What Precision Development does

Precision Development (PxD) is a US-incorporated 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2016 by Nobel laureate Michael Kremer alongside Shawn Cole, Dan Björkegren, and Heiner Baumann, headquartered in Newton, Massachusetts, with regional offices in Kenya (Nairobi), India (Ahmedabad), Ethiopia (Addis Ababa), and an operations presence in Nigeria (Abuja). PxD designs, tests, and operates digital agricultural advisory services for smallholder farmers in developing countries, delivering free, customized two-way content via its proprietary "Paddy" User Communications Platform across SMS, Integrated Voice Response (IVR), WhatsApp, and Telegram channels. As of 2025 PxD reports reaching approximately 46.4 million users at an average cost per user per year of around $0.58, with country-specific deployments including Ama Krushi in Odisha (later renamed Krushi Samruddhi Helpline, ~7.9M farmers), the 38M-farmer AI weather forecasting program in India, the Digital Precision Agricultural Extension (DPAE) platform in Nigeria, the Digital Agricultural Advisory Services (DAAS) dairy program in Ethiopia, MoA-INFO in Kenya, plus smaller programs in Colombia, Pakistan, and Uganda.

The core technology stack is Paddy, a proprietary two-way communications platform built in-house by PxD's Technology Practice, supporting millions of users, built-in A/B testing and RCT randomization at the user level, extensibility via external APIs (e.g., integration with OFRA-based fertilizer optimizers), and integration with Africa's Talking, Infobip, Wavy, Twilio, WhatsApp, Telegram, and Voice-over-SIP/PRI telco infrastructure. PxD applies human-centered service design, RCT-grade evaluation, and remote-sensing yield measurement to build evidence-led advisory. Its go-to-market is a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model in which PxD partners with national and state governments (Government of Odisha, India Ministry of Agriculture, Ethiopia Ministry of Agriculture, Nigeria FMAFS), multilaterals (World Bank/ACReSAL, IFAD, FCDO), and research institutions to embed services into government extension systems, often via multi-year Project Management Units housed inside ministries of agriculture.

PxD's revenue model is grant-funded rather than commercial: services are provided free of charge to end-user farmers, with funding drawn from philanthropic foundations (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Walmart Foundation, Apparel Impact Institute, Digital Green consortium), bilateral/multilateral donors (UK FCDO, World Bank), and government contracts, plus individual donations accepted at $25–$1,000 tiers. Anchor funding is concentrated with the Gates Foundation, which co-funds multiple flagship programs and PMUs. PxD files IRS Form 990 as a US nonprofit and operates a wholly-owned Indian subsidiary, Precision Development India Private Limited.

Name

Precision Development

Legal name

Precision Development (PxD)

Website

https://precisiondev.org/our-covid-19-response/19-surveys/

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Precision Development (PxD) is a US-based nonprofit that designs and operates free digital agricultural advisory services for smallholder farmers in developing countries via its proprietary Paddy platform across SMS, IVR, WhatsApp, and Telegram, partnering with governments, multilaterals, and foundations in 9+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Agricultural Advisory Services

NAICS

Farm Management Services (115116), Support Activities for Crop Production (11511)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Decision Support & Agronomic Modeling (Yield, Irrigation, Pest/Disease Forecasting) (AFAAAFAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) & Digital Recordkeeping (AFABAMAD), Farm Data Management & Decision Support Services (FMIS Setup, Data Integration, Analytics) (AFACACAC)

Keywords

• Digital agricultural advisory
• Smallholder farmer services
• Mobile extension services
• Agricultural information systems
• International development consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

Newton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices5 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Foundation grants: PxD receives grants from major philanthropic foundations to fund programs. Examples include a $2.78 million grant from the Walmart Foundation (announced Sept 2024) partnering with NEN, Cornell University, and PxD to support technological advancements in India's agriculture sector benefiting 300,000+ farmers. Funding from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Apparel Impact Institute, and Digital Green consortium funding also referenced.
2. Government contracts and PMU engagements: Multi-year government contracts and Project Management Unit (PMU) engagements, including a roughly two-year PMU within Ethiopia's Ministry of Agriculture (March 2025 to February 2027) and a similar PMU in India's Ministry of Agriculture established in 2023. Funded by the Gates Foundation.
3. Multilateral and donor-funded program implementation: Program implementation funded by multilateral organizations such as the World Bank (via the ACReSAL project in Nigeria), UK FCDO, and others. PxD leads dairy value chain work in Ethiopia via the DAAS consortium funded by Gates Foundation and FCDO.
4. Individual donations: Direct donations from individuals via the PxD website with selectable tiers ($25, $50, $150, $250, $1,000) and either one-time or yearly billing cycles. Recognized as a 'standout charity' by GiveWell in 2020 for self-analysis, transparency, and cost-effectiveness.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Core offering

Precision Development (PxD) designs, builds, and operates digital agricultural advisory services that deliver customized, two-way information to smallholder farmers in developing countries via mobile phones (SMS, IVR, WhatsApp, Telegram). These services are powered by PxD's proprietary User Communications Platform called Paddy and are deployed at scale in partnership with national and state governments, foundations, and multilateral organizations using Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) models.

