eFAMA — USING TECHNOLOGY TO PIONEER AND LEAD SUSTAINABLE AGRIBUSINESS AND IMPACTFUL INNOVATION IN AFRICA
By Amana Alkali •
Meet Shadrack and Pretty Kubyane, the power couple who co-founded eFAMA Africa to bridge the gap for farmers by making market access easy through tech.
Shadrack and Pretty Kubyane, the Co-Founders of eFAMA Africa
At the intersection of agribusiness, innovation, and inclusive growth lies eFAMA Africa, a forward-thinking enterprise reshaping the agricultural value chain across the continent. Co-founded by a visionary team driven by purpose and precision, eFAMA is not just a company; it's a movement committed to creating sustainable food systems, enhancing farmer livelihoods, and leveraging technology to transform Africa’s economic narrative.
From strategic partnerships with multinationals and grassroots cooperatives to capacity-building for local farmers and the promotion of agro-export readiness, eFAMA operates with a rare balance of ambition and impact. The company’s mission aligns seamlessly with Africa’s developmental priorities, youth empowerment, climate-smart agriculture, food security, and gender inclusion, while embracing innovative models that drive measurable social and economic change.
In this exclusive Napoleon News feature, we delve into the heart of eFAMA’s work. The founders speak candidly about the challenges of navigating African agricultural ecosystems, their commitment to regenerative practices, and their bold vision to position African agribusiness on the global stage. From their entrepreneurial journey to their scalable solutions, eFAMA offers a blueprint for doing business with purpose in today’s Africa.
1. Can you walk us through the journey that led to the creation of eFama Africa?
Certainly. The journey to founding eFama Africa stems from a very personal connection to agriculture — both my wife and I were raised by generations of farmers. However, we witnessed firsthand that despite their hard work, many farmers remained excluded from formal markets, struggling to secure consistent buyers, fair pricing, and efficient supply chains.
Initially, we developed supply chain technology for other industries, but during the pandemic, we recognised a far more urgent need. We saw that building a marketplace where farmers could directly connect with commercial buyers, NGOs, and consumers was critical.
After posting a simple bulk-order request to farming communities, over 5,000 farmers signed up within six weeks — clearly demonstrating the scale of the market gap. From that point, eFama Africa was born: a platform where technology and agriculture converge to create opportunities, improve food security, and drive inclusive growth across the continent.
Today, we serve over 6,000 registered buyers, with a waiting list of 5,000 farmers, and this is only the beginning.
2. What personal or professional experiences inspired you to focus on agriculture and digital transformation?
My inspiration comes from both personal experience and professional exposure. On a personal level, agriculture is deeply rooted in my family’s history — I was raised by two generations of farmers, giving me a front-row seat to appreciate agriculture’s potential and its vulnerabilities. It made me realise early on how critical farmers are to food security, yet how often they are excluded from formal value chains.
To juxtapose my rural village farming reality: while I had dirt under my nails, living off the land, next to us were large-scale commercial farmers who operated at a scale we could only dream of — using aeroplanes to spray their crops, while we tilled the ground with simple hoes and hand tools. This sharply contrasted picture stayed with me and would later re-emerge in my life, as I co-founded and built eFama — a home where both large commercial players and smallholder farmers could find their place.
Professionally, my background in management consulting and technology exposed me to the transformative power of digital solutions across industries. I saw how digital transformation could unlock growth, efficiency, and transparency — and I knew that if applied thoughtfully, it could revolutionise agriculture too.
It was this combination of personal connection and professional insight that led me to focus on agriculture — not merely to digitise it for its own sake, but to create real, lasting change where it matters most: in the livelihoods of farmers and the sustainability of our food systems.
3. Knowing your long-term engagement in business, how did your background in corporate strategy and technology influence your approach to solving agricultural challenges in Africa?
My background in corporate, particularly during my time at Deloitte, along with lived experiences gained through making inroads into technology, shaped my approach significantly. At an opportune moment, we partnered with our first US-based Big Tech funder, who was building a large-scale supply chain tracking system for Walmart. That experience taught me the importance of building solutions that are not only innovative but also scalable and sustainable.
