OneSoil's two-year journey transforming digital agriculture in Africa

When OneSoil arrived in Africa with ambitions to democratize precision farming technology, we faced the same questions every agri-tech company encounters: Would farmers actually adopt satellite-based insights?

Could we build trust in regions where technology adoption has historically been slow? Would our product translate across vastly different agricultural systems - from smallholder farmers in East Africa to large-scale commercial operations in South Africa?

Two years later, the answer is undeniable: yes, yes, and yes.

This year, we activated over 100,000 hectares of OneSoil Pro across Africa - a milestone that reflects something far more meaningful than a vanity metric.

It represents farmers making data-driven decisions instead of relying on gut instinct. It means consultants delivering better advice to their clients. It signals that precision agriculture is no longer a luxury for wealthy operations, but an accessible tool for anyone serious about farm profitability.

What's even more striking: South Africa emerged as the world's second-highest country for OneSoil Pro usage and adoption.

Yet perhaps our proudest achievement came from East Africa, where our partner ecosystem delivered OneSoil's top global partner performance for Pro activations and adoption.

These results weren't handed to us - they were earned through countless hours in the field with agronomists, farmers, and community leaders who believed in the vision.

Numbers matter, but they don't capture the real story of 2025.

The real story happened in Kenyan fields where I spent time with Cropnuts agronomists guiding smallholder farmers through their first seasons using NDVI monitoring and variable-rate application recommendations.

It happened in South African research plots where commercial farmers tested our VRA maps against traditional uniform application rates and discovered significant cost savings without sacrificing yield.

One Kenyan farmer, managing diversified crops across multiple plots, summed it up perfectly: "With OneSoil, I can see exactly where my plants are healthy and where they're struggling. Before, I was guessing. Now I know."

This shift from guessing to knowing is the core of everything we do.

We could have simply sold software. Instead, we invested in partnership and research because we knew the most impactful ag-tech in Africa comes with proof.

In 2025, OneSoil participated in groundbreaking Variable Rate Application (VRA) studies with BFAP (Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy) and the University of Stellenbosch.

These weren't academic exercises - they were farmer-centric implementation trials that tested our algorithms and recommendations against real-world field conditions.

What we learned validated our approach:

• VRA strategies, when properly optimized, reduce input costs
• Farmers who understand the "why" behind variable-rate decisions adopt the practice more consistently
• Different soil types and crops require region-specific calibration
• The best insights come from combining satellite data with farmer knowledge and local agronomic expertise

One particular trial in Kenya demonstrated $88,000 in total savings across a portfolio of fields - the kind of hard-number proof that transforms skeptics into advocates.

As our farmer base grew more sophisticated, we listened to what they needed next.

In 2025, we launched our first Planet Labs high-resolution, daily satellite imagery subscription in East Africa.

This wasn't a random feature addition - it came directly from conversations with progressive farmers and consultants who wanted higher-resolution monitoring during critical growth stages.

Planet's daily imagery (compared to the 5-day frequency of standard satellite data) gives farmers the ability to catch problems earlier: pest pressure building, disease outbreak starting, stress conditions emerging. In a region where weather is unpredictable and growing seasons compressed, this kind of early visibility can be the difference between a good harvest and a lost crop.

What became equally clear in 2025 was that OneSoil's value extends far beyond commodity crops.

High-value crops demand precision that commodity production simply doesn't.

A small mistake in irrigation timing on an avocado orchard or a missed disease warning on potatoes can wipe out weeks of profit margin.

The commercial farms we worked with, including operations like Kisima Farm in Kenya, which manages both certified seed potatoes and premium export floriculture, proved that farmers will invest in technology when it directly protects yield quality and marketability.

What surprised us was how quickly horticulture farmers adopted advanced features like daily satellite monitoring through Planet Labs, recognizing that real-time visibility into crop stress was worth the investment for crops destined for premium markets.

Growth demands infrastructure. By mid-2025, we recognized that our expanding user base needed more than a mobile app and web platform - they needed people.

We expanded our local African team dedicated to ensuring that farmers receive guidance when they need it, in a language they understand, from someone who understands their reality.

The result? A 70% increase in active OneSoil App users across Africa. But more importantly, higher engagement, faster adoption of advanced features, and farmers who felt supported rather than abandoned by a distant software company.

This is the flip side of democratization that often gets overlooked: scaling technology isn't just about making it cheaper or easier to access. It's about ensuring every farmer - whether managing 10 hectares or 10,000 - can actually use it effectively.

As I reflect on 2025, I'm struck by the contrast between where we started and where we are now.
Two years ago, we were proving that precision agriculture was even relevant in Africa.

Today, we're managing the exciting challenge of scaling something that works - ensuring quality doesn't degrade as volume grows, maintaining farmer relationships while adding thousands of new users, and continuing to innovate in response to market feedback.

The 100,000 hectares activated in 2025 isn't a ceiling - it's a foundation.

Across Africa, there are tens of millions of hectares that could benefit from satellite-based insights and precision application strategies. Many of those farmers haven't heard of OneSoil yet. Others have but haven't taken the step to try. Still others are using our platform but haven't adopted the full suite of capabilities.

Each of these represents an opportunity not just for OneSoil, but for individual farmers to increase profitability, stabilize yields, and build more resilient operations.