Smallholder farmers produce much of the food eaten across Africa, yet they often lack timely information, fair markets and affordable finance. Digital agritech services promise to close these gaps, but delivering them reliably to people with limited connectivity, low digital confidence and thin margins is a management challenge as much as a technical one. Success depends on deep user understanding, strong local partnerships and disciplined operations.

The course takes the perspective of the manager responsible for making a service work. It begins by profiling smallholder segments, their livelihoods, decision cycles and digital access, and by identifying where a service can create genuine value. Participants then work through service and product design, channel choice, pricing, onboarding and training, agent network management and customer support. Further sessions deal with partnership structures, funding options, data protection, financial management and legal and ethical safeguards. Finally, participants learn to build a simple monitoring framework with adoption, usage, retention and outcome indicators.

Learning is practical and interactive. Participants bring or are given a real service, analyse it using canvas tools and operating checklists, and prepare an operating plan with budget assumptions. They finish with feedback from peers and facilitators and a list of immediate management actions.

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

• Segment smallholder farmers and describe their needs, constraints and digital access.
• Choose appropriate channels and technologies for different farmer groups.
• Design onboarding, training and support that drive sustained use.
• Recruit, train and supervise field agents and community champions.
• Structure partnerships with cooperatives, suppliers, buyers and mobile operators.
• Develop pricing and revenue models that balance affordability and sustainability.
• Track adoption, retention and outcomes using a practical monitoring framework.

The course is suited to managers and leaders who run or support digital services for farmers, including:

• Agritech founders, product managers and operations managers
• Programme and project managers in agricultural development
• Cooperative, union and farmer organisation leaders
• Extension service and county agriculture managers
• Business development staff in input and output companies
• Mobile network operator and fintech partnership managers
• Donor, impact investor and development bank officers
• Monitoring and learning specialists in agricultural programmes

Participants leave with:

• A smallholder segmentation and needs profile for their target users.
• A service blueprint covering channels, onboarding and support.
• A field agent management plan with recruitment, training and incentive options.
• A partnership and pricing model they can test with real stakeholders.
• A dashboard of indicators to monitor adoption and impact.
• An operating plan with the first six months of management actions.

The course is built for working managers and emphasises tools they can apply immediately. It includes:

• Canvas-based workshops for service design and business models
• Case files from advisory, marketplace and payment platforms serving smallholders
• Role plays on negotiating partnerships and training agents
• Spreadsheet exercises on unit economics and budgeting
• Peer review of operating plans with facilitator feedback

Participants who attend the programme and present an operating plan receive a CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion issued by Vision Reach Global Consultancy.