#YouthMonth: Pretty Kubyane, bridging tech and agriculture to empower Africa's farmers

Zawya

8 hours ago

Pretty Kubyane grew up surrounded by entrepreneurship — from her father's car repair workshop to a wood-cutting business that trained local women and youth. Those early lessons in resilience and community impact stayed with her, even as she pursued a career in technology. Today, as co-founder and tech lead of the eFama App, Kubyane is using digital innovation to solve some of Africa's toughest agricultural challenges.
Pretty Kubyane, co-founder, eFama App
Through eFama, she's helping connect over 5,000 farmers to verified buyers, improving market access, income security, and food traceability across the continent.
In this Youth Month feature, Kubyane shares her journey from farm girl to multi-certified tech leader, the barriers she's had to overcome as a young woman in agri-tech, and her mission to change the narrative about farming for Africa's youth.
Can you share your journey into the agri-tech space and what inspired you to co-found the eFama App?
Both my co-founder and I were raised by hard-working farmers. We grew up seeing firsthand the challenges our parents faced, especially the constant struggle to access reliable markets. Back then, I never imagined I'd work in agriculture. I was drawn to engineering and technology.
Years later, life came full circle. We had the opportunity to work with a leading American tech company and the world's largest retailer to design a supply chain traceability platform.
The goal was to digitise 14,000 smallholder farmers and ensure food safety and compliance through technology. It was an intense and rewarding project, one that gave us international exposure and deep experience in digitising informal supply chains.
Initially, we planned to apply those lessons to the beauty industry. But everything shifted when a Switzerland-based foundation offered us a grant to build a traceability solution for a group of farmers they were supporting. That pilot was a turning point. It worked. The farmers loved it. And more than that, we saw just how urgent and widespread the need was.
That gave us the confidence to bring our international experience home, to tackle the very same access-to-market problems our parents and millions of African farmers still face today. That's how eFama was born: a platform designed for African realities, built to connect farmers directly to buyers and unlock fairer, faster trade.
What challenges have you faced as a young woman leading digital innovation in agriculture, and how have you overcome them?
Leading digital innovation in agriculture as a young woman comes with layers of challenges. The sector remains largely male-dominated, both in the boardroom and on the farm, and when you add 'tech' into the mix, the scepticism often doubles. I've walked into rooms where people assumed I was the assistant, not the co-founder or tech lead. There were moments I had to prove myself three times, first for being young, again for being a woman and for being a black woman.
I won't pretend it's been easy, but I did have an unusual head start. My father owned a car repair workshop, and from the age of six, I was often the only girl in male-dominated spaces. That experience shaped me early on, and I learned that I belonged, even in rooms where no one looked like me.
What's been more difficult is witnessing the internal battles many women face: growing up with messages that they must serve, respect, and even worship men, leading to deep-rooted self-doubt. I've sadly experienced moments where that pain was projected onto me by other women, and it breaks my heart because I know they've also been treated unfairly by the system.
My approach has been to focus on self-development. Every year, I commit to earning at least 20 certifications across cloud, blockchain, AI, and cybersecurity, not just to build credibility, but to stay sharp and to remind myself that I'm qualified to lead. I also lead with empathy.
Most of the farmers I work with remind me of my parents and siblings, so I never approach them like a software engineer trying to sell a product, I relate, I listen, and I respect. That's how we've built trust and opened doors: not just through technology, but through real, human connection.
How does the eFama App empower young farmers and youth entrepreneurs across Africa?
eFama empowers young farmers and youth entrepreneurs by removing the barriers that have historically locked them out of formal markets. Most young people entering agriculture are full of passion but face a system that's not designed for them: informal trading, delayed payments, and zero visibility beyond their immediate community. eFama changes that.
Our app connects them directly to vetted buyers, restaurants, retailers, NGOs, and gives them access to real-time pricing, logistics support, and traceability tools that build trust with buyers. But beyond tech, it's about a mindset shift.
We show young farmers that they're not just hustling to survive, they are business owners, part of a formal supply chain, with the right to demand fair value. Many of our users are first-generation digital entrepreneurs in their families, and seeing their confidence grow, getting repeat orders, scaling operations, and learning to manage their finances is the most powerful return on investment we could ask for.
