Disruptive Agricultural Technology Challenge and Conference

Program
Creating an innovation ecosystem to connect a million Kenyan farmers to disruptive agricultural
technologies

Nairobi, Kenya April 5-6, 2019

Table of Contents
Welcoming Remarks .............................................................................................................................. 3
Conference Description .......................................................................................................................... 4
Session Descriptions............................................................................................................................... 8
Role DATs Play in Africa ...................................................................................................................... 8
Kenyan Context for DATs .................................................................................................................... 8
Advisory and Information for Agricultural Productivity Panel and Challenge .................................... 8
Market Linkages Panel and Challenge ................................................................................................ 8
Agriculture Energy Nexus Panel .......................................................................................................... 9
Farmer Financial Inclusion Panel and Challenge................................................................................. 9
Data Analytics and Agricultural Intelligence Panel ........................................................................... 10
Data Policy Panel............................................................................................................................... 10
Panelist Biographies ............................................................................................................................. 11
Welcoming Remarks
1. Country Director, World Bank Commented [AP1]: Will provide finalized versions of this;
2. Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture, Kenya
The Government of Kenya, in partnership with the World Bank, KWPF and Kuza biashara,
welcomes you to Savannah Valley for the Disruptive Agricultural Technology Challenge and
Conference 2019.

Nairobi is at the epicenter for innovation in Africa. Kenya's $1 billion1 tech hub is home to
hundreds of startups, as well as established firms like IBM, Intel and Microsoft. These
startups are focusing on the problems that matter most to Kenya, including supporting our
farmers to leapfrog to new levels of productivity. Thus, Kenya is at the forefront of
technology-driven transformation for small and marginal farmers on the continent.

These startups align with the objectives of the Ministry of Agriculture as they allow us to
create an enabling environment for agricultural development, increase productivity and
outputs in agricultural sector, improve market access and trade, and ultimately enhance
national food security. It also helps to fulfill Kenya’s Youth Agribusiness Strategy2, by
creating new types of jobs in agriculture that are attractive to youth, helping us to address
the aging population in this sector, that is the backbone of our economy.

To support in building momentum, this Conference is a historic platform the brings together
global leaders, including startup founders, leading policy makers, and technology experts to
discuss innovation for agricultural transformation in Kenya and beyond. The two-day
conference will provide an interactive experience through:

 6 panel discussions drawing together 30+ experts in the AgTech field, covering a
wide variety of topics, such as access to advisory services, access to financial services
and data policy for DATs.
 The DAT Challenge will bring together inspiring innovators to battle it out through
live pitch competitions to roll-out their technology-based agricultural solutions in
Kenya

We greatly look forward to interacting with you and hearing your thoughts and ideas on
the future of agriculture.

1
https://www.wired.com/story/kenya-silicon-savannah-photo-gallery/
2
http://extwprlegs1.fao.org/docs/pdf/ken171450.pdf
Conference Description
The number of African Disruptive Agriculture Technology (DAT) startups has multiplied in the past two
years, driven by a demand for region-specific innovations and a conducive enabling environment in
certain cities and countries. This start-ups, including both digital and non-digital innovations, enable
farmers and agribusiness entrepreneurs to leapfrog. They increase productivity, efficiency, and
competitiveness, facilitate access to markets, improve nutritional outcomes and enhance resilience to
climate change. These technologies range from mobile apps to digital identities for farmers to solar
applications for agriculture to portable agriculture devices to bio-fortified foods.

DATs in Africa are currently at an inflection point where the falling cost of technology is allowing
scalable innovations. For instance, cellular subscriptions are sky-rocketing – with 420 million unique
mobile subscribers in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and mobile internet penetration reaching 240 million
people (26% penetration in SSA) in 20163. With the help of disruptive agricultural technologies,
farmers can now monitor irrigation, soil quality, pests and other factors on the field precisely using
sensors which enhances productivity and enables quality control. The emergence of technologies has
generated a new genre of entrepreneurs who are responding to the local needs and contexts of
Africa’s unique food market. Nurturing this wave of DATs to help new innovations reach scale would
allow African food systems to leapfrog the innovation gap.

Although SSA’s agricultural sector has witnessed a proliferation of DATs in various countries, DATs are
yet to witness a systematic and large-scale adoption, and uptake. According to the Kaufmann
Foundation, only 1.1% of technology innovation startups across all sectors scale-up4. Crucial to scaling
up innovations is the “innovation ecosystem” – an environment that enables entrepreneurs to engage
in iterative processes5. Scaling up DATs requires a unique set of conditions in the country along with
providing mentorship and technical support to individual entrepreneurs. For instance - support
structures can enable smallholder farmers to adopt new technologies. Investments in basic
agricultural infrastructure (roads, bridges, storage, etc.) and technology infrastructure (broadband or
connectivity) are essential. Supportive policies, such as spectrum management to ensure connectivity
in rural areas for last mile delivery6, appropriate tax incentives, or other regulatory issues, are equally
important.

