Safaricom’s DigiFarm Launches Data-Driven Cash Advance for Tea Farmers

In a significant move bridging mobile money and agriculture technology (AgriTech), Safaricom’s flagship platform, DigiFarm, has rolled out Jipange Cash Advance. This new facility is specifically designed to tackle the chronic cash flow instability faced by nearly one million smallholder tea farmers in Kenya.

Partnering with Access Bank and local tea factories, Jipange uses the power of M-PESA to provide instant access to liquidity, effectively solving the problem of delayed payments between harvest delivery and income settlement.

Tea is a vital sector in the Kenyan economy, injecting over KES 200 billion annually and supporting more than 6.5 million people. However, delayed factory payouts often leave smallholder farmers vulnerable, limiting their ability to meet critical daily needs—from purchasing farm inputs to paying school fees.

Safaricom PLC CEO, Peter Ndegwa, underscored the human impact of this technological intervention:

“Our farmers work tirelessly every day, yet many still struggle to make ends meet because of delayed payments. Jipange Cash Advance will provide greater peace of mind, ensuring farmers can put food on the table, pay school fees, and plan for their families.”

Jipange Cash Advance is built on a model that prioritizes access and transparency:

• Instant Disbursement: Funds are instantly delivered to the farmer via M-PESA, leveraging their trusted and ubiquitous mobile money accounts.
• Data-Driven Eligibility: Access to the advance is calculated based on the farmer’s verified tea delivery history, removing the need for traditional collateral.
• Seamless Repayment: The system ensures secure and transparent repayment by automatically deducting the advance amount directly from the farmer’s official payout at the time of settlement.

This model is a strong example of how embedded finance can revolutionize supply chain liquidity, creating a more reliable income stream for a critical economic demographic.

Following a successful pilot phase across four tea factories in the Rift Valley, DigiFarm is now focused on rapidly scaling Jipange to eligible tea farmers across all of Kenya.

Furthermore, the expansion roadmap indicates a clear intent to broaden the platform’s impact, with plans already underway to extend the cash advance product to dairy farmers in partnership with their respective co-operatives. This demonstrates a commitment to leveraging mobile infrastructure to enhance financial inclusion across multiple agricultural value chains.