10th AgriFin Learning Event

Theme: Data-Driven Innovations and Investments: Harnessing intelligence to build sustainable, investable Agri-Food Systems.

10th Annual Learning Event

Session Details

Welcoming Remarks

Speakers:
Collins Marita

Collins Marita

Director MERAL,
Mercy Corps AgriFin

Opening Remarks

Speakers:
Sieka Gatabaki

Sieka Gatabaki

Program Director
Mercy Corps AgriFin

Keynote Speeches

Speakers:
Stefan Wilhelm

Stefan Wilhelm

Associate Director Social Impact, Bayer Foundation

Melaku Yirga

Melaku Yirga

Vice President, Africa Region
Prosper Global.

Sheena Raikundalia

Sheena Raikundalia

Chief Growth Officer
Kuza One

Amath Pathe Sene

Amath Pathe Sene

Managing Director
Africa Food Systems Forum

What Scales, Sticks, and Pays? Translating Evidence into Next Gen Partner Models

Session Overview:

AgriFin has spent more than a decade brokering partnerships with banks, MNOs, agtech firms, and government platforms to deliver bundled digital products and services to smallholder farmers — with a goal of improving farmer productivity and income by 50% and reaching women and youth at scale. The ID insight ADF2 Program Impact Modeling Report (March 2026), drawing on data from over 6,500 farmers across 26 partners in Kenya, Nigeria, and Ethiopia, now gives us the evidence to move from learning to deciding.

Three findings from the evidence stand out as the clearest opportunities for the next generation of partnerships. We know that sustained, practice-changing engagement — not just access — is what drives impact, and we now have enough evidence to design it deliberately. We know that financially anchored, bundled services through hybrid agent-digital models work, and work consistently. And we know that sustainable delivery models are achievable — the question is how we design TA and funding structures to make them the norm, not the exception.

This session is where that evidence meets decision-making. Drawing on presentations from IDinsight and the Gates Foundation, and through structured group discussion organised by sector, participants will examine what the results demand of partnership design, TA investment, and cost-to-serve models — and leave with concrete positions on what must change next.

Guiding Questions
Which bundled products, and services, and partnership structures delivered the strongest farmer outcomes for men and women farmers, and sustainable unit economics — and what made the difference?
What should be retired, iterated, or doubled down on in future partnerships with MNOs, banks, agtechs, and governments? Which TA services are not delivering contextual relevance or sustainable change at the ecosystem level?

Session Moderator:
Emmanuel Makau

Emmanuel Makau

Senior Regional Technology & Data Manager
Mercy Corps AgriFin

Presenters/Speakers:
Jared Ochieng

Jared Ochieng

Agriculture finance lead,
FSD Kenya

Lydia Wafula

Lydia Wafula

M&E, Research, Accountability and Learning Manager,
Mercy Corps Agrifin

From Evidence to Investment: Unlocking Capital for Agtech and Agri SMEs

About the Session

Despite significant progress in agtech innovation and investment, the ecosystem remains highly fragmented—particularly when it comes to data, impact measurement, and investment intelligence. Investors lack comparable data, policymakers lack real-time market visibility, and founders struggle to navigate a disconnected financing landscape.

AgBase hosted by Briter in partnership with Mercy Corps AgriFin and supported by Gates Foundation and FCDO aims to address this gap by building a shared business intelligence infrastructure for the agri-foodtech ecosystem. The platform aggregates real-time data on ventures, funders, deal flow, impact performance, and market trends.

Session objectives:

The breakout session will:

  • Explore financing gaps facing smallholder-linked agritech/ agriSMEs including the specific gap in investment reaching farmer-facing enterprises.
  • Present evidence on the investability case for farmer-facing enterprises linking market attractiveness with commercial viability and development impact.
Session Moderator:
Samuel Karanja

Samuel Karanja

Senior Regional Agriculture Manager
Mercy Corps AgriFin

Presenters/Speakers:
David Saunders

David Saunders

Director
Briter Bridges

Eugene Gikonyo

Eugene Gikonyo

Investment Principal
Prosper Global Ventures

Bruno Meireles de Sousa

Bruno Meireles de Sousa

Fund Manager
Operator and NED

Wangari Nduta

Wangari Nduta

Senior Project Manager,
IDH

Lydia Njeri

Lydia Njeri

Impact Finance Manager,
Rabo Foundation

From Weather Services to Climate Intelligence Ecosystems: Lessons from Kenya & Senegal and a Blueprint for Scaling PPPs in Africa

Session Overview:

Over the last three years, MC AgriFin and partners in Kenya and Senegal have explored how public–private partnerships (PPPs) can strengthen the delivery, usability, and adoption of Weather and Climate Services (WCS) for smallholder farmers.

