African agri-fintech firm eSusFarm has introduced a new artificial intelligence-driven platform aimed at widening access to credit and insurance for small-scale farmers across the continent, in a move designed to close a financing gap it places at Sh8.4 trillion in the agricultural sector.
The company says the system uses satellite images, climate records and mobile phone usage patterns to build financial profiles for farmers who have long been left out of formal lending systems. This data-driven approach is expected to help banks and insurers assess risk and extend services to farmers who previously had no financial records.
The launch was announced in Nairobi on June 15, 2026, with eSusFarm reporting that it has already reached more than 380,000 smallholder farmers and over 20,000 users in insurance and advisory services across East and Southern Africa. The company says it is now expanding its operations into West Africa.
Agriculture continues to play a major role in many African economies, contributing up to 40 percent of gross domestic product in some countries. Despite this, most farmers still struggle to access formal loans and insurance, leaving them exposed to climate shocks and financial instability.
To reach farmers in rural areas, the platform has been designed to work even in low-connectivity regions. Users can register and access services through USSD on basic feature phones, removing the need for smartphones or stable internet access.
The system relies on artificial intelligence models that process satellite imagery, past weather trends and climate information to create risk profiles that are updated regularly. These profiles are then used to support insurance products that can automatically trigger payouts through mobile money when set conditions, such as low rainfall, are met.
eSusFarm Chief Executive and Co-founder Watson Vuyo Matsa said the platform was built to address long-standing exclusion from financial systems.
“For too long, smallholder farmers have been invisible to financial systems, not because they lack creditworthiness, but because no one has built the infrastructure to prove otherwise. Our role is to turn the data that already exists in the field into a financial identity that opens doors to credit and insurance,” he outlined.
The company says it is combining credit access, insurance and climate risk tools into one system, noting that automated risk checks help lower costs for insurers while also reducing default risks for lenders. This, it adds, makes it easier for financial institutions to serve farmers who were previously considered too risky.
The platform runs on Microsoft Azure and is supported through Microsoft startup programmes, including the Microsoft for Startups initiative and the Microsoft and NVIDIA GenAI Accelerator.
Development finance expert and Adopt-a-Farmer founder Nontokozo Davidson said the system could reshape agricultural finance by improving how climate and crop data is used.
“eSusFarm shows how AI and cloud infrastructure can translate climate and crop data into faster payouts and more confidence for insurers and lenders, unlocking credit for smallholders at scale.” Microsoft Africa Transformation Office Lead Gerald Maithya stated.
eSusFarm says farmers using its insurance products are able to recover faster after extreme weather events, helping them stabilise household income and reduce reliance on emergency coping measures.
Looking ahead, the company aims to reach more than one million smallholder farming households, with plans to expand AI-based risk scoring and satellite crop monitoring across new markets.
“We’re not building another app for farmers. We’re building the financial rails that an entire continent of smallholders has never had access to, so that when the next drought comes, or the next opportunity, they’re not left behind,” Matsa concluded.