The free-soil test is our cheapest salesperson

A free-soil test costs us a few dollars. A farmer who trusts us is worth years of input purchases, advisory subscriptions and produce sales. That trade is the core of how Digifarmer acquires farmers.

The problem with selling to smallholders
Most smallholder farmers in Uganda and Kenya have never had their soil tested. They buy fertiliser by habit or by what a neighbour used. When yields fall, they blame the seed, the rain or the market. Walking into a village and asking them to pay for a service they have never seen does not work. We tried, and in early September only 1 of 17 tests in one district was paid for by the farmer.

What we do instead
We lead with value, not a price tag:
1. Train the group. Our field officers meet a cooperative or farmer group and run a short session on soil health and input choices.
2. Test for free. A small number of plots get a company-supported soil test, done in front of the group.
3. Show the result. Farmers see their own soil's numbers, with a clear recommendation of what to apply and what to stop wasting money on.
4. Register on Digifarmer. Every farmer trained and tested is profiled on the platform, with their farm, location and soil data.
5. Convert. Neighbours who watched now ask for their own test, and they pay for it.
The free test is a demonstration, not a giveaway. It builds advocacy inside the community, and the community does the selling.

What the numbers show
Farmers trained grew from 677 on 18 September to over 1,000 by 28 September, across Uganda field districts. Soil tests rose to 76 in the same period, with 15 agents onboard to support follow-up.
On 5 October, one field officer completed 14 farmer-paid soil tests in a single outing, against 1 paid test out of 17 a month earlier. That shift, from almost no paid tests to a full day of them, is the signal we were waiting for: the free test creates the demand that the paid test serves.
Why this matters to investors
• Low acquisition cost. One free test, done in public, reaches a whole group rather than one farmer.
• A data asset from day one. Every test adds georeferenced soil data to Digifarmer, which powers input recommendations, credit scoring and insurance later.
• A clear revenue ladder. Free test → paid test → recommended inputs → advisory, finance and market access, all on one platform.
What comes next
We are tightening the order of the funnel: training first, then the demonstration test, then paid tests. We also track paid-test conversion per group, so every free test is measured by the paying customers it brings in.