The potential impact of DATs is especially promising in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where the agriculture
sector employs close to 70% of the population. Thus, it is crucial to provide the innovation ecosystem
required for scaling up DATs. Scaling up requires a vibrant innovation ecosystem in which actors
including, governments, companies, investors, and development partners can collaborate to provide
support to technology innovations across their life cycles.

Thus, it is critical to provide appropriate and timely support to DATs for scale-up. This ASA will focus
on DATs which have already developed and tested their product/technology. DATs that are currently
in the validation phase and trying to progress to the scale-up phase.

The Disruptive Agricultural Technology (DAT) Challenge and Conference aims to provide a forum to
discuss the opportunities offered by disruptive digital technologies to increase productivity, and
access to services and markets in the agricultural sector and explore the critical role each attendee

3
GSMA intelligence THE MOBILE ECONOMY SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA 2017
https://www.gsmaintelligence.com/research/?file=7bf3592e6d750144e58d9dcfac6adfab&download
4
https://www.kauffman.org/kauffman-index/reporting/-/media/8cbc2c338f81411ab3ac9a39b94c2ffa.ashx
5
WEF – Innovation with a Purpose, Jan 2018
6
Enabling the Business of Agriculture report 2017
has in fostering a thriving innovation ecosystem for DATs to scale up. The overarching goal is to identify
agriculture policies and investments for fostering the growth and development of the DAT ecosystem
in Kenya and beyond.

For two days, many of the most promising DATs in Kenya will be invited to share their stories and
plans; and the leaders of public and private institutions, technology companies, incubators,
researchers, the business community, policymakers, financial institutions, and the donor community
will gather together to learn from and network with each other.

The conference will be organized on six themes, including four challenges faced in Kenyan
agriculture. These include access to extension and other services; access to financial services; access
to markets; access to alternative energy sources for agriculture; and data-driven applications.
Agenda

Day 1: 5 April 2019

Time Panelist
Welcome/Opening remarks
8:30am-9:15am - Arif Neky, Chief of Staff, UN Resident Mission
- Edson Mypisi, Chief Financial Economist and Co-ordinator ENABLE Youth, African Development
Bank
- Paolo Carlo Belli, Program Leader, Kenya, The World Bank (on Behalf of WB Director)
-Prof. Hamadi Boga, Principal Secretary, MOALFI
-Hon. Mwangi Kuinjuri, Cabinet Secretary, MOALFI
- Hon. Joe Mucheru - Cabinet Secretary, ICT
- Kuza
Vision of One Million Farmer Platform
9:15 am – 9:45 am Parmesh Shah, World Bank
Role DTs play in Africa and Kenyan context for DTs
9:45 am-10:15am Michael Tsan, Dalberg
10:15am-10:45am Coffee Break
Track 1. Advisory and Information for Agricultural Productivity
Knowledge Panel Panelists:
- Janalize Van Buuren, East and Central Africa Division Sales Manager, John Deere
- John Logan, Country Director Kenya, TechnoServe
10:45am– 11:45am - Mikael Hook, Lab Manager, RAF Learning
- Shaun Ferris, CRS
- Tania Lozansky, IFC
- Benjamin Kwasi Addom, CTA
11:45am– 12:30pm Challenge: How will your approach/innovation help ensure Kenyan farmers have achieved
disruptive changes in productivity using the latest knowledge, training, practices and data?
Presentations and pitching by shortlisted innovators
12:30pm 12:45pm Ignite Talk
Sriram (Kuza on Agrientreprenial model)
12:45pm– 2:00 pm Networking Lunch
2:00pm – 2:15pm Ignite Talk
Dr. Ndemo, Africa Regulators Network
Track 2. Market Linkages
Knowledge Panel Panelists:
- Castro Antwi -Dandso, Director of Sales and Marketing, Esoko
- Elena Gasol Ramos, World Bank
2:15 pm– 3:15pm
- Mary Nzomo, CEC, Trans Nzoia County
- Sanda Ojiamba, Safaricom (Digi Farm)
- Sidhartha Samal, OLAM
Challenge: Given the limited market linkages for both inputs and production, how can you
3:15pm – 4:00pm facilitate linkages between buyers and sellers along the value chain?
Presentations and pitching by shortlisted innovators
4:00pm – 4:15pm Coffee Break
Track 3. Agriculture Energy Nexus
Knowledge Panel Panelists:
- Graham Benton, AgSol
4:15pm – 5:15pm - Faith Chege, Factor [e]
- Tim Chambers, Managing Director and founder, Inspira Farms
- Makena Ireri, Senior Associate, CLASP
Wrap Up
5:15 pm –5:45 pm Conclusion of the Day and next steps for the next day
Networking
 Day 2: 6 April 2019
Time Panelist
Track 4. Farmer Financial Inclusion
Knowledge Panel
Panelists:
- Leesa Shrader, Mercy Corps
9:00am– 10:00am
- Lucas Meso, AFC Government
- Martine Jansen, RaboBank
- Reuben Gicheha, AGRA