In the corporate world, you quickly learn that for any strategy to succeed, it must align with real-world needs, create measurable value, and have a clear path to growth.
When we entered the agricultural sector, I applied the same principles. We focused first on understanding the root causes of farmers' challenges — not merely the symptoms. From there, we designed a digital marketplace that addresses access to markets, trust deficits, and payment delays, all within a system that could scale across different regions without losing local relevance.
Technology enables us to bridge gaps at a faster pace, but my background in corporate strategy ensured that our solution was structured, resilient, and capable of long-term impact, rather than being just another short-lived project.
4. What were the earliest challenges you faced launching eFama, and how did you overcome them?
One of the earliest challenges we faced when launching eFama was bridging the trust gap between farmers and buyers. Many farmers had long battled to receive payment within reasonable timeframes, often waiting up to 180 days, while navigating as many as 20 middlemen between the farm gate and the retail shelf. In parallel, buyers were equally wary of inconsistent quality and reliability from informal suppliers. Simplifying compliance without lowering standards became one of our core challenges.
Another major challenge was technological adoption. While many farmers owned smartphones, few were accustomed to using digital marketplaces for agricultural trade beyond basic messaging apps.
To overcome these hurdles, we took a very human-centred approach. We focused on building trust first — ensuring that early transactions were secured, payments were prompt, and communication was clear. We made the technology as intuitive as possible, reducing friction for first-time users and offering support in local languages where needed.
We also spent significant time on the ground, listening to farmers, understanding their real needs, and adapting our approach based on their feedback. It was never about imposing technology, but about building with them, not for them.
This grassroots approach laid the foundation for the strong community and loyalty we are privileged to enjoy today.
eFAMA solves the problem of market access and supply chain inefficiency for African Farmers.
What specific problem does eFama Africa solve in the African agricultural ecosystem and what makes eFama’s model different from traditional farming supply chains or other agri-tech platforms?
eFama solves the critical problem of market access and supply chain inefficiency for African farmers. Across the continent, of the 40 million farmers, only 17.5% have consistent access to formal markets; the rest remain locked out, unable to secure reliable buyers, fair pricing, or timely payments. Traditional farming supply chains are fragmented, often involving up to 20 middlemen between the farmer and the point of sale, resulting in inflated costs, payment delays, and significant losses in produce quality and quantity before reaching the market.
What makes eFama’s model different is that we have built a direct-to-market digital ecosystem that connects farmers directly with buyers — eliminating unnecessary layers. Unlike traditional systems, eFama streamlines the process, ensuring faster payments, better margins for farmers, and higher-quality produce for buyers.
Compared to other agri-tech platforms, we do not merely digitise paperwork; we embed real transaction accountability — combining digital marketplaces with traceability, blockchain-based smart contracting, and payment automation technologies. Our platform is designed not only for tech-savvy users but also for first-time digital participants, ensuring inclusivity across smallholder and commercial farmers alike.
In short, eFama is not just digitising agriculture — we are re-architecting agricultural trade to be faster, fairer, and far more inclusive.
How does your platform work? Can you break down the experience for a smallholder farmer and a buyer using eFama? Do you have an application that allows for easy access?
eFama was designed with simplicity and inclusivity at its core. Our platform works as a digital marketplace where farmers and buyers can transact, all through our eFama App, a mobile application available on both Google Play and iOS App Stores.
For a smallholder farmer, the experience is straightforward. Farmers sign up on the eFama App, create a basic profile, and list their available produce. They can either respond to posted demand from buyers or post their own available stock. Once an order is placed, eFama manages the logistics and ensures that the farmer receives payment promptly — removing the long wait periods and middlemen that typically delay earnings.
For a buyer, the process is equally intuitive. Buyers browse verified farmers' produce, place bulk or selective orders, and benefit from traceable supply chains that meet food safety and quality standards. They can also track deliveries in real time and make payments securely through the platform.
Ease of access is critical to us. We built the eFama App to be lightweight, easy to navigate, and available in a format familiar even to those who may not be fully digitally literate. Support is offered in multiple local languages, and we continually refine the user experience based on farmer and buyer feedback.
Ultimately, eFama simplifies agricultural trade — offering farmers better market access, and offering buyers a more reliable, transparent source of produce.
