A South African husband and wife team is using technology to bridge the gap between farmers and buyers globally, drawing on their upbringing in rural farming communities.
The eFama app is a digital marketplace that connects farmers directly with buyers, helping streamline the agricultural supply chain through technology and a network of verified farmers, buyers and logistics partners.
“See it as a digital version of the physical market,” said eFama CEO Shadrack Kubyane. “Think of eFama as Checkers Sixty60 without the shelves.”
The platform already has about 6,000 buyers on its marketplace and a pipeline of roughly 5,000 farmers looking to join the network. The start-up has also secured backing from 10 investors as it continues to expand.
The platform operates nationwide, but demand has spread beyond South Africa. “We have increasing demand across the African continent,” said Kubyane, noting that about 5% of users are based outside Africa.
The platform has also reached Europe, the Middle East and North America, serving farmers as far afield as Texas and Colorado. “The demand is outpacing our supply chain infrastructure,” he said.
Kubyane said the platform ultimately aims to reach South Africa’s roughly 2.3-million farmers, many of whom still struggle to access reliable markets
Built as a cloud-native start-up from the outset, eFama was designed entirely in the cloud, allowing the platform to scale without needing later migration.
This digital-first approach has helped the company cultivate a global community of around 100,000 connections over the past three years, with roughly 30% based in South Africa. Its thought leadership and online content have also reached up to 16-million viewers worldwide.
Despite its global footprint, Kubyane said eFama remains firmly rooted in its local operations. “We are running a global start-up that is proudly South African.”
Kubyane said he and his wife, co-founder Pretty Kubyane, grew up in rural villages and both come from farming families. “We jokingly say we grew up belonging to the 3am club,” he said, referring to the early mornings they spent working on the land. “When we made it into the corporate world, we wanted nothing to do with our farming past,” Kubyane said.
That changed when, after years in consulting and corporate roles, they were invited to help a major global tech firm redesign the supply chain of one of the world’s largest retailers. The experience exposed how many farmers were excluded from formal supply chains and became the initial inspiration behind eFama.
Kubyane said the platform ultimately aims to reach South Africa’s roughly 2.3-million farmers, many of whom still struggle to access reliable markets.
Initially the couple explored launching the platform in South Africa’s beauty and salon sector before a Swiss funder encouraged them to focus on agriculture, given their farming background and growing supply-chain challenges affecting food security across Africa.
Farmers must undergo a vetting process before selling on the platform. According to Kubyane, this includes reviewing farms, owners, tenants and operational practices, sometimes with the help of technology partners.
The company has kept its core team relatively small. Kubyane said the in-house team consists of 16 employees, with about eight full-time at any given time. eFama also works with freelancers, inspectors, consultants and media companies, for example outsourcing content creation for farmers rather than managing it internally.
Looking ahead, the company plans to expand its in-house expertise by adding more quality assurance and industry specialists alongside its software engineers.
Kubyane said eFama also works with training institutions to help upskill farmers on the platform, often securing donor or grant funding so those who cannot afford training can still participate.
The company prioritises farmers who already supply institutions such as retailers, mines or hotels, while preparing others through vetting, certification and training.
Thanks to our village days, where we were brought up with a sense of community and belonging, it’s now playing out in our tech case
— Shadrack Kubyane, eFama CEO
Rather than auditing farms individually, eFama groups producers by region so inspectors can assess several farms during a single visit.
“Thanks to our village days, where we were brought up with a sense of community and belonging, it’s now playing out in our tech case,” Kubyane said.
He added that the company ultimately hopes to hold more agricultural certifications itself rather than relying entirely on external partners.
Kubyane said eFama is raising funding to support training and certification across its network, with the aim of expanding the platform from about 5,000 farmers to 10,000 and growing its buyer base to 50,000 over the next 18 months.
Compliance remains a major barrier for many producers, he added, pointing to the strict regulatory environment in food production and the cost of meeting safety, registration and operational requirements.
“We are seeking to raise more capital and close more partnerships so that we don’t have farmers that are left behind,” he said.
Kubyane also highlighted the role of digitisation in managing risks such as the current foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) outbreak and welcomed agriculture minister John Steenhuisen’s efforts to prioritise the issue.
“Digitisation might have been a luxury that the geeks were talking about in their corner 10 years ago, but post-Covid and in this FMD environment, digitisation and increasing traceability from shelves to table is no longer a luxury,” he said.
“It’s what will keep the farm gates open. It’s what keeps farm labourers employed.”
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