Challenge: How can your approach/innovation help to expand coverage of financial services
10:00am– 10:45am to farmers, including credit, savings and other financial services?
Presentations and pitching by shortlisted innovators
10:45am- 11:00am Coffee break
Track 5. Data Analytics and Agricultural Intelligence
Ignite Talks
11:00am – 11:15am
Erick Fernandes (Ag observatory)
Knowledge Panel Panelists:
- Boniface Akuku, KALRO
- Christophe Bocquet, Dalberg Data Insights
11:15am– 12:15pm - Debisi Araba, Director, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
- Kala Fleming, co-Founder & Director of Diaspora AI
- Stewart Collis, Gates Foundation
- Ladisy Komba Chengula, World Bank
Challenge: How can you increase access to low-cost and accessible data in agriculture or use
12:15pm – 1:00pm existing data to enable other entities to better serve farmers?
Presentations and pitching by shortlisted innovators
1:00pm – 2:15pm Networking Lunch
Investment Roundtable
Panelists:
2:15pm– 3:15pm -
-
Wrap-up Plenary
3:15pm – 3:45pm Synthesis session: summary of the two days and next steps
3:45pm – 4:15pm Coffee
DAT Awards
Results of challenges competition by Jury.
Closing remarks:
4:15pm – 5:00pm
Dina Umali Deininger, World Bank
Parmesh Shah, World Bank
Networking
Session Descriptions
Role DATs Play in Africa
CTA, the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation, will be presenting the findings
from their most recent study on Digitalisation for Agriculture. This study highlights the role digital
AgTech companies play in increasing profitability and productivity of smallholder farmer by allowing
them to leverage digital solutions and strengthening business innovations. Data was captured
through a combination of surveys, one on one interviews, and desk research on over 150 companies
across the continent.

Kenyan Context for DATs

This session will bring the findings from CTA’s continent-wide study down to the Kenyan level. It will
provide a broad understanding of the where Kenya is in terms of DATs, the impact areas they are
addressing, and the general ecosystem around them. It will set the stage for the following sessions,
which will delve deeper into each of these areas with key experts and practitioners.

Advisory and Information for Agricultural Productivity Panel and Challenge

The average productivity of major crops in Kenya has not increased at a significant rate
annually. The maize productivity has increased by 17% over the last 10 years resulting in an annual
increase of about 1.7%. There are multiple reasons why growth in productivity has been slow. These
include low access to extension and advisory services, including digitally enabled agripreneurs, lack
of inputs and quality data. To reach their full potential, farmers need to have access to the latest
technologies and data.

Climate change is also having a significant impact on farmers. About 98% of Kenya’s agricultural
systems are rain-fed and highly susceptible to climate change and variability. Adoption of climate
smart practices can help mitigate the impact of climate change and ensure predictability in yields for
the farmers. Specifically, relying on input data such as soil and weather information, can help
farmers increase the efficiency and effectiveness of their operations, and improve sustainable
planning, production, and management systems.

This panel will bring together experts to discuss the different type of digital solutions in the market
that facilitate the delivery of extension services, Climate State Agriculture advisory, and data
information services directly to farmers. These services are important because they facilitate
improved productivity in farming operations by providing tailored, credible feedback to farmers on
what they should do in real-time. The panelist will discuss the impact that derives from equipping
farmers with such knowledge and education.

Following the panel, there will be a pitch session from innovators, organizations, and businesses that
have disrupted the lack of access to advisory services, data for farmers, and climate smart practices.

Challenge: How will your model help ensure Kenyan farmers have access to the latest knowledge,
training, practices and data, and mechanization best suited for them?

Market Linkages Panel and Challenge

A significant percentage of Kenyan farmers are impacted by poorly structured value chains, which
directly impact their yields and quality. A Kenyan farmer growing maize typically harvests around
two tons per hectare. When the same farmer is able to access inputs including seeds and fertilizers,
mechanization technology, and training on better farm practices, his yields increase to 5-7 tons per
hectare.
Additionally, 83% of the Kenyan farm households sell part of their crop produce. Hence, fast and
reliable access to markets is critical for their success. The farmers, majority of whom are in rural
areas and sell their produce at harvest, experience challenges of asymmetric information in prices
and selling opportunities as well as limited market access for their products. While markets may
exist, one of the limiting factors is not connecting on time.

