Smallholder farmers lose income to unpredictable weather, poor market information, expensive inputs and lack of credit, and a phone in the pocket can help address each one. The harder part is choosing tools that suit low-literacy, low-bandwidth settings and getting farmers to adopt them. This five-day programme is hands-on. You explore mobile advisory and SMS or voice services, weather and pest alerts, market price platforms, digital input and output marketplaces, mobile money and savings, farm record apps, satellite-based crop monitoring and basic e-extension through WhatsApp groups and community videos. You also practise onboarding farmers, training village agents and keeping records that build a credit history.
Sessions cover gender and youth inclusion, costing and sustainability of a digital service, data privacy for farmers and ways of measuring uptake and benefit. The programme suits extension officers, cooperative and farmer group leaders, NGO and project field staff, agribusiness outreach teams, county agriculture officers, agritech start-up staff and lenders working with farmers. It is delivered in the classroom, online or in-house, and ends with a CPD-accredited certificate. You leave able to select tools for a farmer group, run a pilot and report on results.
Most of the food grown in East Africa and much of the continent comes from small farms, and these farmers have been slow to benefit from agricultural technology designed for larger operations. That is changing as mobile coverage spreads and digital services designed for smallholders appear, from advisory messages to payment wallets and input financing. Yet many pilots fail because the technology did not fit farmers' habits, language, devices or trust.
The Practical Digital Agritech for Smallholders Training Course focuses on use rather than theory. Participants try a range of tools on their own phones and learn what each can and cannot do. They then study adoption: how farmers decide, who they trust, how groups and village agents spread new practices, and what barriers women, young people and older farmers face. Mid-programme sessions look at connecting digital tools to real value chains, covering market linkages, traceability, digital finance and insurance.
The final sessions concentrate on running a small pilot, from setting objectives and recruiting farmers to training, support, cost recovery and measuring results. Learning takes the form of field-style role plays, device practice, case studies of services that worked and failed, and design clinics. Each participant leaves with a pilot plan for a farmer group they serve.
By the end of the course, participants will be able to:
Participants leave with:
The week is organised around doing, not listening. Participants will experience:
Day 1: Smallholder Realities and the Digital Opportunity
Day 2: Information and Advisory Tools
Day 3: Finance, Inputs and Farm Records
Day 4: Adoption, Inclusion and Support
Day 5: Piloting, Costing and Measuring Results
The programme is intended for people who work directly with smallholder farmers or design services for them, including:
A CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion from Vision Reach Global Consultancy is awarded to each participant who attends the programme and completes the hands-on tasks and pilot plan.
Upcoming cohorts
CPD-Accredited
Official invoice & confirmation letter provided
Team discount for 3+ seats
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Everything you need to know about this course before you register.
By the end of the Practical Digital Agritech for Smallholders programme, you'll be able to identify the problems of smallholder farmers that digital tools can realistically solve, compare mobile advisory, market information, weather, payment and record-keeping tools, demonstrate selected apps and services to farmers with limited literacy or connectivity, and plan onboarding and support using groups, cooperatives and village agents. The full breakdown of topics is covered session by session in the Course Outline tab above.
The programme is intended for people who work directly with smallholder farmers or design services for them, including: Agricultural extension officers, Cooperative managers and farmer group leaders, NGO and project field officers, Agribusiness and input supplier outreach staff, County and district agriculture officers, Agritech and digital service start-up teams, Microfinance, SACCO and bank agricultural lending officers, and Young agripreneurs and village-based agents.
Practical Digital Agritech for Smallholders Training Course typically runs as 5 Days. It's available as in-person classroom, live virtual, and in-house corporate training — every course can also be delivered on-site for your team on dates that suit you.
Practical Digital Agritech for Smallholders Training Course is scheduled in-classroom in Nairobi, Kenya, Mombasa, Kenya, Naivasha, Kenya, and Kisumu, Kenya, and 14 other locations, plus a live interactive virtual classroom you can join from anywhere. Check the schedule panel above for exact upcoming dates and fees in each location.
The next live virtual cohort of Practical Digital Agritech for Smallholders starts October 26, 2026, with new classroom cohorts also running on a rolling basis. Pick a date and location in the schedule panel above, then click "Register for the Course" — it takes a few minutes and your seat is confirmed once payment or a signed purchase order is received.
Yes — delegates who meet the attendance requirement receive a Certificate of Completion for Practical Digital Agritech for Smallholders Training Course from Vision Reach Global Consultancy, issued in the name you register with, so double-check the spelling at checkout.
Practical Digital Agritech for Smallholders Training Course is pitched at all levels professionals. If you're unsure whether it's the right fit for your current role or background, message our training advisors before you register and they'll help you confirm.
Fees for Practical Digital Agritech for Smallholders Training Course vary by delivery location and format and are shown in real time in the schedule panel above once you pick a date. Register 3 or more delegates on the same course together and a 5% team discount is applied automatically — larger cohorts can request a custom corporate quote.
Yes — Practical Digital Agritech for Smallholders Training Course can be delivered on-site at your offices (or virtually for distributed teams), with case studies and examples tailored to your industry and the specific challenges your team is working through. Switch to the "In-House" tab in the schedule panel above to request a proposal.
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