You integrate blockchain and AI in your operations. How do these technologies add value for farmers and buyers?
At eFama, we integrate blockchain and AI not as buzzwords, but as practical tools that deliver real value to farmers and buyers.
Blockchain allows us to embed trust, transparency, and accountability into every transaction. Through blockchain-based smart contracts, we automate trade agreements between farmers and buyers, ensuring that terms are honoured without delays or disputes. It also enables traceability — buyers can verify the origin, quality, and journey of the produce they purchase, which is increasingly important for food safety standards and export compliance.
AI enhances the experience further by optimising supply and demand matching, predicting price trends, and assisting farmers with better decision-making insights. For example, AI-driven analytics help farmers understand which crops are currently in highest demand, enabling them to plan their planting seasons more strategically. For buyers, AI ensures they are matched with the most reliable suppliers, improving sourcing efficiency.
Together, blockchain and AI remove traditional barriers — replacing manual processes, reducing risk, cutting down operational friction, and ultimately ensuring that farmers and buyers experience a more secure, efficient, and profitable agricultural trade ecosystem.
At eFama, technology is not an add-on — it is woven into the very architecture of trust and efficiency that drives our platform.
You’ve onboarded thousands of farmers and buyers. What kind of impact have you observed so far?
The impact we have observed so far has been both quantitative and deeply personal.
On a quantitative level, farmers tapping into our buyer pool of 6,000 buyers with strong purchasing power have achieved faster market access, prompt payments, and higher earnings compared to traditional supply chains. Farmers who previously waited up to six months for payment are now receiving funds within days, dramatically improving their cash flow and their ability to reinvest in their operations.
For buyers, we have significantly reduced sourcing times and improved traceability standards, helping them meet food safety and regulatory compliance requirements more easily, particularly for those sourcing for formal markets and exports.
On a more human level, we have seen farmers regain trust in formal markets. Many smallholder farmers who had given up on commercial agriculture are now scaling their operations, confident that they have a reliable platform to sell their produce. Beyond transactions, eFama has fostered a community of farmers, buyers, and logistics partners who are invested in each other’s success, rather than remaining isolated in transactional relationships.
This real-world impact affirms our core belief: that technology, when built around people’s real needs, has the power to transform industries — and lives.
eFAMA reminds farmers that their work is a contribution to something greater
Can you share a specific success story that highlights the social or economic transformation eFama has made possible?
One of our most meaningful success stories involves a school run by a female founder who has been serving her community for more than 25 years. In recent years, she faced enormous challenges: government funding cuts, more stringent regulatory pressures, and an increase in defaulting school fee payments from parents.
When she began sourcing directly from eFama’s farmer pool, she started realising budget savings that had not been possible through the procurement methods she had relied on for over two decades, where food prices had become exorbitant and unmanageable.
She operates a school feeding facility as part of her paid education offering, ensuring that children do not study on an empty stomach. I recall interviewing one of her principals, who runs the high school, and his words have stayed with me ever since. Looking me in the eye, he said:
"No army can march on an empty stomach. If that is so for grown men going into battle, why do we expect our children to study on an empty stomach?"
Those words remain deeply personal to me. Having once been on the receiving end of a government school feeding programme myself, this mission resonates powerfully. Every dollar saved through eFama has allowed the school to widen its reach — expanding the size of the meals and the number of children they can feed.
On the other side, within the formal economy, we have seen farmers light up when we onboard them. I often ask them: "How does it feel knowing that your produce tonight could end up on a dinner table inside a five-star hotel, where even the President of this nation could be dining on your harvest?"
This question often perplexes farmers at first, because before joining eFama, many had never considered where their produce ultimately ended up. Their hard work was highly commoditised, with the human story stripped away. Through eFama, we have helped restore a deep sense of pride among farmers, reminding them that their labour is not just a commodity, but a contribution to something much greater.
How do you ensure transparency, traceability, and food safety across the supply chain?
At eFama, transparency, traceability, and food safety are core pillars of our platform and are embedded into the entire trading experience.
