After more than a year of quarterly interviews, field visits in Bolivia, Colombia and Peru, and a close review of data from 14 grantees, we're ready to share what we found.
Our new report — Advancing Digital Innovation for Smallholder Farmers: What We Learned — is a data-driven account of what it actually takes to bring digital agriculture solutions to smallholder farmers at scale. It draws on primary research conducted throughout 2025, including direct conversations with farmers in the field, and captures both what worked and what didn't.
What the cohort achieved
By early 2026, the portfolio of agtech organizations had benefitted nearly 35,000 smallholder farmers across five countries with services ranging from AI-powered agronomic advisory to tractor-sharing, parametric insurance, and digital savings products. Early results are promising: for instance, Hola Tractor users reported a 37% income increase; SiembraCo's AI advisory tool delivered an 11% improvement in farmer incomes; and Imix exceeded its gender target by 60%, reaching female farmers who had previously had no access to productive credit.
What we learned
A few findings stand out regardless of business model or geography. Distribution partnerships are foundational — grantees who entered the programme without one spent most of 2025 looking for one instead of scaling. Simplicity in product design isn't just good UX; it's a commercial imperative when your users are time-poor farmers with limited digital literacy. And gender inclusion, where it worked, was built in from the start — not retrofitted at the end.
The report is also candid about what didn't go to plan. One-year funding cycles proved challenging to demonstrate productivity improvements across full agricultural cycles. Four grantees were unable to launch on time. And gender targets were often deprioritised under pressure to hit headline user numbers.
These aren't criticisms of individual organisations — they're structural lessons for how programmes like this one should be designed in future.
Read the full report
The report includes detailed case studies, profiles of all 14 grantees, and recommendations for funders and digital agriculture innovators alike.
[Download the report in English →]
[Download the report in Spanish →]
This report was produced by The AgTech Network, commissioned by Incofin Foundation. It draws on quarterly grantee interviews, field visits, farmer interviews, and extensive desk research conducted between July 2025 and March 2026.
