Imagining the Future of the Dairy Industry: A Participatory Human-Centred Approach to Policy Making for Rural Communities in Kenya

In this paper, we examine the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven technologies and human development (HD) with a focus on the rural–urban digital divide in Kenya. We draw from two Futures Literacy Labs – participatory workshops designed to envision alternative futures- organised with smallholder farmers, predominantly women from Kinangop and Ol Kalou counties in Kenya. Through these workshops, participants envisioned different futures of the dairy industry in relation to AI-driven technologies. Building on these insights, we analyse how AI both enables and constrains substantive freedoms/central capabilities of rural farmers. Our findings reveal that access to digital technologies remains highly uneven, with women farmers particularly disadvantaged in leveraging AI tools for agricultural productivity and thus access to decent work. We briefly explore Kenya's AI policy landscape, identifying gaps in rural accessibility, gender-responsive approaches, as well as a lack of participation in policy making. We thus propose some capability-informed policy suggestions where AI can contribute to equitable HD outcomes, with the potential to improve farmers’ quality of life, but not without access to education, partnerships, and institutional support. We conclude by emphasising the importance of incorporating local voices in capability-centred policymaking, contributing to bridging the increasing digital divide and potentially transforming AI-driven technologies from a source of inequality into a means of expanding human freedoms across rural settings.