From the moment produce is listed on eFama to the point it reaches the buyer, every transaction is structured to promote trust and visibility. Farmers on our platform are vetted and supported to meet quality and handling standards, while buyers benefit from access to information that ensures food safety requirements are met.
We continuously invest in improving the quality of market interactions, ensuring that buyers can source with confidence and farmers can trade with dignity. Our systems are designed to simplify compliance, promote accountability, and uphold best practices across the value chain.
Ultimately, our commitment is to create a reliable, transparent, and efficient agricultural marketplace — one that protects buyers, empowers farmers, and raises the standard for food systems across the continent.
Are there any funding initiatives, collaborations or partnerships—corporate, governmental, or development-based—that have been critical to your progress?
Yes, we have been privileged to build a strong and diverse ecosystem of partnerships that have been critical to our progress.
Support from respected institutions across the corporate, innovation, and development sectors — including leaders such as Forbes Africa, Business Day, Standard Chartered Bank, VISA, ABSA Bank, Amazon, and the NEAR Foundation — has affirmed trust in our mission to transform agricultural trade across Africa.
Beyond funding, these collaborations have provided platforms for visibility, technical enablement, strategic insight, and credibility, accelerating both our impact and reach.
We view partnerships not simply as support structures, but as integral components of how we scale responsibly, ensuring that eFama continues to grow with the right networks, values, and opportunities aligned to our vision.
How do you navigate policy and regulatory challenges in the agri-tech and digital commerce space in Africa?
That's a good question. It reminds me of my early days in technology, where every second or third founder I met was busy trying to "disrupt this or that."
Whilst bringing disruption to a sector may seem noble, in practice it often creates unnecessary friction — making enemies, stepping on toes, and meeting avoidable resistance.
Instead of rushing to disrupt, new founders ought to invest considerable time and resources into fully understanding how things work in their current state. Yes, some legacy issues may indeed be overdue for reform or removal. But until one fully immerses oneself in understanding why and how a sector operates as it does, one is not ready to "move furniture around the room" — let alone remove it through disruption.
It is this humbling realisation that reveals an important truth: regulators are meant to become our strategic partners, not our opponents. Founders must do away with the "them and us" mindset.
Yes, there have been cases, particularly across parts of Africa, where regulators have misused their power, appearing heavy-handed or selectively enforcing standards. However, just as often, new founders have been guilty of demonising regulators without seeking deeper understanding.
We need each other. We are collectively tackling problems that are bigger than any one business or institution. Adding to existing tensions serves no one.
That is why, as we build eFama and expand our reach, we are intentionally contributing to policy-shaping initiatives, aligning with priorities such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs], and lifting others as we rise. Our approach is to positively engage with regulators and industry gatekeepers — not to see them as villains, but as critical partners in building a better, more inclusive agricultural future.
Shadrack Kubyane moderating a panel on the importance of tech adoption and literacy in Africa at an event
What do you believe is the future of agri-tech in Africa, and what role will eFama play in that future?
The future of agri-tech in Africa is not merely an opportunity — it is an urgent, time-sensitive necessity.
Africa’s population is projected to grow from 1.4 billion today to over 2.5 billion by 2050. Yet 2050 is not some distant horizon — it is fewer than 1,300 Saturdays away. The future is hurtling towards us, and the actions we take now will define the destiny of the next generation.
Despite being home to 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land, Africa today spends over $50 billion annually on food imports — a staggering paradox. Institutions such as the African Development Bank, under the leadership of President Akinwumi Adesina — himself a former Nigerian Agriculture Minister — have been vocal about the urgent need to shift the continent from aid dependency to trade empowerment.
President Adesina has repeatedly emphasised that Africa cannot rely on unstable external food supply chains, especially in a world increasingly shaped by global trade tensions between the United States, China, and other powers. In addition, climate change is disproportionately affecting African farmers, making local food security not just a development priority but a matter of continental survival.
At eFama, we exist precisely at this critical nexus. We are building the digital infrastructure to empower African farmers, shorten supply chains, drive fairer market access, and ensure that more value is retained at source.
We are not simply digitising agricultural trade — we are re-architecting it as a lever for sovereignty, resilience, and shared prosperity.
