Welcome to "A Generation of Doers," 4th Edition, a series highlighting the work of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Government Innovation Fellows who are developing technology-driven solutions for public service challenges. Since 2014, Code for Pakistan and the KP IT Board have collaborated on this program to bring together technologists, designers, and researchers to create digital tools that improve governance and service delivery.
This year, our KP Government Innovation Fellows are working on a Pest Disease Control Mobile App and Web Admin Panel to support farmers in managing crop health. Pest outbreaks and plant diseases can significantly impact yields, and early detection is key to minimizing losses. The Fellows are developing a system that provides real-time pest monitoring, early warnings, and data-driven insights to help both farmers and agricultural officials respond more effectively.
We spoke with some of the Fellows working on this project to learn more about their experiences, the challenges they are addressing, and what they hope to achieve through the Fellowship.
Meet the Fellows
Munnawar Shah – Program Associate (Supporting the Fellows in project development and implementation.)
Muhammad Touseef – AI Specialist (Working on integrating artificial intelligence for pest detection and prevention.)
Bibi Shawana Orakzai – UI/UX Designer (Designing an interface that ensures ease of use for farmers and stakeholders.)
Muhammad Asif Khan – Flutter Developer (Developing a mobile solution for field-level pest monitoring.)
Inside the Fellowship: Their Journey & Work
1️⃣ What led you to join the KP Government Innovation Fellowship, and how does this program align with your goals?
Munnawar Shah: I joined the KP Government Innovation Fellowship Program because I am passionate about using technology to improve government services and civic engagement. As a product manager at Code for Pakistan, I oversee projects that make public services more efficient and accessible. This program allows me to work closely with government teams, ensuring that innovative digital solutions address real challenges. It aligns with my goal of building impactful, user-friendly technology that benefits citizens and enhances governance.
Muhammad Touseef:This opportunity matches my skills. I joined it to improve these skills, data collection, data preparation and data Analysis and I feel that my skills have improved. It is a great program that solves real-world problems.
Bibi Shawana Orakzai: I joined the KP Government Innovation Fellowship because I love designing digital solutions that solve real problems. With my experience in graphic design, UI/UX, and software engineering, this program was a great opportunity for me to contribute to something meaningful. Since the project focuses on building an AI system to help people get answers about government rules, it perfectly matches my skills and passion for innovation.
Muhammad Asif Khan: My passion always creating user-friendly experiences that solve real-world problems. The KP Government Innovation Fellowship felt like the perfect opportunity to use that passion to improve public services in KP. Working on Pest Disease Control Mobile App aligns with my goal of designing simple and effective solutions. This fellowship allows me to combine creativity with civic responsibility while growing as a developer and positively impacting communities. It's inspiring to know that my work can bring real, lasting change to people's lives.
2️⃣ Can you tell us about the Pest Disease Control Mobile App and Web Admin Panel? What problem does it address, and what has been your role in its development?
Munnawar Shah: The Pest Disease Control Mobile App and Web Admin Panel are designed to help farmers and agricultural officials quickly identify and manage crop diseases. The app allows farmers to report pest infestations, receive AI-driven disease diagnostics, and get expert recommendations for treatment.
As a Product Manager at Code for Pakistan, I have been responsible for overseeing the development of this solution, ensuring it meets user needs. My role includes coordinating with developers, designers, and government stakeholders to refine features, improve usability, and ensure smooth deployment. By bridging the gap between technology and agriculture, this project aims to enhance the support of farmers with timely, data-driven insights.
Muhammad Touseef: The Pest Disease Control Mobile App helps farmers and field officers identify and manage crop pests and diseases using AI. It provides real-time identification, and treatment recommendations, and helps farmers take timely action to protect crops and increase yields. The Web Admin Panel helps manage data, monitor reports, and improve disease detection.
As a Data Scientist / AI Specialist, my role was to collect and preprocess data, including tasks like labelling and annotation.
Bibi Shawana Orakzai:The Pest Disease Control Mobile App and Web Admin Panel helps farmers identify crop diseases using AI. Farmers can upload pictures of affected plants, and the app gives instant disease detection and treatment suggestions. The web panel allows agriculture experts to monitor cases and update information. My role is designing the app’s interface to make it easy for users to navigate and use.
Muhammad Asif Khan: The Pest Disease Control Mobile App and Web Admin Panel help farmers detect and manage crop diseases using AI-based analysis. The app allows farmers to upload images of affected crops, and the system identifies the disease and provides solutions. The Web Admin Panel helps manage data, monitor reports, and improve disease detection.
As a Flutter developer, my role is to build the mobile app, ensure a smooth user experience, and integrate AI-based detection features. One of the biggest challenges was collecting accurate crop data, which we solved by working with experts and using reliable sources.
