How digital tools helped a young agripreneur turn agriculture into a thriving business

In Chekereni, a quiet village in Moshi District, Kilimanjaro, Zainabu Juma’s phone rarely rests. Orders come in. Farmers ask questions. New customers appear, most of who she has never met before. What she could consider normal at the moment was not a while ago.

Zainabu Juma is a young agripreneur and a Village-Based Advisor (VBA) who runs a small agro-input shop. Her journey into agriculture was not smooth. She had tried farming herself, but like many young people, she struggled due limited information, uncertain markets, and low returns. Even when she shifted into selling agricultural inputs, growth was slow, and her shop remained quiet.

“I was already in agriculture, but I didn’t have direction,” she says. “Even when I opened my agrovet shop, I couldn’t grow it. I reached a point where I almost gave up.”

Her turning point came when she was introduced to the YEFFA program (Youth Entrepreneurship for the Future of Food and Agriculture) through the Tanzania Horticultural Association (TAHA) . What she found was more than training. It was a shift in mindset, a new way of seeing agriculture not as survival, but as a business.

Through YEFFA, Zainabu was connected to a digital ecosystem developed by BizyTech. Using the Kilimo BaNDO platform, she began operating differently, smarter, faster, and more connected than ever before. Today, much of her work happens through her mobile phone. She advises farmers on seeds and crop protection products, connects with customers across regions, and receives orders digitally.

“I now work with farmers I don’t even know,” she explains. “Through the system, I guide them on seeds and pesticides, and we do business.”

What changed was not just access to tools, but access to networks. Through the platform, she became visible beyond her village. Farmers from regions like Iringa and Morogoro now place orders through her, expanding her reach far beyond what her small shop could have allowed. Within a short period, her sales increased by 25% .

“After joining the system, my sales went up very fast,” she says. “I started receiving orders from outside my region. That’s when I knew this is real business.”

Zainabu’s story reflects a deeper transformation taking place across Tanzania. Agriculture is no longer confined to the farm; it is becoming a connected, and data-driven ecosystem where information, markets, and finance are accessible through digital platforms.

Through tools like Kilimo BaNDO, farmers receive real-time advisory services, access financial products such as savings and loans, insure their crops against climate risks, and connect directly to markets without relying heavily on intermediaries. For young people, this shift is redefining what agriculture means. A sector once seen as outdated and physically demanding is now increasingly digital, efficient, and full of opportunities.

By meeting youth where they already are, on their phones, technology is pulling agriculture into the modern economy. “This is what changed everything for me,” Zainabu reflects. “Everything I need is in my phone. I can learn, connect, and sell without leaving my shop.”

As a VBA, she is now more than a shop owner. She is a connector linking farmers to inputs, knowledge, and markets. Her business supports not only her own income but also the productivity of farmers around her.

In this role, she represents a new generation of agripreneurs who are building businesses across the agricultural value chain. Through programs like YEFFA, supported by digital innovation from BizyTech, young people like Zainabu are moving beyond participation in agriculture to ownership and leadership within it. They are not waiting for opportunities they are creating them.

And in villages like Chekereni, what once looked like a struggling agrovet shop has now morphed into something bigger, a digital hub, powered by technology, driven by youth, and connected to a future where agriculture is not just viable, but transformative.