In the future of African agri-tech, those who succeed will be those who dare to build systems that are inclusive, climate-smart, market-driven, and designed for Africa’s realities — not borrowed templates from elsewhere.
That is the role eFama is proud to play — and the future we are committed to helping shape.
How can governments, investors, and innovators work together to support the digital transformation of agriculture?
Governments, investors, and innovators each have distinct but deeply interconnected roles to play in the digital transformation of agriculture — and success now demands a sense of urgency.
Between 2020 and 2023, African agri-food-tech startups attracted approximately $1.45 billion in investment. Investment grew sharply from around $60 million in 2020 to a peak of $636 million in 2022, before dropping to $275 million in 2023 amidst global macroeconomic pressures.
This shows that while there is clear interest and momentum in Africa’s agricultural future, funding is volatile and will only deepen sustainably if the right enabling environments are cultivated.
To use an agricultural analogy: for funders to continue bringing in an increasing amount of seed, African governments must work harder to tilt the ground and make it ready and deserving of that seed. Investment flows where the soil is fertile, and that fertility comes from infrastructure, policy stability, regulatory clarity, and genuine support for innovation ecosystems.
Governments must therefore move urgently to invest in rural digital infrastructure, modernise agricultural frameworks, and remove policy bottlenecks that hinder innovation. This is not charity — it is strategic nation-building.
Investors must play their part by adopting a patient, impact-driven approach, recognising that agricultural transformation is not an overnight phenomenon, but a high-return investment in continental resilience, food security, and economic independence.
Innovators, for their part, must stay grounded in African realities. Technology must be accessible, inclusive, and adaptable to diverse farming contexts across the continent.
At eFama, we believe that when policy, capital, and innovation work hand-in-hand, with urgency and humility, digital transformation ceases to be theoretical. It becomes a real engine for job creation, climate resilience, food security, and economic sovereignty across Africa.
The time for waiting has passed. The ground must be tilted today, because tomorrow’s harvest depends on what we sow now.
Are you exploring ways to introduce financial services such as microloans, digital wallets, or crop insurance for farmers through the platform?
Yes, we are actively exploring ways to introduce financial services such as micro-loans, digital wallets, and crop insurance through the eFama platform — not as a side project, but as a core enabler of sustainable growth.
Across Africa’s 40 million farmers, only 17.5% currently supply formal retailers — yet collectively, they produce up to 80% of the continent’s food supply. This disparity highlights the urgent need for further empowering interventions to level the playing field and strengthen Africa’s food security.
After all, despite their critical role, smallholders often operate under prohibitive conditions — farming, in many ways, becomes an extreme sport.
They face unfair barriers such as a lack of affordable credit, the absence of tailored insurance products, volatile market prices, and exposure to climate shocks, all without adequate financial safety nets. Without access to working capital, many cannot invest in better inputs, adopt improved technologies, or scale their operations to meet growing market demand.
At eFama, we recognise that if these millions of farmers are hampered in their mission to produce quality at scale, it will ultimately tie our hands as well, limiting what can flow into our ecosystem and weakening the value we promise to our buyers, logistics partners, and broader communities.
This is why we are intentionally aligning with agencies and institutions whose core business is micro-lending, insurance, and digital financial services. Our goal is to embed financial inclusion into the trading experience itself — so that farmers do not merely access markets, but also access the tools needed to thrive within them.
I recall a conversation with Dr. Babatunde Oghenobruche Obrimah, a seasoned banker now powering West Africa’s Fintech ecosystems, was instrumental in Nigeria’s early initiatives to provide micro-finance instruments to smallholder farmers in manageable portions. He joked that much of his time was spent "chasing farmers across their fields" — not because African farmers are delinquent, but because they are hard-working individuals, often isolated by geography and overwhelmed by survival demands.
His story reminds us that no matter how noble the effort, micro-lending must be accompanied by the right structures, accountability measures, and cultural understanding to mitigate foreseeable risks. When financial means are thoughtfully availed within the right context, we will power Africa onto its next horizon of sustainable, prosperous farming practices.
By creating a marketplace that connects market access with financial empowerment, eFama is committed to helping shift smallholder farming from survival mode to prosperity, strengthening the entire agricultural value chain from the ground up.