This panel will explore the various digital AgTech solutions that exist, that connect Kenyan farmers
that sell produce to buyers both in local and international markets. Bridging the gap between buyer
and seller is vital for fostering increasing the economic activity and the productivity of the sector,
especially given the context where currently farmers struggle to reach the market and lose out on
financial benefits. The panel will also include a discussion around digital solutions that focus on
supply chain management, such as cold storage technology, that improve the efficiency and shelf-life
during the process of transporting produce to the market.

Following the panel, there will be a pitch session from innovators, organizations and businesses that
have disrupted the poor access to forward and backward market linkages with a disruptive digital
solution using digital and other AG Technologies.

Challenge: Given the limited market linkages for both inputs and production, how can you facilitate
market links between buyers and sellers along the value chain?

Agriculture Energy Nexus Panel

Innovations in alternative energy sources especially solar, wind and biomass energy have come as a
welcome innovation to help farmers run their household and farm activities. The panel will focus on
AgTech innovations on alternative sources of energy that have transformed the farming sector in
Kenya to improve the production, processing and storage of produce for smallholder farmers. IOT
Enabled farm mechanization will also be a point of discussion.

Farmer Financial Inclusion Panel and Challenge

Financial inclusion has significantly increased in rural Kenya. However, access to agriculture finance
for small and medium farmers is still limited in Kenya. Only 10% of the smallholder farmers have
access to financial services including credit and insurance. The quantity of credit is also inadequate
with only 4% of credit supply flowing to the agriculture sector.

Many factors have hampered access to financial services. These include lack of reliable data to
support agricultural lending decisions, lack of collaterals to secure financing, the high transaction
cost of accessing and delivering financial services to rural areas, lack of data platforms for assessing
risk and delivering financial services. Additionally, the high cost of credit translates into a lack of
demand for credit by farmers.

This panel will explore how access to affordable financial services is critical for maximum production
by small scale farmers. The panel members will focus the discussion on innovations that have been
made in offering various financial products to farmers. They will discuss the strides and gaps in
access to credit, savings, insurance and payment services that have been tailored to serve the needs
of small-scale farmers.

Following the panel, there will be a pitch session from innovators, organizations, and businesses that
have disrupted the existing situation where most farmers have poor access to financial services
(outreach) and the cost of accessing credit and insurance services are high.
Challenge: How can your technology help to expand coverage of financial services to farmers,
including credit, savings and other financial services?

Data Analytics and Agricultural Intelligence Panel and Challenge

The rapid development of data infrastructure, profusion of digital technologies, and low-cost
precision agriculture devices (ICT, Drone Aerial Surveillance, Satellite GIS, Weather Data Analytics,
Blockchain, Internet of Things) in Kenya has the potential to deliver farm-level, geospatial, and real-
time analytics to inform policies and targeted investments by governments and service providers.

The panel will bring together a panel of experts on the various aspects of data usage in agriculture
who will take a deep dive into data sourcing, curation, data analytics and data insights and discuss
some of the data sets such as soil and weather data that are used by farmers. New innovations in
hardware and software AgTech technologies such as remote sensing, drones, machine learning,
blockchain, AI and their impact on the quality and quantity of data available to farmers will be a
point of discussion in the session. They will explore how these new data sources can be used to
improve the lives of smallholder farmers.

Following the panel, there will be a pitch session from innovators, organizations, and businesses that
have disrupted agricultural intelligence, and decision-making by leveraging the emerging agriculture
data infrastructure, digital technologies, and precision agriculture tools.

Challenge: How can your solution enable low-cost collection, analysis, and visualization of high-
quality, high-frequency and high-resolution agriculture data to produce maps, farmer registries,
project dashboards, climate advisories, market forecasts and other relevant analytics?

Data Policy Panel

This panel will explore the importance of having policies in place as digitally enabled AgTech
solutions increasingly create a large amount of data about a farmer. Ensuring proper data
management to protect farmers is essential and the panel will explore the current policies in place in
Kenya that address these issues. It will also explore the policy gaps that exists and the current risks
that that is exposing farmers to. This will help policy makers understand the important role that they
play in shaping the ecosystem and protecting their citizens.
Panelist Biographies
Advisory and Information for Agricultural Productivity Panel
Janalize Van Buuren, East and Central Africa divisional sales manager, John Deere

