officer, a family member helping out, or anyone who reads English more easily than Kinyarwanda, these are the words you will meet first:

• Shaka umurima: find a field
• Imirima yanjye: my fields
• Aho uherereye: find land by its location (Intara, Akarere, Umurenge, Akagari, Umudugudu)
• Shushanya: draw the field on the map
• Incamake: overview, with the verdict on the crop
• Uko wahindutse: trends over the last twelve months
• Umusaruro: yield
• Ubutaka: soil and terrain
• Ikirere: weather and climate
• Indwara: disease
• Ibihabereye: which crops suit this land
• Baza Umujyanama: ask the adviser
• Umva: listen, to hear a text read aloud
• Kimeze neza: the crop is doing well
• Gifite ikibazo: the crop is behind and worth a visit