By Bruce Kisitu, Director of Operations, Africa.
The past month has been one of the most energising periods I’ve experienced in my time with iSDA. In the space of just a few weeks we had the privilege of engaging with some of the most important conversations shaping the future of African agriculture, while also witnessing the ever-growing tangible impact of our work on the ground.
At the Africa Food Systems Forum in Dakar, the energy in meeting rooms, panel discussions and exhibition halls was palpable. The urgency around food security, resilience and inclusive growth could not have been clearer. iSDA was proud to contribute a science-driven, tech perspective, demonstrating that scalable digital solutions are not a distant possibility - they are happening today. Our AI-advisory tool, Virtual Agronomist, has already been adopted by over 250,000 smallholder farmers, and, in recent weeks we have been seeing an extraordinary surge of around 4,000 new registrations every single day! These numbers are not just statistics - they represent households making more informed decisions, fields being managed with greater precision and harvests that have a better chance of withstanding climate uncertainty.
The numbers also show the power of a hybrid model: pairing the scale of AI with the trust and reach of human advisors. Virtual Agronomist is built to work alongside farmer-facing organisations, extension agents and lead farmers, ensuring that the recommendations are not only precise, but also practical and trusted at the village level. This combination of technology and human connection is what makes our approach truly scalable.
The high level gathering on Catalysing Innovation in African Climate Adaptation and Resilient Food Systems at the Africa Climate Summit in Addis Ababa, hosted by the Gates Foundation, was another highlight. It was a privilege to be part of a gathering that brought together funders, innovators and policymakers committed to aligning climate action with agricultural transformation. What stood out to me is that the narrative is shifting: no longer are we simply talking about adaptation as an afterthought. Instead, agriculture is increasingly being recognised as central to Africa’s climate strategy. At iSDA, we believe this alignment is critical, and we are demonstrating it with Virtual Agronomist which equips farmers with hyper-local, science-based insights that improve resilience and productivity simultaneously.
Reflecting on my own career - spanning over 14 years across public and private sector projects - I have seen many development initiatives come and go. Too often, they struggled to scale, or failed to embed scientific rigour in ways that met farmers’ realities. What excites me about iSDA’s work is that we are breaking that cycle. By combining agronomic expertise with cutting-edge AI and geospatial data, and by remaining open and collaborative in our approach, we are building something that is not only impactful today but has the potential to transform agricultural systems for decades to come.
As we look to COP30, one message is clear: agriculture must be at the heart of climate action. A resilience-first approach - helping smallholder farmers adapt, recover and thrive - protects soils, reduces land pressure and strengthens food and economic security. With Virtual Agronomist, we are proving that digital agronomy combined with soil health can be a core pillar of climate adaptation.
What’s needed now is targeted climate finance to move beyond research into delivery, embedding AI-driven agronomy into national systems, and unlocking partnerships - whether South–South exchanges or blended finance models - that make scaling sustainable.
Africa already has the science, the innovation, and the proof points. What is needed is investment. iSDA is ready to work with governments, funders and innovators to ensure that millions of African farmers are more resilient, more productive and more climate-ready.