Janalize van Buuren, is the Sales Manager for East and Central Africa at
John Deere based in Nairobi, Kenya and currently overseeing 16
Countries. She has been actively involved in Agriculture the past 25
years, whereof 15 years have been with John Deere. Her journey with
John Deere has covered vast areas from marketing & Communication
Coordinator in South Africa, territory Sales Manager on Agricultural
Equipment in South Africa, training Manager for Sub Saharan Africa, parts
Sales and Marketing Manager for South East Asia where I was based out
of Singapore and Regional Training Manager Sub Saharan Africa, India,
Asia & China. Born and raised on a farm, with 3 brothers, she is
passionate about farming/agriculture. Farmers are the providers of our
daily bread and in her current space, with John Deere, she sees herself
being a piece of much bigger puzzle to help make a difference to those
committed and linked to the land.
John Logan, Country Director, Kenya, TechnoServe

John Logan was born in Nakuru, Kenya. He has a degree in Agriculture

from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal. He has over forty years working
experience in agricultural extension, managing and consulting in tea,
coffee and horticulture. He has been with TechnoServe for 11 years and is
currently the Country Director, Kenya. John has a passionate interest in
agricultural systems, and in particular in improving the livelihoods for
small scale farmers.
Mikael Hook, Director, RAF Learning

Mikael L. Clason Höök is the Director of the Mastercard Foundation Rural

and Agricultural Finance Learning Lab. The Learning Lab provides advisory
support to the Foundation's partners, supports partners with learning and
dissemination, and conducts independent research to fill key knowledge
gaps in the sector. Mikael is a development professional and
entrepreneur with experience in agriculture, finance, private sector
development, digital technology and renewable energy. Mikael is a co-
founder and partner of a renewable company providing off-grid solar
solutions for international organizations operating in humanitarian
settings, and a high-end wood flooring company with showrooms in New
York and Los Angeles. Previously, he led the design and implementation
of an innovative World Bank survey to collect real-time social and
economic data in South Sudan and Somalia. Mikael spent three years in
Afghanistan with Chemonics International supporting USAID agriculture
programs, where his work focused on developing value chain analysis for
agriculture products; implementing a deal driven approach to
agriculture development; and organizing trade fairs to promote Afghan
exports. Mikael holds an MPA in International Development from
 Harvard's Kennedy School where he was awarded a Public Service
Fellowship.
Shaun Ferris, Director of Agriculture and Livelihoods Program - Catholic Relief Services

Over the past 30 years, Shaun has spent 16 years with the Consultative
Group for International Agricultural Research and the past 10 years with
Catholic Relief Services. During this time, Shaun, has also worked with
several major agencies on short and longer-term engagements including
USAID, World Bank, USDA, CTA, FAO, GFRAS, UNCTAD, DFID, IFAD and
various country programs and projects.
In his current position, Shaun manages a team of senior advisors who
support smallholder farmers along their pathway to prosperity, as part of
CRS’s Program Area for Agriculture and Livelihoods. Shaun’s work focuses
on building the agripreneurial capacity of farmers, farmer groups and last
mile field agents and enabling them to generate more value at the farm
and through sales in value chains. This is achieved through skills
acquisition, use of digital technology, improving market linkage and
trading relationships. Shaun is currently working with a cross-agency
team on generating agro-enterprise content for cloud-based distance
learning systems and creating farmer facing business tools using ICT
solutions. Shaun holds a Bachelor’s in Horticultural Science from Reading
University, a Master’s in Tropical Agriculture from Nottingham University
and a PhD in Plant Physiology from Cranfield University.
Tania Lozansky, Global Head of Advisory, Manufacturing Agribusiness and Services, IFC

Tania Lozansky is the Senior Manager of Advisory for Manufacturing,

Agribusiness and Services sectors at International Finance Corporation
(IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. She is based in Nairobi, Kenya
and her global team works with private companies in emerging markets
to improve productivity, promote uptake of sustainable and efficient
practices throughout supply chains, unlock new market opportunities for
private investment and reduce implementation risks.
In her previous roles at IFC, Tania was Regional Head of IFC Advisory
Services in Asia Pacific based in Hong Kong, and previously in Europe and
Central Asia based in Moscow. She oversaw engagements with the
private sector and governments to increase access to finance, improve
the business enabling environment, structure public-private partnerships
and mitigate climate change.
Prior to joining IFC, Tania was a management consultant with The Boston
Consulting Group in Europe and with William Kent International in
Washington DC. She holds a dual BA in Economics and International
Relations from Brown University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate
School of Business.
Market Linkages Panel
Benjamin Kwasi Addom, Team Leader, ICTs for Agriculture at CTA (ACP-EU)

