Across Africa, millions of farmers face a fundamental challenge: they lack access to timely, tailored advice that can help them make confident decisions about their crops and soils. This isn’t a new problem. What’s new is the tools at our disposal to solve it.

At iSDA, we believe the future of farm advisory is more than just tech. It’s about trust, science, systems - and scale.

1. More Tech Doesn’t Automatically Mean Better Advice

In recent years, we’ve seen a surge in AI-powered platforms promising to revolutionise smallholder agriculture. And yes - technology is unlocking new possibilities. But when tech is deployed without a deep understanding of agronomy, local context or farmer realities, it risks repeating old mistakes in new ways.

Not all advice is created equal. It’s easy to generate content at scale. It’s much harder to ensure it’s accurate, locally relevant and truly useful for a farmer standing in her field, deciding what to plant, when to apply fertiliser, or how to adapt to shifting rainfall patterns.

2. Built by Scientists. Proven on the Farm.

Virtual Agronomist - our flagship advisory tool - combines the speed and reach of AI with the rigour of real agronomic science. It’s not just a chatbot. It’s the result of decades of research, ground-truthed data and a commitment to turning complexity into clarity for the people who need it most.

We’ve partnered with leading research institutions, embedded the latest soil and weather data, and tested our models on actual farms - not just in labs. That means the advice we give is grounded, reliable and capable of earning farmers’ trust.

3. Advice at Scale—Without the Trade-Offs

Traditional extension models struggle to scale. They’re expensive, human-resource intensive, and slow to reach remote communities. Yet many digital models have swung too far in the opposite direction - prioritising volume over value.

Virtual Agronomist proves you don’t have to choose. In just one year, we reached farmers on over 250,000 plots with hyper-local, scientifically validated guidance - at a cost per farmer 10x lower than traditional methods. That’s the kind of scale and efficiency African agriculture needs right now.

4. Beyond the Harvest: Real Systems Change

We’re not just here to boost yields. Our mission is bigger: to build resilience, shift food systems to become more sustainable and equip farmers to thrive in a climate-stressed world. That requires advisory tools that go beyond the crop calendar and speak to the bigger picture - soil health, economic returns, environmental impact and long-term sustainability.

With Virtual Agronomist, we help farmers make decisions that serve them today and tomorrow.

5. Being Open Is in Our DNA

We believe our experience can help the wider AI advisory ecosystem which is why we’re not hoarding data or gatekeeping science. We’re building public goods, open APIs and farmer-first partnerships that accelerate change across the ecosystem. Because no one organisation can transform African agriculture alone - but together, we truly believe we can.

The bottom line? The next generation of farm advisory must be more than smart tech. It must be science-led, farmer-trusted and system-shaping. That’s why we built Virtual Agronomist - and why we’re inviting funders, partners, and fellow changemakers to help take it further.