In November, Garage48 returned to Western Kenya with a very intentional goal: to work with the local ecosystem to turn real, well‑defined agricultural challenges into practical, technology‑enabled solutions.
Together with our local implementation partner AfriFORTIFIED, and with the support of the Estonian Centre for International Development (ESTDEV), Garage48 organized a 48‑hour Agritech Hackathon in Kisumu as part of the program "Boosting the sustainable agritech‑focused early‑stage startup scene in Kenya through hackathons and acceleration programs"
The hackathon was the result of months of groundwork, ecosystem engagement, and challenge validation across Western Kenya, all designed to ensure that what teams built over one weekend would be relevant far beyond that weekend.
From problem mapping to ready-to-build challenges
The process started already in July with a Challenge Formulation Roundtable in Kisumu. Together with AfriFORTIFIED and ESTDEV, we got together 45 stakeholders from across the Lake Region, representing county governments, public institutions, innovation hubs, SMEs, academia, and other relevant agribusiness actors.
The purpose was simple but important: validate the real bottlenecks faced by farmers, processors, and agri‑food SMEs, and translate them into innovation‑ready challenge statements.
During the roundtable discussions, stakeholders worked through concrete, lived challenges from the Kisumu and wider Western Kenya context. Several topic areas emerged.
Access to markets came up repeatedly, including the lack of transparent platforms for selling produce, heavy dependence on middlemen and brokers who take a large share of profits, limited access to accurate market data and trends, and restricted access beyond local markets. Market requirements and standards were often unclear or difficult to meet.
Picture: Challenge Mapping Roundable in Kisumu in July, 2025
Training and knowledge gaps were another major theme. Participants highlighted limited access to tailored capacity-building, difficulties keeping up with new technologies and farming techniques, a lack of digital marketing know-how, and a limited understanding of how to run an agribusiness. Many farmers still rely heavily on traditional methods and face challenges in transitioning to digital, IT‑backed farming.
Farm and agribusiness management challenges included the need for simple digital record‑keeping tools, better tracking of livestock, crops, pests, and insects, live-season updates, real‑time tracking of fish catch, and applications that support basic administrative processes, such as bookkeeping.
Finance and access to capital surfaced repeatedly, from day‑to‑day operational financing and emergency reserves to early funding for building the first MVPs. Many participants pointed to a general lack of capital combined with limited knowledge of how and where to access it.
Marketing and perception of agribusiness were also discussed, especially the fact that young people often do not see agriculture as an attractive opportunity. Issues around packaging, branding, precise advertising, and de‑risking agritech solutions for commercialisation were raised as key barriers to growth.
Cross‑cutting all of these were concerns around climate change, pests and diseases, access to appropriate equipment, and meaningful youth engagement in the sector.
Grounding the hackathon in these reality-based challenges helped to set a clear direction for the teams.
Mobilising the ecosystem
In the months leading up to the hackathon, AfriFORTIFIED led an extensive outreach across Western Kenya, engaging innovation hubs and institutions, including LakeHub, EldoHub, Nakuru Box, Baraza Media Lab, FIE Lab, Maseno University, and national networks such as ASSEK and ACIH.
The partnership‑driven approach mattered. It brought together IT professionals, students, agripreneurs, early‑stage founders and farmers, people with very different backgrounds, but shared experience of the same challenges. By the time the hackathon started, over 100 participants had joined, supported by mentors from agritech, entrepreneurship, data science, climate‑smart agriculture and value‑chain development.
48 hours of focused building
The Agritech Hackathon itself was an intense 48‑hour sprint. Participants worked in multidisciplinary teams, moving quickly from problem definition to ideation, prototyping, and pitching.
Throughout the weekend, mentors challenged teams to stay grounded: Who is the real user? What problem are you solving today , not in theory, but in practice? What would it take for this to work outside the room?
By the final pitches, 10 teams took the stage, each tackling a different bottleneck in the agri‑food value chain:
Mvuvi Connect – strengthening coordination, cold storage access and market linkages in the fishing value chain
Agro‑Jua – an AI‑powered agricultural knowledge bank enabling access to finance through psychometric credibility scoring
BetFarm – smart crop monitoring and predictive alerts for tea and other crops
SMACOM – a digital platform turning organic waste into circular bio‑products
Farmula 1 – AI‑based yield prediction and quality assessment
Smart Mushroom App – sensor‑enabled mushroom farming with automated alerts and irrigation
Stay Fresh – community‑based cold room and drying solutions for perishables
AgriPool – smart transport pooling for improved market access
AgriBazaar – a transparent digital livestock marketplace
FishConnect – a digital knowledge hub connecting fish farmers to verified experts
What stood out across the teams was not just the technical ambition, but how closely the solutions reflected the challenges identified during the earlier ecosystem work, and how clearly teams were already thinking about real users, operational constraints, and potential paths to adoption beyond the hackathon setting.
From hackathon to acceleration
Following evaluation by a jury panel, Smart Mushroom App was selected as the overall hackathon winner for its strong mix of technological feasibility, a clearly defined use case, and strong potential for real impact in small-scale mushroom production. The solution demonstrated how relatively simple sensor technology and automation can significantly improve yields, reduce crop losses, and lower labour demands for farmers. The leader of the winning team was already active in the mushroom-growing business and, with her teammates' help during the hackathon, built a technical solution to support her business. Fun fact- in her everyday life, she is also a pastor, and she definitely shone her bright light all over the hackathon♥️
Picture: Winning team Smart Mushroom App after the final pitching
Farmula 1 was awarded second place for its AI-based yield prediction and crop quality assessment solution, addressing a critical need for better planning and market readiness for farmers, and Agrojua received third place.
In addition, three other high-potential teams- Mvuuvi Blue Connect, Smacom and TeaFarm AI were selected to continue into the post-hackathon acceleration phase, based on criteria including innovation quality, feasibility, market relevance, and scalability. Over the coming months, starting from January 2026, these teams will receive tailored mentorship, business development support, and technical guidance to further develop their MVPs and move closer to market readiness.
What we learned
A few reflections stood out clearly from this edition:
Early challenge validation matters. Working with public institutions, universities, SMEs, and ecosystem enablers upfront significantly improved the solutions' relevance.
Local partnerships are essential. AfriFORTIFIED’s role and deep trust from the ecosystem were key to mobilising participants and mentors, and to grounding the process locally.
- Momentum needs structure. Acceleration, mentorship, and follow‑up are what turn prototypes into early-stage businesses.
Picture: Mentors during the checkpoints providing the structure and guidance for the teams to work
Looking ahead
The next phase of the program will focus on supporting the six selected teams through a structured three‑month acceleration journey, including:
Dedicated mentors for each team
Additional technical support to refine and strengthen prototypes
Capacity building on storytelling, pitching, and investor readiness
Mapping of the funding and possible acceleration programs for prototype development and early market testing
For Garage48, this hackathon reinforced something we strongly believe in: when solutions that are built are rooted in real ecosystem needs, supported by strong local partners, and connected to clear follow-up pathways, they can create lasting value well beyond a single weekend and contribute more meaningfully to the development of regional agritech and innovation ecosystems.
Picture: Organizing crew after a successful hackathon
Check out the full photo gallery of the event here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Mq9jsddVVO7aQGBK34JZCGqF6Byx-BwF
