Tech Solutions for Ethiopian Farmers Must Be Practical, Experts Call out Agri-Tech Paradox

Agricultural experts and industry leaders are calling for a shift toward practical digital tools tailored to the needs of Ethiopian farmers, warning that many existing solutions are overly complex or disconnected from the realities of rural agriculture. The plea came at the third Agri-Tech Summit, hosted last week by Orbit Innovation Hub at the Sheraton Addis, where private sector leaders, government officials, and academics highlighted a persistent mismatch between high-tech proposals and the everyday challenges faced by farmers

Girum Ketema (PhD), Director of Digital Agriculture & Finance at the Agricultural Transformation Institute, referred to the difficulty farmers face in using some technologies already in the market. He said most Agri-tech providers offer solutions that require smart devices and high digital acumen to operate effectively.

“We need farmer-oriented solutions,” Girum told Shega, emphasizing that offline-compatible tools are often more useful.

The director also cited the lack of communication and partnership between private and public sector players as a major factor further entrenching the supply mismatch. Girum says there are recent efforts by the Institute to address the communications divide.

While Ethiopia’s overall adoption of technology has remained low across multiple sectors, the impact is exceptionally punishing in agriculture. Despite contributing nearly 35% to the country’s GDP and accounting for above 75% of jobs, Ethiopia’s agriculture remains largely tethered to traditional farming practices. By 2020, the number of tractors operating in Ethiopia outside of sugar estates was just a little over 21,000, with 60% owned by commercial farmers. With Ethiopia recently launching a digital agriculture roadmap targeting increased productivity, concerns linger about the underlying pillars.

Berhanu Zergaw, Founder and CEO of Bedebo Ethiopia, feels like the ‘digital’ moniker has been assigned to a whole lot of impractical technologies. He finds tools that can minimize the number of players between farmers and the market as requiring imminent innovation.

“Digitization should focus on eliminating the undue influence of brokers,” Berhanu told Shega.

Digital literacy and the lack of basic infrastructure remain enduring problems limiting farmer participation, according to the CEO. He hopes that adequate attention will be given in the roadmap to reaching remote rural regions, which are in desperate need of direct market access.

Most participants at the Summit echoed the call for more offline solutions to address the everyday problems of Ethiopian farmers. Netsanet Nega, Export Manager at the Benchi Maji Forest Coffee Farmers' Cooperative Union (BMFCFCU), said more startups should focus on addressing pressing problems for farmers instead of another Agri-tech offering a data collection tool. The manager at the 130,0000 member-strong Union stressed the need for a new wave of Agri-tech players that are focused on boosting productivity.

“ATI’s data hub serves enough of the ecosystem’s data needs for now,” she told Shega. ” What farmers need are solutions that help them grow and sell more efficiently.”

Orbit’s Program lead Mikael Endalemaw pointed out how the reflections by the industry insiders underscore the pressing need to increase collaborations between players in the sector.

“More technology adoption and detailed data remain important still,” he told Shega.

With a little over 25 agri-tech startups in Ethiopia, compared to over 100 in Kenya, the sector remains underdeveloped. Yet participants agreed that context-specific solutions, rather than imported models, could unlock real progress.