Dr. Benjamin Kwasi Addom is an ICT4D Programme Coordinator at the

Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), based in
the Netherlands. Since 2013, Ben has been coordinating activities that
support the uptake, utilization and scaling of ICT solutions (mobile
inclusive) for agriculture in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.
Ben is an international development professional who specialises in the
application of ICTs for agriculture, food security, and rural development.
Prior to his graduate studies, he spent over 4 years as agricultural
extension supervisor with both the private and public sectors in Ghana.
He undertook a number of consultancy assignments with international
organizations such as FAO, USAID, NEPAD, and CTA in exploring mobile
technologies and social media in agricultural knowledge management
between 2009 and 2013. He holds a doctorate in information science and
technology with concentration in community informatics, innovation
systems, and knowledge management from Syracuse University, USA;
Master’s in international agriculture and rural development with focus on
extension and training from Cornell University, USA; and bachelor’s in
general agriculture from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. His
doctoral dissertation explored the concept of knowledge brokering within
agricultural innovation system in the digital age.
Castro Antwi-Dandso, Director of Sales and Marketing, ESOKO
Castro Antwi-Danso, Director of Sales and Marketing, ESOKO.
Castro has a unique mix of professional experience, from accounting to
business development to law. Prior to joining Esoko, he worked for The
Okyenhene (King of the Akyem Abuakwa Kingdom in Ghana) where he
developed business for the Kingdom both locally and internationally and
managed their financial activities. He has also worked with Ernst &Young
and Stanbic Bank in the past. Castro holds a B.Sc. Agric Economics degree
as well as Bachelor's in Law (LLB) from the Kwame Nkrumah University of
Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi. He also holds a Masters in
Business Administration (Finance) from the University of Ghana Business
School and is currently pursuing an LLM programme in Tax Law at the
Queen Mary University of London.
Mary Nzomo, CEC, Trans Nzoia County
Mrs. Mary Nzomo. Agricultural Economist by Profession with a Master of
Science Degree in Entrepreneurship. Currently working for the County
Government of Trans Nzoia, Kenya, as the County Executive Committee in
charge of Agriculture, Livestock Fisheries & Cooperatives Development
and chair of the Agriculture CECMs caucus. My career spans over a period
of 25 years with a wealth of experience in Agricultural Extension &
implementation of various donor funded programmes. I’ve held several
leadership positions during my career & received several awards for best
performance as a Departmental Head. I aspire to empower the Kenyan
 farmer since the Country’s economy is Agriculture driven with over 80%
of the population depending on Agriculture for their livelihood. I look
forward to meeting & networking with like-minded individuals &
organizations with a passion for spurring, developing & advancing
Agricultural growth and transformation for the good of the farming
Community.
Sanda Ojiambo, Head of Corporate Responsibility, Safaricom
Sanda Ojiambo is the Head of Corporate Responsibility at Safaricom,
where she manages the Social Innovation, Sustainability, Environmental
Management, Social Policy and the Corporate Social Investment
portfolios. She is a Director of the Kenya Investment Authority
(KenInvest), a Kenyan State Corporation; and is a board member of the
Gender Violence Recovery Centre, a Kenyan NGO.Sanda has a master’s
degree in Public Policy and Development Economics. She has completed
training in Executive Leadership at Strathmore Business School in Kenya
and Harvard Business School in the USA.
Sidhartha Samal, General Manager, OLAM
Sidhartha Samal is Digital Head, Africa and Middle East for Olam, a
leading food & agri-business company with presence in over 70 countries.
Prior to this role, he has been a career marketer and has worked for
leading brands like Airtel, Hewlett Packard in India and Olam’s Packaged
Foods Business in Nigeria. He has championed digital marketing initiatives
in Nigeria including a series of advertising campaigns with Mark Angel
comedy which generated more than 50 Million+ views. He has spent
close to 7 years in Africa, travelled extensively and has a deep
understanding of West African consumers. In his current role he interacts
with farmers, traders, consumers, start-ups across different parts of
Africa. He uses that understanding to develop digital products which are
tailor made for Africa. He believes Africa would be the center of gravity of
the World market and Digital would be key driver to bring that change.
Hence, he is quite passionate about driving digital in Africa. Beyond work,
football is his passion. He is a Real Madrid fan and regularly tweets on
football, different sports & various other topics. He is a sports enthusiast
and likes reading, travelling and exploring with food
Agriculture Energy Nexus Panel
Faith Chege, East African Venture Associate at FACTOR[e] Ventures

Faith Chege is the East African Venture Associate at FACTOR[e] Ventures.

She is responsible for supporting Factor[e]’s portfolio companies
operating in East Africa, sourcing for energy ventures and ushering them
into FACTOR[e]’s portfolio. Prior to joining FACTOR[e], Faith was the CFO
at Barefoot Power Africa, a social enterprise that manufactures and
distributes solar products for energy access in developing economies.
Faith holds a B.sc. in International Business Administration (Finance) from
the United States International University – Africa. She is also a Global
Shaper at the World Economic Forum, Mandela Washington Fellow 2015.
Graham Benton, Operations Manager, AgSol

Graham has been working and living in East Africa for the past 7 years to
bring innovations to rural markets to improve the lives of millions of
smallholder farmers. Having built and run two companies in Kenya, he
has worked closely with smallholder farmers and rural stakeholders to
develop a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities
surrounding them.

