About this project

Project Abstract – Farmlens Limited

Farmlens is a youth-led climate-tech initiative based in Kenya that aims to empower smallholder farmers with real-time, data-driven tools for climate-smart farming. The project addresses a critical challenge: most small-scale farmers across Sub-Saharan Africa rely on guesswork when deciding what to plant, when to plant, or how to manage crop and pest threats, especially as climate change continues to disrupt traditional farming practices. This often leads to crop failure, input waste, and financial losses.

 

To solve this, Farmlens has developed an integrated solution combining smart mapping, real-time sensor hubs, and solar-powered spider bots. These tools collect data on soil health, pest activity, and crop conditions, and deliver personalized, location-specific insights directly to farmers via a mobile app. The goal is to equip farmers with the intelligence they need to make better decisions; before, during, and after planting.

 

Our project is led entirely by youth and driven by innovation. The founding team includes hardware and software engineers under 30, building locally relevant solutions with farmers at the center. We've already developed a working MVP of our Smart Mapping Tool and are currently piloting our AgriCore sensor hubs on five commercial farms. We also have a waitlist of ten farmer cooperatives eager to adopt our technology, representing more than 1,500 farmers.

 

With the support of this grant, we aim to deploy Farmlens in three climate-vulnerable communities in Kenya, enhance the mobile app experience for low-tech users, and train 30+ youth as farmer support agents. The requested funding will be used to strengthen hardware deployment, improve data integration, and facilitate youth-led training workshops on climate-resilient agriculture.

 

What makes Farmlens unique is its end-to-end visibility and grassroots orientation. Rather than offering generic tips or static advice, we provide farmers with real-time intelligence drawn from their own land; transforming how they respond to weather changes, pest outbreaks, and soil stress. Our approach combines agriculture, data science, environmental sustainability, and rural empowerment into one scalable platform.

 

In the long term, we aim to reach over 10,000 farmers across Kenya and scale to other parts of East Africa. Farmlens is designed to be low-cost, locally manufactured, and easy to adopt through cooperatives, NGOs, and county governments.

 

This project is not only youth-conceived and youth-led, but also designed to empower other youth, from digital field agents to community trainers. It embodies the core principles of 1MYAC: sustainability, innovation, inclusion, and real local impact.

 

 

 

Goals and Objectives

Goals and Objectives

The goal of the Farmlens project is to empower smallholder farmers in climate-vulnerable regions with real-time, data-driven tools that enable smarter, more resilient farming practices. Our objective is to reduce crop loss, optimize land use, and strengthen farmers' ability to adapt to changing weather and pest patterns.

We aim to achieve this through:

  • Deploying smart mapping tools and sensor hubs in three Kenyan communities
  • Training 30+ youth as digital field agents to support farmer onboarding

Providing over 1,500 smallholder farmers with actionable insights via our mobile platform

The primary beneficiaries are smallholder farmers, particularly those in rural and underserved areas with limited access to agronomic expertise or climate data. These communities were chosen because they are disproportionately affected by climate shocks and food insecurity. By providing them with localized intelligence, we expect to improve their yields, reduce unnecessary chemical use, and build long-term resilience.

Youth are also key beneficiaries. Through training and engagement as digital support agents, local youth will gain technical skills, earn income, and become active players in advancing climate adaptation within their communities.

To sustain the impact, Farmlens is designed with a lean business model; offering affordable subscriptions and partnering with cooperatives and NGOs for long-term adoption. Our hardware is locally built, minimizing dependency on imports and ensuring maintainability.

The project has strong potential for replication and scaling across East Africa due to its modular design, mobile accessibility, and compatibility with a wide range of crops and farming systems. With increasing demand for climate-smart agriculture and growing digital access, Farmlens is positioned to reach thousands more farmers and expand its impact beyond the pilot communities.

Expected result

Expected Results

The Farmlens project will deliver specific, measurable, and time bound outcomes over a 6-month implementation period. These results will be tracked through field reports, platform analytics, and feedback from farmer cooperatives.

1. Deployment of Climate-Smart Tools

Result: Deploy smart mapping tools and AgriCore sensor hubs in 3 rural communities in Kenya.

  • Target: 3 sites equipped with sensor hubs and real-time data collection systems
  • Timeline: Within the first 2 months
  • Monitoring: Site visit reports, sensor data logs

2. Farmer Onboarding and Platform Adoption

Result: Train and onboard at least 1,500 smallholder farmers to use the Farmlens mobile platform.

  • Target: 1,500 registered users accessing mapping and sensor data via the app
  • Timeline: Month 3–6
  • Monitoring: App usage metrics, farmer registration logs, user surveys

3. Youth Engagement and Capacity Building

Result: Train 30 local youth as digital field agents to assist with deployment and farmer support.

  • Target: 30 youth trained in climate-smart agriculture, data collection, and platform usage
  • Timeline: Month 1–3
  • Monitoring: Training attendance sheets, post-training assessments, field agent activity logs

4. Increased Farmer Knowledge and Decision Accuracy

Result: At least 75% of trained farmers report improved understanding of what to plant, when to plant, and how to respond to pests or weather shifts.

  • Target: 75% of users show increased decision confidence
  • Timeline: Measured by end of project (Month 6)
  • Monitoring: Pre- and post-training surveys, farmer interviews, platform engagement data

5. Improved Farm Productivity and Input Efficiency

Result: Pilot farmers using Farmlens report a 10–20% improvement in crop yield or reduction in input waste (e.g. fertilizer or pesticide use).

  • Target: 10%+ improvement reported by at least 50% of pilot users
  • Timeline: Assessed during harvest cycle at Month 6
  • Monitoring: Farmer reports, cooperative records, crop sampling

Sustainability and Replication

These results will lay the foundation for expansion into additional counties and partnerships with NGOs and agricultural cooperatives. The youth field agents will remain in their communities as long-term Farmlens support contacts, ensuring sustainability beyond the grant period. The use of app analytics and real-time feedback loops will also help us monitor results continuously and improve the solution over time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About me / organisation
Clinton Adoga

Clinton Adoga is a 25-year-old Kenyan social entrepreneur, climate-tech innovator, and the CEO and Co-founder of Farmlens Limited. He has led multiple youth-driven initiatives focused on climate action, smart farming, and digital innovation in agriculture. Clinton is a UNITAR Certified Climate Youth Champion, Mercedes-Benz BeVisioneers Fellow, YALI East Africa Alumnus, and a TEF Entrepreneurship Programme Fellow. With hands-on experience working with smallholder farmers, grassroots communities, and youth networks, he brings strong leadership, vision, and execution capacity to the project. He is deeply passionate about building scalable, tech-powered solutions that empower rural communities and address climate vulnerability from the ground up.

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