The World Bank's 2026 World Development Report argues that what low-income countries lack most is the human skills that drive growth, and that AI can fill exactly that gap.
A single public agricultural extension agent in Nigeria may serve anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 farmers; in India the ratio is roughly 1 to 5,000. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization recommends one agent per 500 to 2,000 rural inhabitants.
The gap is not only in headcount but in the advice itself, which tends to be generic. In one experiment in Ethiopia, farmers given locally tailored AI advice raised wheat yields by 38%.
I had assumed AI mostly helps those already ahead. This report says the opposite: the less experience you start with, the more room there is to gain.
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