Product overview

Precision Development (PxD) operates a platform-plus-modules architecture centered on Paddy, a proprietary User Communications Platform that powers nearly all of PxD's offerings. Paddy provides the underlying two-way communication framework across SMS, IVR (voice), WhatsApp, and Telegram channels, with extensibility for randomization (A/B tests, RCTs), data collection, customization, and external API integrations. On top of Paddy, PxD builds and operates country- and value-chain-specific advisory services — including flagship Ama Krushi in Odisha, the AI-powered Weather Forecasts program in India (reaching 38 million farmers), Digital Precision Agricultural Extension (DPAE) in Nigeria, Digital Agricultural Advisory Services (DAAS) for dairy in Ethiopia, MoA-INFO in Kenya, Coffee Krishi Taranga, Krishi Tarang (Gujarat), Krishi Katha (West Bengal), and Un Mensaje por el Campo in Colombia — alongside complementary modules such as the Leaf Color Chart (LCC) decision-support tool, AI-Powered Agricultural Advice initiatives, and Project Management Units (PMUs) supporting India's and Ethiopia's ministries of agriculture. PxD also delivers non-digital initiatives like Asset-collateralized Loans (Kenya), Enhanced Rock Weathering, Stress-Tolerant Seeds scaling, and the HarvestPlus zinc wheat pilot, often in partnership with governments, multilaterals (World Bank, IFAD), and foundations (Gates Foundation, Walmart Foundation, Open Philanthropy).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Paddy: PxD's User Communications Platform — a framework for building highly automated two-way communication applications via SMS, Integrated Voice Response (IVR), WhatsApp, and Telegram, designed to support millions of users and enable data collection, experimentation (A/B tests/RCTs), and customization at scale.

Products and services

• Paddy (User Communications Platform) PxD's proprietary framework for building highly automated two-way communication applications that exchange information with users on mobile phones. Supports SMS, IVR, WhatsApp, and Telegram channels and can run millions of users; enables data collection, randomization for A/B tests or RCTs, customization based on user data, and extensibility via external APIs.
• Ama Krushi Two-way digital agricultural advisory service (Push Call Advisory, Live Call Center, Farmers Hotline) provided free by the Government of Odisha's Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Empowerment, originally built by PxD. Customizes information for 29+ value chains across crops, fisheries, livestock, and kitchen gardens; reached 3.2 million farmers at handover and now serves ~7.9 million farmers.
• Scaling Farmers' Access to Weather Forecasts (India) Partnership with India's Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare (MoA&FW) and Development Innovation Lab India (University of Chicago) to deliver high-quality weather forecasts via the m-Kisan SMS system. The Monsoon 2024 pilot reached 9.45 million farmers across five states; the Monsoon 2025 AI-based expansion reached 38 million farmers across 13 states.
• Digital Precision Agricultural Extension (DPAE) Platform - Nigeria Voice-based mobile advisory service developed with the World Bank-funded ACReSAL project and Nigeria's Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security. Delivers one to two automated voice calls per week in Hausa customized to location, crop, and seasonal stage, plus an inbound hotline. Reached ~20,000 farmers with 97% trust and 99% satisfaction.
• Digital Agricultural Advisory Services (DAAS) - Ethiopia Direct-to-farmer mobile-phone-based advisory services for the dairy value chain in Ethiopia. Pushes content on artificial insemination, heat identification, pregnant-cow management, calf management, and least-cost balanced rations to ~17,500-27,000 farmers from SNV and Land O'Lakes datasets. Funded by Gates Foundation and FCDO.
• Leaf Color Charts (LCC) for Cotton Farmers - India User-friendly plastic-strip decision-support tool for real-time nitrogen assessment in cotton, combined with digital advisory support. Findings: farmers receiving LCCs reported 35% less nitrogen fertilizer use, ~0.3 mt CO2-eq GHG emissions reduction per hectare, and an estimated 4.3% decrease in cost of production.
• Coffee Krishi Taranga Digital advisory service for Indian smallholder coffee farmers.
• Krishi Tarang (Gujarat) Digital advisory service for Gujarati farmers in India.
• Un Mensaje por el Campo (Colombia) Initiative supporting the adoption of new technology, mindsets, and practices to transform Colombia's agricultural sector.
• Livestock Management Advisory for Females in Rural Punjab (LMAFRP) Livestock management advisory program targeting rural women in Punjab, Pakistan.
• Accelerating Smallholder Access to AI-Powered Agricultural Advice Initiative aimed at accelerating smallholder farmers' access to AI-powered agricultural advice.
• Ethiopia Project Management Unit (Digital Agriculture Roadmap) Project Management Unit established within Ethiopia's Ministry of Agriculture from March 2025 to February 2027 to implement Ethiopia's Digital Agriculture Roadmap, including strategic advisory, MEL, and capacity building for government staff.
• India Ministry of Agriculture Project Management Unit Embedded Project Management Unit within India's Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare since 2023 to strengthen digital agriculture infrastructure and lead message design and dissemination for the AI weather forecasting program.
• Krishi Katha Award-winning advisory service for smallholder farmers in West Bengal, India.

