Agriculture remains the main livelihood for much of rural Africa, and the smallholders who produce most of the food face the greatest gaps in information, finance and market access. Digital services promise to close those gaps at low cost, yet the sector has seen many platforms with large registrations and little sustained use. Leaders now need sharper questions before they invest, partner or mandate a technology.

The Executive Digital Agritech for Smallholders Training Course is designed for decision makers rather than technicians. It reviews how digital tools fit into agricultural value chains, what drives farmer adoption and willingness to pay, how business models are built around multiple revenue sources, and where partnership and policy choices matter. Participants also consider data rights, cyber and privacy risk, inclusion of women and young people, and the practical limits of connectivity, devices and digital skills.

The course is conducted as an executive briefing and clinic. Short expert inputs are followed by structured appraisals of real-world style agritech models, discussions with practitioners' cases and a facilitated design of each participant's own digital strategy. Delegates leave with an investment or partnership screening tool and a strategic outline ready for senior discussion.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Map digital solutions to the constraints faced by smallholders along a value chain.
• Evaluate agritech business models, unit economics and paths to financial sustainability.
• Explain the factors that drive farmer adoption, trust and sustained use.
• Select delivery channels suited to the connectivity and literacy of target farmers.
• Structure partnerships with mobile operators, financiers, input suppliers and offtakers.
• Set data governance and consent principles for farmer information.
• Design inclusion measures for women, youth and remote communities.
• Screen agritech proposals for investment or programme support using clear criteria.

The programme is intended for executives and senior officials who decide on agricultural technology, including:

• Chief executives and directors of agribusiness and input companies
• Leaders of cooperatives, unions and farmer apex organisations
• Directors and principal secretaries in agriculture ministries and counties
• Donor, foundation and development agency programme heads
• Agricultural lending managers in banks and microfinance institutions
• Impact investors and venture fund managers
• Agritech founders and product leads seeking smallholder scale
• Telecom and mobile money partnership managers

Participants leave with:

• An agritech screening scorecard for proposals, partners and pilots.
• A view of which digital tools fit which value chain constraints.
• A checklist for testing farmer demand and willingness to pay before scaling.
• A partnership structure outline linking technology, finance and market actors.
• Farmer data governance principles for their organisation.
• A short digital strategy brief for their own smallholder portfolio.

The programme is an executive clinic with short inputs and structured appraisal work:

• Case files on advisory, marketplace, insurance and traceability models from Africa and Asia
• Scorecard-based appraisal of sample agritech proposals in small groups
• Discussion with practitioners' experience of what farmers will and will not pay for
• Design clinics on bundling services and pricing for smallholder segments
• Facilitated peer review of each delegate's digital strategy outline

On attending the full five days and completing the appraisal and strategy exercises, delegates receive a CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion issued by Vision Reach Global Consultancy.