As co-founders, how do you divide responsibilities and make key decisions within the company?
As co-founders, we both come from a management consulting background, which has shaped us to be highly solution and results-oriented. When we pivoted into technology, we did not merely delegate the technical work — we immersed ourselves. We are both certified SCRUM Masters, well accustomed to agile methodologies, and out of necessity, we gained our technical know-how by becoming certified solutions architects and cloud computing specialists with a firm grasp of technical systems and infrastructure.
However, as eFama grew, we recognised that in the best interests of the team, the company, and our stakeholders, we needed to divide our work priorities more strategically — to ensure focus, accountability, and operational excellence.
As the CEO, I focus primarily on strategy, partnerships, investor relations, and market expansion — ensuring that eFama’s growth trajectory remains aligned with operational realities and larger opportunities across the agricultural sector. I also lead on external engagement, shaping how we position ourselves with key stakeholders and the broader ecosystem.
Pretty, as our Tech Lead, leads our technology, operations, and product development functions. She drives the technical execution of our platform, oversees product innovation, manages internal teams, and ensures operational excellence, making certain that what we build truly serves farmers, buyers, and partners at scale.
When it comes to key decisions, we operate through a model of collaborative leadership. Major strategic decisions are made jointly after thorough discussions, drawing from our complementary experiences and insights.
We are aligned on a fundamental principle: the long-term mission always outweighs short-term emotions or personal preferences. Operationally, whoever is closest to a particular domain leads on tactical decisions, while we ensure continuous strategic alignment through regular leadership check-ins.
Ultimately, our partnership is anchored in trust, transparency, and shared values — knowing that leadership is not about who holds the louder voice, but about who is best positioned at any given moment to advance the mission we both believe in.
eFAMA hopes to leave a legacy that is bigger than being just a business
What legacy do you hope eFama Africa will leave behind—not just as a business, but as a movement and what plans of expansion across Africa do you have?
The legacy we hope eFama will leave behind is far bigger than just being a successful business.
We want eFama to be remembered as a catalyst — a platform that helped shift African agriculture from survival to prosperity; from fragmented, informal systems to structured, transparent, and resilient value chains that uplift millions.
Our dream is to build a movement that restores pride and dignity to African farmers, treating them not as passive beneficiaries but as full economic participants and nation-builders. We want the smallholder farmer to be seen not as a symbol of poverty, but as a symbol of Africa’s future prosperity.
We also hope that eFama’s journey will serve as proof that African-built solutions, grounded in African realities, can scale, succeed, and lead on the global stage — without needing to copy models from elsewhere.
Equally important, we see eFama as a talent engine. When an engineer, an agronomist, a food technologist, a supply chain practitioner, an AI expert, a Web3 specialist — right down to the truck driver, the warehouse worker, or the cleaner — says, "I work for eFama", that sentence ought to carry massive weight.
How many times have we heard someone say, "I am ex-Facebook," and immediately doors open — capital is raised, opportunities secured, often within minutes? Why shouldn’t the same be said about someone who is ex-eFama?
While we do not build our teams merely to donate talent to the market, we believe that if someone has been part of eFama, they should be so intrinsically relevant to the agricultural and digital economy that they would never spend five minutes without a job, or five days without funding for their next bold idea.
In terms of expansion, our plans are continent-wide. We are already engaging farmers and buyers beyond South Africa, and we intend to deepen our presence across East Africa, West Africa, and eventually North and Central Africa.
Our expansion model focuses not merely on adding users, but on creating self-sustaining agricultural ecosystems — connecting farmers, buyers, logistics, finance, and technology in every country we touch. We are intentional about aligning with regional trade frameworks like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), because we believe Africa’s food future is not national — it is continental.
Yes, Africa is bruised. She bears deep gorges of exploitation. She emerges from the scars of the "dark continent" narrative. Her children are still starving in parts of the continent. But as we hard-code ourselves into her story, we see her rising — beyond what the naysayers ever imagined possible.
We see her children shifting from begging for bread to becoming the breadbasket of the global economy. And by fixing even one portion of the broken supply chain today, we know that tomorrow, our collective efforts will cumulatively add up to something significant — something that will outlive us.