Quantifiable outcome

• 12:1 – 19:1 benefit-cost ratio of flagship program in India ($1 invested generates $12-$19 agricultural profits)
• +9 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

AI capability4 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

25 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship / core, core and minor.

• Government of Odisha (Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Empowerment, DAFE)flagship / coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint Build-Operate-Transfer delivery of the Ama Krushi digital advisory service (renamed Krushi Samruddhi Helpline by Odisha govt in Aug 2024). Service covers all 30 districts of Odisha and serves ~7.9 million farmers. Day-to-day management transitioned to Tatwa Technologies Ltd in July 2022.
• Digital GreencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConsortium lead for the Digital Agricultural Advisory Services (DAAS) project in Ethiopia (October 2019 – September 2024). Co-implemented the FarmStack tech platform; PxD led the dairy value chain work.
• Ethiopia Ministry of Agriculture (MoA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment partner in DAAS Ethiopia dairy value chain work; signed MOU in June 2025 to establish a Project Management Unit implementing Ethiopia's Digital Agriculture Roadmap (2025-2032). Housed within MoA, governed by a Steering Committee chaired by the Minister of Agriculture.
• Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in DAAS Ethiopia and co-host of Ethiopia's Digital Agriculture Roadmap launch event (Feb 2025).
• Livestock Development Institute (LDI), EthiopiacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment stakeholder in DAAS Ethiopia; provides dairy cows record dataset accessed for PxD's feed ration advisory.
• International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) / African Dairy Genetic Gains (ADGG)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch institution partner in DAAS Ethiopia; provides dairy cows dataset and technical collaboration on productivity interventions.
• University of Florida (Livestock Innovation Lab)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides feed chemical composition data and technical assistance on least-cost balanced ration advisory for Ethiopian dairy farmers.
• Hawassa UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides feed chemical composition data for least-cost balanced ration advisory in DAAS Ethiopia.
• SNV (Netherlands development organization)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerDAAS Ethiopia partner; provides ~17,500 farmers' profiles for PxD's push call content on artificial insemination.
• Land O'LakescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDAAS Ethiopia partner; provides dataset of 27,000 farmers for PxD's lactating cow and calf management push calls.
• NEN (North East Network)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-grantee with PxD and Cornell University under the Walmart Foundation's $2.78M India agriculture technology program (Sept 2024).
• Cornell UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-grantee with PxD and NEN under the Walmart Foundation's $2.78M India agriculture technology program (Sept 2024).
• ACReSAL (Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes, World Bank-funded)flagship / coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner on Nigeria's Digital Precision Agricultural Extension (DPAE) platform launched April 2025; reached ~20,000 farmers across 8 northern states (Kano, Niger, Adamawa, Sokoto, Bauchi, Gombe, FCT, Kaduna). Operated jointly with FMAFS under a Build-Operate-Transfer model for handover to FMAFS.
• Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS), Nigeriaflagship / coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment partner in DPAE Nigeria alongside ACReSAL and Federal Ministries of Environment and Water Resources; service scheduled to be transitioned to permanent operation by FMAFS via BOT model.
• Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare (MoA&FW), Government of Indiaflagship / coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPxD embedded in MoA&FW's Project Management Unit (PMU) since 2023; leads message design and dissemination for the AI weather forecasting program reaching 38 million farmers across 13 states via m-Kisan during Monsoon 2025.
• Development Innovation Lab (DIL-India), University of Chicago Trustflagship / coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the AI weather forecasting program for Indian smallholder farmers (2024 pilot through 2025 scale-up); co-led with PxD the design and dissemination.
• Boston Consulting Group (BCG)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCo-host of the Ethiopia Digital Agriculture Roadmap launch event (Feb 2025) and partner in the development of the DAR.
• Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)coreTechnology or IntegrationResearcher at PIK developed the monsoon onset forecasts shared with 0.85 million farmers in Telangana during the 2024 pilot.
• International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides technical assistance on LCC calibration and GHG emission estimation (Cool Farm Tool); created the original rice LCC model that informed the cotton LCC research.
• Indian Meteorological Department (IMD)flagship / coreTechnology or IntegrationProvided total seasonal rainfall forecasts sent via SMS to 8.6 million farmers in May/June 2024 across 5 Indian states during the weather forecast pilot.
• Google (Neural GCM) and ECMWF (AIFS)flagship / coreTechnology or IntegrationOpen-access AI weather models blended into the forecast product deployed for India's 38 million farmer AI weather program in 2025.
• Tatwa Technologies LtdcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerCompany contracted to the Government of Odisha to which day-to-day management of the Ama Krushi service was transitioned in July 2022 following the BOT model.
• IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIFAD has covered PxD's partnership in Pakistan (per July 2022 PxD news referencing IFAD story).
• The Agency Fund (TAF) / Tech4Dev (T4D)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerCo-hosted user engagement workshop referenced in July 2024 PxD news.
• E-Verify (USA)minorOthersPxD participates in E-Verify in the USA as part of its employment compliance program.