3️⃣ What have been some key challenges in building this project, and how have you worked to address them?
Munnawar Shah: The biggest challenge in developing the Pest Disease Control app has been obtaining a reliable, labeled dataset for accurate disease detection. Without quality data, AI models struggle to provide precise diagnostics. We are still facing this issue, but to address it, we are developing the first version of the application with a feature that allows users to take pictures of affected crops and tag them with the disease name and remedy. This crowdsourced approach will help us build a reliable dataset, which we can then use to improve AI accuracy in future iterations. By focusing on data collection first, we are laying the foundation for a more effective and scalable solution.
Muhammad Touseef: Key challenges include data collection (ensuring diverse, high-quality labeled images), model accuracy (generalizing across conditions), and integration with weather data (for better predictions). We've addressed these by collecting datasets. One of the biggest challenges was collecting accurate crop data. using data augmentation, and leveraging expert annotations for improved labeling.
Bibi Shawana Orakzai: Some challenges in this project were ensuring the AI correctly detects pests and creating an easy-to-use app for farmers. To solve this, we trained the AI with many pest images and kept the app simple. I focused on designing a clear and user-friendly interface for farmers.
Muhammad Asif Khan: The biggest challenge was collecting accurate crop data. As a Flutter developer, my main focus was building the app, but gathering the right data was difficult. To solve this, we worked with experts, used reliable sources, and improved the data collection process. This helped make the app more accurate and useful for farmers.
4️⃣ What impact do you hope this project will have on farmers and agricultural services?
Munnawar Shah: I hope this project will empower farmers by providing them with a reliable tool to identify and manage crop diseases early, reducing losses and improving yields. By enabling farmers to report issues and receive expert guidance, the app can bridge the gap between agricultural experts and those working in the fields. Additionally, the web admin panel will help government officials monitor disease outbreaks in real time, allowing for faster interventions and better resource allocation. In the long run, this solution aims to enhance food security, increase productivity, and create a more data-driven approach to agricultural services.
Muhammad Touseef: This project aims to help farmers by enabling early pest detection, reducing crop losses, and improving yields. It will also enhance agricultural services by improving efficiency, supporting data-driven decisions, and strengthening pest management strategies. It also saves farmers time to find accurate data.
Bibi Shawana Orakzai: I hope this project helps farmers quickly identify pest diseases, reduce crop damage, and improve their harvests. It will also make agricultural services more efficient by providing real-time data and better pest control strategies. Overall, it aims to save time, reduce losses, and improve farming practices with the help of AI.
Muhammad Asif Khan: It will make farming easier and more productive for farmers. By using AI to detect crop diseases early, farmers can take quick action to protect their crops and reduce losses. This will help them save time, money, and effort. The app also provides useful guidance, making modern agricultural services more accessible. Overall, the goal is to improve farming efficiency and support farmers with better tools and information.
5️⃣ What skills or experiences are you most looking to develop through the Fellowship, and how do you see them contributing to your future work?
Munnawar Shah: Through the KP Government Innovation Fellowship, I aim to further develop my skills in product management, user-centered design, and data-driven decision-making. Managing civic-tech projects requires balancing technology, policy, and user needs, and this fellowship provides a unique opportunity to work closely with government stakeholders and multidisciplinary teams. I also want to improve my ability to scale digital solutions for public services by understanding the challenges of adoption and sustainability. These experiences will strengthen my ability to build impactful, user-friendly technology that addresses real-world problems, ultimately contributing to my future work in civic innovation and digital transformation.
Muhammad Touseef: Through the Fellowship, I want to gain expertise in AI and data analytics, especially in agriculture. I aim to get practical experience in data analysis, research, and AI-based decision-making. These skills will help me develop effective pest detection systems, protect crops, improve food security, and bring new ideas to agricultural technology.
Muhammad Asif Khan: Through this Fellowship, I want to improve my Flutter development skills, learn more about AI integration in mobile apps, and gain experience in working on real-world government projects. I also want to develop better problem-solving and teamwork skills. These experiences will help me build more advanced and impactful applications in the future, especially in agriculture and other important sectors.
Bibi Shawana Orakzai: In the Fellowship, I want to get better at UI/UX design, learn how AI works in apps, and improve my problem-solving skills. This will help me create better and easier-to-use apps in the future. I also want to gain experience working on big projects to prepare for better jobs in tech and design.
Looking Ahead
The Pest Disease Control Mobile App is currently in development, with pilot testing underway. In the coming months, Fellows will continue working with farmers, agricultural experts, and government stakeholders to refine the system and explore its broader applications.
For updates on this and other projects, stay connected as we highlight more work from the KP Government Innovation Fellows and their role in designing technology solutions for public services. Share your ideas with us at info@codeforpakistan.org