Makena Ireri, Senior Associate, CLASP

Makena is a Senior Associate at CLASP, leading research on the Low
Energy Inclusive Appliances programme, an initiative of the UK
government’s Department for International Development. Prior to joining
CLASP, Makena managed energy access theme prizes under DFID’s Ideas
to Impact programme. She has also authored impact and baseline scoping
research on improved institution cookstoves and refrigeration for the
rural poor, contributed to research efforts in solar home system market
stimulation in Bangladesh, and helped scope energy for humanitarian
needs. Before that, she spent four years as an engineer in the UK Civil
Nuclear Industry. Makena received her M.Eng in civil engineering from
Manchester University. Outside of work, Makena enjoys painting and
making things, slowly turning any home she inhabits for more than a
month into a studio/workshop.
Tim Chambers, Managing Director and founder, Inspira Farms

Tim is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of InspiraFarms, an energy-

efficiency technology company in the agriculture and logistics industry.
Tim is from Zimbabwe and built InspiraFarms on the back of a dozen
years of experience in investing and developing agribusinesses in more
than twenty countries in tropical emerging markets. Tim’s background is
in business strategy, research and development, and management and
holds an MSc (Uni. College of London) and an MBA.
Farmer Financial Inclusion Panel
Leesa Shrader, AgriFin Accelerate Program Director, Mercy Corps/AFA

Leesa is Program Director of the AgriFin Accelerate Program at Mercy

Corps, which is a 6-year, $24 million program funded by the MasterCard
Foundation to expand smallholder farmer access to technology-enabled
financial and information services in East Africa. She has over 20 years
global experience working in financial inclusion with leading banks,
mobile network operators and institutions such as CGAP, the World Bank,
GiZ, KfW and Women’s World Banking. She has worked on mobile and
development deployments in 16 countries around the world, including
Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia. Ms. Shrader holds a
master’s degree in Public Policy from Georgetown University and is based
in Nairobi with her family, leading programming across Kenya, Tanzania
and Zambia.
Lucas Meso, Managing Director, Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC)

Mr. Lucas Meso, MBS is a career banker with a rich experience spanning
over 25 years in Senior Management positions in the Banking and Finance
sector. He is currently the Managing Director of the Agricultural Finance
Corporation, a Government-owned Development Finance Institution
(DFI). In recognition of his exemplary role in transforming the institution,
Mr. Meso was honored with a Presidential National Decoration Award,
Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear (MBS). Prior to joining the
Agricultural Finance Corporation, Mr. Meso worked with the East African
Development Bank, Commercial Bank of Africa, Co-operative Bank of
Kenya and the Central Bank of Kenya; building his iconic professional
reputation of being a turn-around specialist. Mr. Meso holds a Master’s
Degree in Business Administration specializing in Strategic Management
from the Maastricht University (MSM)/ESAMI) and a Bachelor of Science
Degree in Financial Services from the University of Manchester. He is an
Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (ACIB) UK and a Fellow of
the IFS School of Finance (FIFS). In addition to that, Mr. Meso successfully
completed the Global Change Agents Executive Program from the
Harvard Kennedy School. Having come from a humble background, Mr.
Meso is passionate about giving back to his community. He is the Board
Chairman of two local schools, Bukhalalire and Bumutiru Secondary
Schools, in his hometown, Busia. Mr. Meso is also the proud Patron of the
Busimako Group in Busia that is currently supporting two hundred and
fifty students to go through their University education.
Martine Jansen, Program Manager Africa, RaboBank
Martine Jansen is Manager Data-Driven Innovation at Rabo Foundation.
Prior to this role, she was Program Manager Africa at Rabo Foundation,
providing high risk loans to cooperatives and SMEs in Eastern Africa,
combined with access to knowledge and network available within the
Rabobank group. Before working at Rabo Foundation, she was a
commercial banker in project finance at another Dutch bank. She has a
Masters International Business from Rijksuniversiteit Groningen and a
Degree in International Business from ISCTE – Instituto Universitario de
Lisboa.
Reuben Gicheha, Program Officer, Financial Inclusion, AGRA

Reuben has over 14 years’ experience in the financial inclusion space in

Kenya having worked with the two leading commercial banks in Kenya.
He pioneered the KCB Mpesa micro lending business before moving to
AGRA for a bigger mandate in the Mastercard Foundation funded
financial inclusion program. He is the financial inclusion lead for Kenya
and Rwanda program. He also provides technical expertise to the AGRA
partners and his colleagues on the scaling and deployment of digital
financial solutions in Kenya, Tanzania and Ghana under the program.
Reuben holds an MBA in finance and is a qualified Accountant. He is an
alumni of Galilee International Management Institute Israel and Boulder
School of Micro finance Turin.
Data Analytics and Agricultural Intelligence Panel
Boniface Akuku, Director of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Kenya Agricultural
& Livestock Research Organization (KALRO)

