Uganda’s farming households have seen a fivefold increase in genuine e-seed purchases following a collaboration between Alliance Bioversity-CIAT and EzyAgric. The initiative, focused on boosting digital literacy and awareness of innovative digital agricultural services, has benefited 253 farming households in Luwero, Nakaseke, and Mityana ditsricts. This successful intervention, informed by awareness campaigns and a randomized control trial, is now guiding EzyAgric’s expansion into new regions across Uganda, further improving smallholder farmer access to digital agriculture, supporting higher revenues, and ensuring broader impact.
In Uganda, the adoption and utilization of innovative digital agricultural services is low, limiting farmers’ ability to enhance productivity and income. Despite over 300,000 farmers being registered on the EzyAgric digital agriculture platform, only 20% actively engaged with it. Barriers such as limited awareness of available technologies, insufficient digital literacy, and restrictive social norms have hindered farmers’ access to digital agricultural solutions. As a result, many smallholder farmers struggled to procure quality inputs, receive agronomic advisories, and access digital financial services for improved farm management.
To address these challenges, Alliance Bioversity-CIAT and EzyAgric designed an intervention to enhance farmers’ digital literacy and increase their engagement with the EzyAgric platform. The goal was to enable smallholder farmers to integrate digital tools into their farming practices, leading to increased use of genuine inputs such as improved seeds, fertilizers, and agrochemicals. Additionally, improving farmers’ access to agronomic information and e-extension services aimed to boost crop yields, income, and overall welfare.
The intervention introduced several targeted solutions in collaboration with stakeholders. Farmers underwent digital literacy training to navigate the EzyAgric platform, procure inputs electronically, and access advisory services through USSD codes and smartphone applications. They also received basic agronomy training on the proper application of agrochemicals, ensuring they acquired and used genuine agricultural inputs correctly. On-site practical training involved profiling farmers and demonstrating the use of the USSD service and e-procurement procedures for authentic seeds and agrochemicals. Furthermore, collaboration with EzyAgric enhanced awareness of the platform’s agri-shop feature, optimizing access to genuine seeds and strengthening the agro-input supply chain.
The intervention targeted 253 smallholder farming households across Luwero, Nakaseke, and Mityana districts, benefiting both male- and female-headed households. As a result, the number of orders increased from 7 to 152, the value of inputs transacted rose from UGX 330,000 to UGX 1.7M, farmers accessing agronomic information increased from 152 to 725, and the volume of seeds posted on the platform grew from 189 kg to 1,574 kg. Although fertilizer use among male-headed households slightly decreased, this was attributed to improved knowledge of appropriate application, reducing unnecessary input use.
To ensure the successful uptake of digital agricultural solutions, several strategic activities were undertaken. In October 2023, 80 agro-input dealers joined the EzyAgric platform as intermediaries for farmers without access to phones. A baseline study conducted from November to December 2023 collected data on farmers in control and treatment groups to assess pre-intervention conditions.
Digital literacy and agronomic training were conducted in two phases: the first session in January–February 2024 and the second in May–June 2024. Training topics covered navigating the EzyAgric app interface, ordering inputs, accessing agro-advisory services, and the safe use and handling of agrochemicals. A structured training approach was used, with sub-county-level training introducing farmers to the app and village-level sessions focusing on profiling farmers, using the USSD service, ordering inputs, and proper use and storage of agrochemicals. A follow-up survey in September 2024 assessed the impact of interventions and gathered data on key variables.
Through targeted digital literacy training and strategic collaboration with EzyAgric, the intervention successfully increased smallholder farmers’ engagement with digital agricultural services. The resulting improvements in access to quality inputs, agronomic information, and e-extension services translated into higher agricultural productivity and increased income. By addressing barriers to digital adoption, this initiative has paved the way for broader technology-driven agricultural transformation in Uganda.
As a result of this initiative, we have refined our route-to-market strategy to better serve farmers. The co-developed training content has allowed us to expand into new regions…, where we’ve onboarded 14 Agri-hubs, each supported by four youth Digital Agriculture Champions. These champions are crucial in connecting farmers to essential services… through our platform.” William Luyinda Buyungo, CEO, EzyAgric
Other links:
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/128425- scoping report
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/169876 blog
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/159692- profile
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/138934-Baseline report
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/169865-training report
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/169805-evaluation report
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/172743 preprint paper-gender