Scale indicators16 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Digital Green: Digital Green is the closest direct peer — a non-profit that uses video and digital tools to deliver agricultural advisory to smallholder farmers in developing countries. PxD and Digital Green co-implemented the DAAS Ethiopia project and Digital Green's FarmStack platform was a shared technology infrastructure in that consortium.
• Ignitia: Ignitia delivers tropical weather forecasting via SMS to smallholder farmers in West Africa, focused on the same use case (location-specific weather forecasts to farmers) as PxD's India AI weather program. Both rely on mobile-phone-based delivery and target similar smallholder farmer segments in LMICs.
• Farmerline: Farmerline (Ghana-based) provides digital agricultural advisory and market information services to smallholder farmers across West Africa via SMS and voice, with a similar target customer base and technology stack (mobile-phone-based multilingual advisory). Both organizations operate as mission-driven entities serving LMIC smallholders.
• aWhere: aWhere provides agricultural analytics, weather data, and decision-support services specifically targeted at smallholder farmers and agricultural extension systems in developing countries — directly comparable to PxD's agronomic decision-support and weather-advisory offerings.
• Plantix: Plantix is an AI-powered crop disease and pest diagnostic app for smallholder farmers, serving tens of millions of users globally with mobile-phone-based agronomic advice. Comparable to PxD in target customer (smallholder farmers), delivery channel (mobile), and product category (digital agronomic advisory).
• Arifu: Arifu is a Kenya-based edtech and agritech platform delivering interactive SMS and chatbot-based learning and advisory to smallholder farmers and consumers across East Africa. Direct overlap with PxD's MoA-INFO service in Kenya in target customer and SMS/IVR delivery model.
• Esoko / Farmerline (legacy): Esoko (now part of Farmerline) provides SMS-based market information and agricultural advisory to smallholder farmers across Africa. Direct overlap with PxD's Africa advisory services in target customer (smallholders), delivery channel (SMS), and product category (market info + agronomic advisory).

Broad incumbents

• One Acre Fund: One Acre Fund is a much larger and longer-established agricultural services organization serving smallholder farmers across East Africa with inputs, financing, training, and increasingly digital advisory. Comparable to PxD in target customer and mission; differs in offering a broader (non-digital-only) bundle and operating its own farm-input distribution.
• CropX: CropX is a precision agriculture technology company offering soil sensors, agronomic analytics, and decision-support software — broader commercial agriculture focus but overlapping with PxD in digital agronomic decision support. Differs in targeting larger commercial farms rather than smallholders in LMICs.

Others

• CGIAR / IFPRI: IFPRI is a research institution that co-publishes digital agriculture evidence with PxD and partners with PxD on India AI weather design. Comparable in domain (agricultural research for development) but operates as a research organization rather than a service-delivery operator; partner rather than competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat7 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

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Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Precision Development