From Seed to Screen: AgriFin Marks 10 Years of Digitally Transforming Smallholder Farming.

From Seed to Screen: AgriFin Marks 10 Years of Digitally Transforming Smallholder Farming.

Sieka Gatabaki, Programme Director at Mercy Corps AgriFin, speaks during the forum held today in Nairobi.

By Jeff Oyugi.

Nairobi - October 14, 2025.

Mercy Corps’ AgriFin programme marked ten years of transforming agricultural systems across Africa and Asia with a renewed call for stronger partnerships, adaptive policies and farmer-centred innovation to drive food security and resilience for millions of smallholder farmers.

Speaking during the AgriFin Learning Event in Nairobi, Melaku Yirga, Vice President at Mercy Corps, reflected on the programme’s decade-long journey, noting its impact on agricultural finance, technology adoption and evidence-based collaboration.

“Over the past ten years, AgriFin has changed the landscape of agribusiness in Africa and Asia,” said Yirga. “We now have more than 150 partners working with us, collectively reaching over 18 million smallholder farmers. This partnership model has created new learning, new evidence and new pathways to help farmers access markets, finance and information.”

Yirga highlighted that the success of AgriFin lies in its ability to adapt to diverse country contexts balancing government and private-sector roles to achieve shared outcomes.

“There’s no one-size-fits-all approach,” he noted. “In some countries governments are key market enablers, in others, the private sector leads. What matters is building cohesive partnerships that fit each local policy and market reality.”

Describing Nairobi as a “hub of Africa’s agritech revolution,” Yirga praised Kenya’s innovation ecosystem, citing its vibrant startup scene and rapid growth in digital agriculture.

“Nairobi has enormous potential not just as a centre for technology, but as a launch pad for solutions that reach millions of farmers,” he said. “The challenge is bridging the gap between innovation and the millions of smallholders working tirelessly to improve their lives.”

He emphasized the need to ensure that new technologies, ranging from digital advisory tools to access-to-finance platforms are tailored to farmers’ realities and effectively deployed across rural communities.

Other speakers echoed the call for systemic collaboration. Tamara Cook, CEO of Financial Sector Deepening (FSD) Kenya, underscored the importance of aligning agricultural, financial and digital policies to accelerate impact.

“AgriFin brings together agriculture, finance and information technology, three areas often viewed separately,” she said. “If we’re to support smallholder farmers in a way that truly changes lives, these sectors must move together.”

Cook warned, however, that despite progress, barriers to agricultural transformation are larger today than a decade ago. She urged governments to craft enabling policies from taxation and climate-smart agriculture to water management and to deploy limited development resources strategically.

“With shrinking donor funding, governments must leverage private capital to achieve shared food-system goals,” Cook added.

Sieka Gatabaki, Programme Director of Mercy Corps AgriFin, said the annual learning event now in its ninth edition has become a key convening platform for ecosystem players, from innovators and investors to policymakers and donors.

“This is where we bring all stakeholders to the table, set aside boardroom thinking and discuss what’s really working for farmers,” Gatabaki said. “We debate the future of AI in agriculture, persistent financial access gaps and the partnerships needed to deliver sustainable results.”

He explained that the latest AgriFin report shows rising investment in on-farm and digital management solutions but stressed that technology is only an enabler, not an end in itself.

“Digital tools make it easier and cheaper to serve farmers, but they must be designed around real farmer needs,” he said. “Research and innovation must connect directly with the smallholders they aim to support.”

Gatabaki noted that the continent’s renewable-energy potential offers a unique opportunity to power Africa’s digital transformation sustainably.

“AI and other digital systems require energy, but Africa has abundant renewable resources. With the right investment, we can become a powerhouse for green, tech-driven agricultural innovation,” he said.

Dario Giulani, Founder and Director of Briter, urged the ecosystem to redefine success beyond stock-market listings and focus instead on sustainable partnerships.

“Ag-tech is not about IPOs,” Giulani remarked. “True growth lies in partnerships between startups, corporates, universities and governments that connect innovation to real-world challenges and markets.”

Giulani’s firm, which has tracked agri-tech data across 20 emerging markets, observed increasing private-sector participation through venture capital and corporate partnerships, but emphasized that policy and business must “speak the same language” to scale impact.

Panelists agreed that while technology and finance are critical, food security remains a function of governance and collective action. With Africa’s population expected to double by 2050, they called for renewed urgency in building resilient food systems rooted in innovation, inclusivity and policy coherence.

“At the end of the day,” Yirga concluded, “our goal is simple, to ensure that every innovation, every policy and every partnership ultimately benefits the smallholder farmer. Because when farmers thrive, communities and nations thrive.”