RICO-BOOP-maker/Mkulima-AI-

Mkulima AI is an innovative, community-focused agritech platform designed specifically to empower smallholder farmers across East Africa. The word "Mkulima" means "Farmer" in Swahili, reflecting the tool's core mission: breaking down technological, financial, and language barriers to deliver modern agricultural intelligence directly to rural areas # 🌾 Mkulima AI - Smart Agricultural Assistant An intelligent, bilingual agricultural chatbot powered by Google's Gemini AI. Built specifically for farmers in Kenya and East Africa with practical, actionable farming advice. ## ✨ Features - 🤖 **AI-Powered Assistance**: Real-time responses using Google Gemini 3 Flash - 🌍 **Bilingual Support**: English & Kiswahili - 📱 **Fully Responsive**: Works seamlessly on mobile, tablet, and desktop - 🌙 **Dark Mode**: Easy on the eyes for night farming sessions - 💬 **Streaming Responses**: Watch answers appear in real-time - 🧠 **Context-Aware**: Understands local crops, pests, and farming practices - ⚡ **Fast & Lightweight**: Static site - no backend server needed - 🔒 **Privacy First**: Chat history stored locally (sessionStorage) - 🎨 **Beautiful UI**: Modern, intuitive interface with smooth animations - ♿ **Accessible**: WCAG-compliant design ## 🚀 Quick Start ### Prerequisites - Node.js v18+ - npm or yarn - Gemini API Key (free from Google AI Studio) ### Installation 1. **Clone the repository** ```bash git clone github.com cd mkulima-ai-firebase ``` 2. **Install dependencies** ```bash npm install ``` 3. **Setup environment variables** ```bash cp .env.example .env.local ``` Edit `.env.local` and add your Gemini API key: ``` VITE_GEMINI_API_KEY=your_actual_key_here ``` 4. **Start development server** ```bash npm run dev ``` Open localhost in your browser. ## 📦 Available Scripts ```bash # Development server npm run dev # Build for production npm run build # Preview production build npm run preview # Clean build artifacts npm run clean # Deploy to Firebase npm run deploy # Firebase login npm run firebase:login # Initialize Firebase hosting npm run firebase:init # Deploy only hosting npm run firebase:deploy ``` ## 🎯 What Mkulima AI Does Mkulima AI provides farmers with: ### 🌱 Crop-Specific Advice - Maize farming and troubleshooting - Tomato cultivation and disea …