Through partnerships with National HydroMet Services, research institutions, digital platforms, and farmer-facing organizations, the program has generated important insights into what it takes to make climate information more localized, trusted, actionable, and scalable at the last mile.

At the same time, the experience has revealed a broader opportunity: the need for interoperable, reusable digital infrastructure that enables climate intelligence systems across Africa.

Goals

  1. Reflect on lessons and learnings from the WCS PPP program in Kenya and Senegal
  2. Explore a broader blueprint for scaling PPPs and ecosystem collaboration for climate intelligence across Africa

Introduction
 Across Africa, access to weather and climate information is improving, yet real-world adoption and use remain inconsistent. Many farmers still receive forecasts that are:
 • Too generalized or insufficiently localized
 • Difficult to interpret or apply to farm decisions
 • Delivered too late to inform action
 • Disconnected from broader advisory, financial, and market systems

At the same time, climate services remain fragmented across public agencies, private-sector platforms, development programs, and research institutions. No single actor can solve the last-mile climate information challenge alone.

The WCS PPP program has demonstrated that stronger collaboration between public institutions, private-sector actors, research organizations, and digital ecosystem enablers is essential to transforming climate data into trusted, actionable farmer intelligence.

Objectives

 By the end of this session, participants will:
 • Reflect on key lessons from implementing PPPs for Weather and Climate Services in Kenya and Senegal
 • Explore why climate information often fails to translate into farmer trust, understanding, and action at the last mile
 • Discuss the evolving roles of governments, National HydroMet Services, private-sector actors, research organizations, and ecosystem platforms in scaling climate intelligence systems
 • Identify practical opportunities for collaboration, interoperability, and replication of PPP models across countries and sectors

Presenters/Speakers:
Elias Nure

Elias Nure

Digital Climate-Smart Agriculture and Sprout Platform Lead,
Mercy Corps AgriFin

Irene Warui

Irene Warui

Senior Climate Agtech and Officer,
Mercy Corps Agrifin

Ferhana Jelaludin

Ferhana Jelaludin

Program Engagement Consultant Ethiopia,
Mercy Corps Agrifin

From Data Silos to Shared Value: Trusted Data Ecosystems for Agricultural Finance at Scale

Session Overview:

IDH’s work on Scalable Data-Sharing Frameworks Supporting Financial Access for Smallholder Farmers highlights how trusted private-to-private data-sharing models can improve risk assessment, unlock lending, and create mutual value for agribusinesses and financial institutions.

At the same time, AgriFin is advancing the vision of an intelligent, shared, trusted, market-driven agricultural data asset that helps investors, policymakers, financial institutions, and ecosystem builders make better decisions and direct resources where they can generate the greatest impact.

However, successful data sharing requires more than governance and business incentives. Privacy concerns, commercial sensitivities, and regulatory requirements remain significant barriers. CEGA’s Data Privacy Lab at the University of California, Berkeley, is addressing this challenge through Privacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs), including synthetic data, differential privacy, and secure collaborative analytics, which enable organizations to share and use data without exposing sensitive information.

FSD Kenya’s approach shows how structured, quality-assured data sharing conducted within a clear regulatory framework builds the trust needed for financial institutions to extend services such as credit, while OCDP stipulates the policy for data controlling and processing.

Open-data source indicates significant progress in the scientific domain, enabling sharing of data that is publicly generated or donors funded. Hence, the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) underscores the significance of efficient and proactive data sharing in food systems as key to development.

Session Objective

To explore how data-sharing frameworks, shared agricultural intelligence assets, and privacy-enhancing technologies can work together to unlock agricultural finance, strengthen markets, and accelerate inclusive agricultural transformation.

Presenters/Speakers:
Rosalie Dekker

Rosalie Dekker

Innovation Manager
IDH

Lydia Wafula

Lydia Wafula

M&E, Research, Accountability and Learning Manager,
Mercy Corps Agrifin

Kiringai Kamau

Kiringai Kamau

CECM for Devolution, Agroecology, MicroInvestments, Partnerships and External Linkages,
Murang’a County Government
President and Global Lead of GODAN

Beyond Digitization: Building Sustainable Agri-Payment Ecosystems that Drive Financial Inclusion

Session Overview:

Over the past decade, significant investment has gone into digital agriculture and digital finance. Yet in many markets including Tanzania and Nigeria, most agricultural and last-mile transactions are still settled in cash. The cost goes beyond inconvenience, cash keeps transactions invisible, operating costs high, and farmers without the payment histories that lenders and insurers need to serve them.