What role do you believe technology plays in transforming Africa's agricultural sector and creating opportunities for youth?
I grew up on a farm, raised by farmers, and like many young people, I thought agriculture was all hard labour, low profit, and very little reward. I didn't see the full supply chain, the value-add, or the tech, just the physical work. So I completely understand why so many youth turn away from it. But that perception is changing, and I'm living proof of what's possible.
Technology has the power to transform Africa's agricultural sector not just by making it more efficient, but by opening doors for young people to participate meaningfully. With the right digital tools, farming becomes scalable, bankable, and traceable. You can trade smarter, access new markets, and manage your farm like a real business.
Careers in agri-tech today include data science, drone mapping, software engineering, cold chain logistics, IoT integration, and AI-powered market forecasting roles that are intellectually stimulating and financially rewarding, far from the traditional image of farming. That's what we're building at eFama: a digital platform that connects farmers directly to buyers and brings the 'cool factor' back into agriculture.
We want youth to see farming not as a fallback plan, but as a future. One where they can build wealth, run smart operations, and take pride in contributing to food security, not just in Africa, but globally.
As a multi-award-winning innovator, what advice would you give to young people who want to start their ventures in tech or agriculture?
You don't have to choose between tech and agriculture today; you can do both. Tech pays well, opens doors globally, and gives you the tools to solve real problems faced by millions. I'm a multi-award-winning technology leader, but I'm also a full-on farm girl, and I always will be. My advice? Own your roots, learn the tools, and build boldly. There's space for you at the top.
How do you balance the demands of leading a tech startup while advocating for greater diversity and inclusion in STEM fields?
For me, it's not about choosing between building and advocating; it's the same mission. Every time I show up as a black woman leading a tech startup in agriculture, I'm already challenging the status quo. The key is to lead by example. I stay focused on delivering results at eFama, but I also make time to mentor, speak, and support women and girls entering STEM. Representation matters; you can't be what you can't see.
Over the past two years, 40% of our team has been made up of young women. One of my favourite stories is of a young woman who joined us as an intern. We invested in her, and helped her upskill, and by the time she moved on to a larger company, she was earning double and was the most qualified in her team, more so than peers who had started earlier.
That's what inclusion looks like: giving people the tools, exposure, and confidence to rise. I also build inclusion into the way we hire, partner, and design our tech. Balancing it all takes discipline, but when your purpose is clear, it becomes part of your rhythm not an extra task.
What impact has support from partners like Visa and Standard Chartered Bank had on scaling eFama's solutions?
Support from partners like Visa and Standard Chartered Bank has been instrumental in helping us scale eFama's solutions. These partnerships didn't just bring visibility; they brought credibility, which opened doors to new networks, funders, and market opportunities.
Through Visa's She's Next programme, we were given a platform to tell our story, showcase our impact, and learn from other women-led ventures across the continent. Standard Chartered, through its Women in Tech accelerator, provided mentorship and resources that helped us sharpen our business model and think bigger.
These partners believed in the potential of African-led innovation, and their support has helped us move faster and scale smarter. It's a reminder that when global players back local solutions, real impact follows.
Looking ahead, what excites you most about the future of agriculture and technology for South Africa's youth?
What excites me most is how agriculture is expanding, not replacing the way we've always done things. Traditional farmers' markets, often led by older generations, have played a vital role in feeding communities and sustaining livelihoods for decades. But they have physical limits, limited trading hours, geographic boundaries, and often only a few participants at a time.
Digital marketplaces like eFama build on that foundation and take it further. With technology, we can connect hundreds of millions of farmers and buyers across borders, instantly, transparently, and at scale, something no physical market can do.
This evolution creates entirely new opportunities for young people. You don't need land or a tractor to be in agriculture anymore. You can code your way in, analyse data, manage logistics, or run precision farming systems from your laptop. And these aren't low-paying roles; tech in agriculture brings globally competitive, high-value careers.
For someone like me, who grew up in a village where farming looked like survival, it's inspiring to now be part of a future where farming looks like strategy, innovation, and growth. The future of agriculture includes both tradition and transformation, and the door is wide open for South Africa's youth.
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