Boniface has expertise in Information and Communications Technology

(ICT) field, ICT innovation, data science, Big Data analytics, artificial
intelligence, and research informatics. He formerly worked as Chief of
Information Technology at United States Army Medical Research; Care
International and Coca-Cola Equator Bottlers. At KALRO, he is the
Director of ICT, and as the Chair of Committee on Data of the
International Council for Science (CODATA) Agricultural Task Group. He
coordinates a number of project in ICT in agriculture. His work has
brought transformative change through developing scalable, replicable,
and sustainable ICT solutions. These innovations and systems has enabled
access and utilization of research findings and helps farmers realize
increased productivity as a result bridging the gap between research and
practice. He was the climate information prize winner in 2016 for
developing a platform that tackles climate change impacts on farmers in
Kenya. He is also the Africa CIO of the year Award, 2019.
Christophe Bocquet – Senior Data Scientist & AgriTech Lead

At Dalberg Data Insights, Christophe is the lead data scientist for the
AgriTech practice. He has acquired expertise in leveraging Geographical
Information Systems (GIS) and data science for Agriculture and Food
Security. Christophe has been leading different parts of AgriTech projects
including front-end development, big data (e.g. satellite images, telecom
data, social media data) analytics, ground-truth data collection and
human centered field work. Before joining the Dalberg Data Insights
team, Christophe was Product Manager for the fiber roll-out project of
Proximus, the largest telecom operator in Belgium. Christophe holds a
Master in Bioengineering from the Catholic University of Louvain, with a
concentration in GIS & Remote Sensing.
Debisi Araba, Director, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)
Debisi Araba is a public policy and strategy specialist. He is the Director,
Africa Region, at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), a
member of the CGIAR, the consortium on international agriculture
research. CIAT works to increase prosperity and improve human nutrition
in the tropics through research-based solutions in agriculture and the
environment. He is also a member of the Malabo Montpellier Panel of
experts, a distinguished group of global thought and practice leaders,
working together to enable better government support of national and
regional agricultural development and food security priorities in Africa.
Gerbren Haaksma, Business Development Manager, East Africa, Waterwatch Cooperative

Gerbren Haaksma is a passionate and experienced business development

consultant. He fosters expansion opportunities for Waterwatch
Cooperative in East Africa. He holds a Master in International
Development Administration and has practiced organizational and
business development for over 6 years with special focus on agriculture
and technology.

Dr. Kala Fleming, Co-Founder & Director, Diaspora AI

Dr. Kala Fleming is co-Founder & Director of Diaspora AI, a product

development and advisory firm that connects resource constrained
communities to emerging digital technologies. She works with
government, corporations, and startups to launch new digital services
that improve connectivity and quality of life for citizens and communities.
Previously, she held strategy and research roles at IBM, working with
clients to establish differentiated market positions through the use of
emerging technologies such as IoT, AI and blockchain. Her seminal TED
talk in 2015 on building digital aquifers has inspired a range of forward-
thinking water management projects, from Kenya to California, that seek
to use more granular water activity data to reduce water scarcity
risks. Kala holds a PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the
University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is a frequent speaker at
entrepreneurship, govtech and innovation-related events.
Dr. Ladisy Komba Chengula, Lead Agricultural Economist, Agriculture Global Practice, World Bank

Dr Ladisy is the Lead Agricultural Economist of the Agriculture Global

Practice at the World Bank where he helps identify innovative new
opportunities or ways to address existing needs in the agricultural sector,
by bringing in experience from other regions and with a wide range of
instruments. Previously, he served as a senior Agriculture Economist at
the World Bank. Prior to joining the World Bank, Dr Ladisy was a Sr.
Economist at Pricewaterhouse Coopers Ltd. Dr Ladisy has a PhD in
Agricultural Economics from Colorado State University.
Stewart Collis, Senior Program Officer, Digital Agriculture Solutions, Gates Foundation
Mr. Collis is a Senior Program Officer of Digital Agriculture Solutions at
the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Mr. Collis has over 20 years’
experience in agricultural information technology. A graduate of the
University of New South Wales in Geomatic Engineering, Mr. Collis
worked at the CGIAR and Texas A&M University on crop simulation, agro-
climatic modeling and software development. He then co-founded
aWhere, a Benefit Corporation focused on agricultural intelligence,
information and insight to help increase food production, improve
efficacy and mitigate climate risk in agriculture. His focus at the Gates
Foundation is Digital Farmer Services and Smart Farming solutions.