AgriFin’s AgriPay Catalyst Program was set up to test whether financial and non-financial incentives could drive sustained use of digital agricultural payments. Its early lesson is that digitizing a payment is not the same as sustaining its use. Usage lasts only when farmers, agribusinesses and financial institutions each gain measurable value from transacting digitally, and that value depends on infrastructure, distribution and market linkages that no single actor controls. This masterclass uses the AgriPay intervention as its anchor case and brings in partners who each hold one of those missing pieces

Masterclass Objective

To enable participants to diagnose why digital agri-payment initiatives stall after launch, and to identify the incentives, infrastructure and partnerships they can act on to turn one-off digital transactions into sustained usage that opens the door to broader financial services.

Key Learning Questions
  1. Sustained usage: Why does usage drop after payments are digitized, and which incentives keep farmers, agribusinesses and providers engaged?
  2. Scale: What interoperability, distribution and partnership conditions are needed to move from isolated pilots to a functioning ecosystem?
  3. Value beyond payments: How can payment and trade data unlock credit, insurance, savings and working capital for farmers and agribusinesses?
Presenters/Speakers:
Jerry Chis OCHE

Chief Executive Officer
Zowasel

Kevin Genga

Digital Payments Coordinator,
Mercy Corps Agrifin

The primary goal of the Farmer Experience Center is to create an inclusive and celebratory environment that acknowledges the vital role of farmers while fostering constructive dialogue and collaboration. By bringing together farming communities with influential stakeholders, the event aims to enhance understanding, build valuable connections, and drive positive changes in agricultural policy and practice.

 This session will not only highlight the contributions of farmers but also provide a platform for them to share their experiences, challenges, and aspirations. Through various activities, including showcases, competitions, and partnership development. The 2 hour session will work to elevate the status of digital agriculture in Kenya, promote meaningful engagement, and support the growth and sustainability of the sector leveraging digital services.

 By focusing on these objectives, aim is to instigate a shift in how digital services and agriculture are perceived and valued, ultimately leading to more effective policies, increased investment, and a stronger, more resilient agricultural sector in Kenya and the region.”

Masterclass Objective

To enable participants to diagnose why digital agri-payment initiatives stall after launch, and to identify the incentives, infrastructure and partnerships they can act on to turn one-off digital transactions into sustained usage that opens the door to broader financial services.

Farmers Panelist
Jonathan Murugara

Jonathan Murugara

County: Tharaka Nithi
Digital Solution Featured: Digifarm Buyers Platform

Agnes Koech

Agnes Koech

County: Nakuru
Digital Solution Featured: ViaziSoko Marketplace

Josephine Okolodi

Josephine Okolodi

County: Busia
Digital Solution Featured:
(e.g., Digifarm Buyers Platform, AOS, ViaziSoko Marketplace, Weather Information Services, Plantwise, etc.)

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Idah Nkirote

County: Meru
Digital Solution Featured: Farm rise, Participatory Scenario Planning, TikTok, Facebook, WhatsApp.

Samuel Kunguru

Samuel Kunguru

County:Bungoma
Digital Solution Featured:
(Weather Information Services, Spraying and extension, etc.)
FtMA Innovatively Reaching Farmers
Bundled Digital Services Improves Efficiency Among Farmers

Exhibitors
Eric Chege

Eric Chege

County: Nakuru
Enterprise/Business Name: Shibah Millers
Product Category: Maize flour

Caroline Ndung’u

Caroline Ndung’u

County:Nyandarua
Enterprise/Business Name:Fochachristine Ventures
Product Category: Processed honey

Lynnette Murunga

Lynnette Murunga

County: Busia
Enterprise/Business Name: Nutrilyn Agrihub
Product Category: Peanut Butter, roasted peanut and crunchy soya snack

Clive Abongo

Clive Abongo

County:Homabay
Enterprise/Business Name:Ndhiwa Peanut
Product Category:Peanut butter and Honey

Lydia Nasimiyu

Lydia Nasimiyu

County:Bungoma<br.
Enterprise/Business Name: Lip Farm
Product Category:Peanut butter

Asha Sanghair

Asha Sanghair

County:Busia
Enterprise/Business Name: Fihal Cereals and spices
Product Category: cookies and composite flour