Mobile phones, cheaper data and mobile money have created real opportunities to reach millions of small-scale farmers who were previously beyond the reach of conventional extension and finance. Hundreds of agritech services have launched, but many fail after a donor-funded pilot because they were designed around technology rather than around farmers' routines, constraints and willingness to pay.

The Professional Digital Agritech for Smallholders Training Course gives practitioners a disciplined approach to selecting and delivering digital solutions. Participants analyse the smallholder context, segment farmers by needs and connectivity, and match tools to the problem, whether that is advice, market linkage, payments, input supply, insurance or credit. They examine how successful platforms build trust through agents and cooperatives, handle data responsibly, and generate revenue from more than one source.

Training is workshop driven. Delegates test demonstrations of common platforms, sketch a user journey for a farmer with a basic phone, design a pilot with indicators for adoption and impact, and evaluate vendors against a scoring grid. They finish with a deployment plan covering partnerships, farmer onboarding, support, data governance and a route to financial sustainability.

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

• Analyse smallholder needs, connectivity and digital readiness to define the right problem.
• Compare mobile advisory, e-extension and market information channels for different farmer groups.
• Design farmer registries and profiles that support services while protecting personal data.
• Link digital payments, input credit and insurance to farm records.
• Use weather, satellite and sensor data to produce actionable farm advice.
• Evaluate agritech vendors and platforms against clear criteria.
• Plan and measure a pilot using adoption, usage and outcome indicators.
• Build a business model and partnership plan for lasting service delivery.

The programme is suited to professionals building or supporting digital services for farmers, including:

• Agribusiness and out-grower scheme managers
• Cooperative and farmer organisation leaders
• Government and county extension officers
• Agritech founders and product managers
• Agricultural lending and insurance product teams in banks and SACCOs
• Mobile network and mobile money partnership managers
• NGO and donor programme officers in food security and livelihoods
• Monitoring and learning specialists on agricultural projects

Participants leave the course with:

• A farmer segmentation and digital readiness profile for their target group.
• A tool selection matrix comparing platforms and channels.
• A pilot design with indicators, sample size and timeline.
• A vendor evaluation grid for procurement discussions.
• A sustainability and partnership plan for scaling beyond the pilot.

Sessions are field oriented and centre on how real farmers use technology. Learning methods include:

• Demonstrations of live agritech platforms and dashboards
• Farmer persona and user journey workshops
• Case studies of services that scaled and services that closed
• Pilot design and indicator-setting clinics
• Group deployment plans with expert feedback

Participants who attend the sessions and submit a completed deployment plan are issued a CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion by Vision Reach Global Consultancy.