For many small and emerging farmers, growing a good harvest is only half the battle. A more critical question often arises after the harvest: who will buy this produce? This gap in market access is what Shadrak Kubane, CEO and co-founder of the eFama application, seeks to eliminate.
A farmer supplying produce to an established retailer or institutional buyer can know before planting for whom they are producing, what volumes are required, what quality standards apply, when the product will be needed, and how the price will be determined.
Kubane notes: «This allows production to follow demand, rather than hoping that demand will appear after the harvest».
However, for many small farmers, the situation is the opposite. They plant first and then search for markets. When perishable goods are ready and no buyer is secured, every passing day increases the risk of losses, desperate sales, or accepting any available price.
He emphasizes: «We connect farmers directly with buyers, but we realized that access to a buyer is not enough».
Furthermore, farmers need information on demand and prices, an understanding of buyer requirements, readiness for inspections and compliance with regulations, as well as more advanced tools for planning production and its realization timelines.
The impact of this work can be significant. Kubane cites an eFama farmer whose production increased by approximately 300%, and whose staff doubled within six months due to more stable demand, which gave him confidence to expand his business.
«The goal is to shift the farmer from the question: 'My harvest is ready, who will buy it?' to the ability to make production decisions with a much clearer view of the market ahead».
Kubane believes that the most important lesson from eFama is that technology must solve problems that arise before, during, and after a transaction. «We grew up among farmers, so we founded eFama to solve a problem we knew firsthand: market access».
But buyers also need assurance that farmers have been verified and meet requirements, can supply what is needed, adhere to quality standards, and ensure supply consistency. This prompted eFama to go beyond simple matching of farmers and buyers, incorporating verification, compliance, product and contract management, market analytics, traceability, and logistics.
For Kubane, technology can help level the playing field without lowering the standards expected of food producers. He recalls a farmer's words: «A farmer once reminded us that small farmers compete in the same market as enterprises that may have decades of agricultural experience, sometimes passed down through generations».
«Since it is about food, standards cannot simply be lowered: the same expectations regarding quality, safety, and compliance still apply».
He argues that inequality is often related to access to the tools necessary to meet these standards.
«Inequality often lies in access to the tools, knowledge, best practices, data, and resources needed to meet these standards».
«Inclusivity should not mean lowering the bar; it should mean providing more farmers with the tools to reach that bar».
Kubane believes that technology will also change the youth's perception of agriculture. Having grown up in a farming family, he admits that he initially associated agriculture mainly with hard labor, exploitation by middlemen, and financial uncertainty. This changed when he began to understand the entire value chain in the food sector.
The sector increasingly needs not only farmers but also drone pilots, engineers, biotechnology specialists, data experts, and software developers.
«There are careers and businesses in agriculture that many young people simply do not know about».
He believes that artificial intelligence will accelerate this transformation by improving forecasting, precision farming, automation, and smarter decision-making. He compares this opportunity to the democratization of GPS. Previously expensive and highly specialized satellite technology is now accessible to almost anyone with a smartphone.
«That is the magic of technological democratization».
«At eFama, we want to do exactly that with artificial intelligence. We want ordinary small farmers to truly feel, experience, and benefit from the impact of advanced AI just like everyone else».
The goal is to provide complex predictive analysis to farmers, helping them understand markets, make better production decisions, and build a more profitable business.
«The future of farming is not about working harder; it is about making the world's most advanced technological marvels work for the everyday farmer».
Nevertheless, Kubane does not see technology as a replacement for people. «My deeply rooted country spirit does not believe for a second that this means agriculture will become a people-less industry».
Instead, he believes that technology should enhance human productivity and foster new opportunities. «AI will not empty our fields. It will strengthen them».
He hopes that young South Africans will view agriculture not as an industry to flee from, but as a place to build a business and a career, whether it is growing crops, piloting drones, writing code, analyzing data, or creating the next technology this sector has yet to present.
According to the South African Grain and Oilseeds Trade Association (Sacota), it became clear during the 2025/26 summer grain production season that South Africa is likely to achieve record harvests of corn and soybeans.
The Association noted that the mid-summer drought observed at the end of January and beginning of February created some uncertainty, but rains resumed in time for most of the country.
The first confirmation of the expected record production came on April 23, 2026, when the Crop Evaluation Committee (CEC) forecasted a corn harvest of 16.8 million tons and a soybean harvest of 2.8 million tons. These expectations of record volume were accompanied by forecasts of price decreases and subsequent reductions in exports.
Previously, initial forecasts for corn were around 3.6 million tons, and for soybeans, 600,000 tons. The South African soybean industry, being relatively new to the export market, faced an additional issue: the yellow corn export program historically receives priority at Durban port export terminals for various reasons, which potentially limits soybean exports, Sacota reported.
The organization stated that due to limited domestic stocks and demand from local processing plants, only a small amount of stock was initially available for export. Consequently, despite the record soybean harvest, sea shipments appeared to be minimal.
Nevertheless, Sacota continued to prepare for the export program. This included the annual export registration program for China, which was launched online. This initiative represented a tripartite cooperation between Sacota, the Directorate of Inspections (Department of Agriculture), and eCert (an online software vendor that facilitates, among other things, phytosanitary certificates for the department).
As Sacota reported, all interested traders, export terminals, and silos had to register according to Chinese requirements. Similarly, the Indonesian market, opened two years ago, also requires exporter registration to access this market.
However, around the same time, China, seeking to stimulate trade with Africa, offered to abolish all import tariffs on agricultural products entering China without any corresponding concessions for Chinese exports.
