Agricultural technology is attracting investors, donors and governments who believe that phones and data can raise smallholder incomes. Ground realities are harder: farmers are dispersed, trust is earned slowly, seasons dictate usage and revenue per customer is small. Leaders must keep a venture or programme alive long enough to prove value, while staying accountable to the farmers it serves.

The Leadership and Performance in Digital Agritech for Smallholders Training Course is written for people who steer these efforts rather than build the software. It starts with understanding the smallholder as a customer and the problem worth solving, then follows the path to a sustainable model: channel design, partnerships, pricing, cost control and funding. A further block covers leading distributed teams of product, field and data staff, setting targets, running performance reviews and managing the tension between growth and mission.

Participants learn through venture case files, dashboard exercises and leadership clinics. They analyse real-style funnel and cohort data, rehearse partner negotiations and develop their own strategy and scorecard, which they present to peers acting as an investment committee.

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

• Analyse smallholder needs, constraints and digital access to shape viable services.
• Evaluate channels such as agents, cooperatives and mobile operators for reach and cost.
• Calculate unit economics, acquisition cost and retention for a digital agricultural service.
• Build and manage partnerships with input suppliers, financial institutions, buyers and government.
• Set objectives and key results and run performance reviews for product, field and data teams.
• Motivate and supervise field agents with fair incentives and quality controls.
• Balance commercial growth with measurable farmer impact and inclusion.
• Apply responsible data practices, including farmer consent and privacy.

The course is designed for leaders and decision makers in digital agriculture, such as:

• Founders and chief executives of agritech start-ups
• Country and regional managers of digital agriculture services
• Product and partnership heads in agribusiness and telecom firms
• Programme directors in NGOs and development agencies
• Digital agriculture leads in ministries and county governments
• Cooperative and farmer organisation executives
• Investors and accelerator managers supporting agritech
• Bank and insurer managers offering digital agricultural finance

Participants leave with decision tools and plans:

• A one-page strategy canvas for a smallholder digital service.
• A unit economics model showing acquisition cost, retention and break-even.
• A partnership map with value exchange and negotiation priorities.
• A team scorecard with objectives and key results across functions.
• A field agent incentive and quality plan.
• A balanced set of commercial and farmer impact indicators.

The programme is geared to leaders who must act on incomplete information. Learning takes place through:

• Venture and programme case files from East African agritech
• Spreadsheet-based unit economics and cohort exercises
• Peer coaching circles on leadership dilemmas
• Negotiation and investor pitch simulations
• Individual strategy canvases refined throughout the week

Delegates who complete the week and its practical work receive a CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion, issued by Vision Reach Global Consultancy.