NAIROBI, Kenya- African governments, investors and agricultural technology providers are being urged to build long-term financing models for digital farming services as donor funding comes under pressure.
The call was made Tuesday at the 10th AgriFin Learning Event in Nairobi, where policymakers, financial institutions, technology companies, researchers and farmer representatives discussed how digital agriculture can reach more smallholder farmers and remain available after project funding ends.
The event’s theme was “Leveraging Evidence for Connected, Scalable and Inclusive Digital Agriculture.”
Melaku Yirga, Prosper Global’s vice president for Africa, said the sector must move from testing individual innovations to building systems that can sustain and expand successful services.
“We’ve spent years testing ideas, building partnerships and learning what works,” Yirga said. “How do we turn all of that into systems that can actually last and scale?”
Digital platforms can connect farmers with weather forecasts, agricultural advice, markets and financial services.
But providers face high costs in serving dispersed rural communities, while farmers may lack reliable connectivity, infrastructure or affordable access to digital tools.
Sieka Gatabaki, Prosper Global AgriFin’s programme director, said the technology must deliver practical value to farmers and encourage them to use it.
He pointed to mobile money and digital information services as tools that can support financial inclusion and help farmers identify opportunities to increase or diversify their income.
Programme says it has reached 8.5 million farmers
Prosper Global AgriFin said its work has reached more than 8.5 million smallholder farmers through digital information services, surpassing a target of five million. Women made up 41 per cent of those reached, according to the programme.
The initiative, established in 2012, has worked with partners in several African countries to expand digital financial and agricultural information services.
Its next challenge, speakers said, is to ensure useful services continue after individual funding programmes close.
Jasmina Lipovic, the organisation’s global finance operations and compliance director, said the end of a programme should not automatically mean the end of services developed through it.
“This is a transition, not an endpoint,” she said.
She said relationships built with banks, agribusinesses and technology companies could help sustain services beyond the initial funding period.
Prosper Global AgriFin is also seeking to strengthen partnerships and diversify its funding sources as development finance tightens.
Participants said public-private partnerships could help link government resources with private investment and established local networks.
Such collaboration may also help farmers access agricultural information and public services in formats they can understand and use.
Evidence to guide investment
Speakers called for evidence to guide decisions on which digital agriculture solutions should receive investment and be expanded.
They said funders need to establish what works, who benefits and what conditions are needed for services to remain viable.
That assessment is particularly important as development partners face tighter budgets and pressure to direct resources towards solutions with lasting value.
The event also highlighted the role of domestic financing and blended finance in reducing reliance on external funding.
Innovation ecosystem leader Sheena Raikundalia urged stakeholders to invest in the connections between finance, technology, infrastructure, markets and farmers, rather than backing digital tools in isolation.
She also called for artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies to be applied to practical problems identified by farmers.
Smallholder farmers face risks from changing weather, pests and diseases, volatile markets and high input costs.
Digital weather services, farm advice and accessible financial products can help them make decisions, speakers said, but the services must be trusted, affordable and adapted to local needs.
The event’s central challenge was how to keep effective digital agricultural services operating after donor-supported projects end, while ensuring they remain useful and accessible to farmers.
