The Mediae Company

What The Mediae Company does

The Mediae Company is a privately-held social enterprise founded in 1997 that produces research-based edutainment media for sustainable development across East Africa. The company designs, produces, and broadcasts television series, radio programs, mobile/digital services, and print materials aimed primarily at smallholder farmers, rural and peri-urban households, women, youth, and Kenyan primary-school children in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. Core programming includes Shamba Shape Up (a farm makeover series with 12 million viewers across 15+ seasons), Maisha Makutano (Citizen TV's most-watched weekend drama focused on financial inclusion), Makutano Junction, Don't Lose the Plot, Know Zone, Shamba Chef, Mpeke Town, and Munda Make Over, distributed via national broadcast partnerships (Citizen TV, Bukedde TV, ZNBC) and online platforms. The technology stack combines broadcast television with mobile/SMS services (iShamba farmer call center), an online budgeting tool (Budget Mkononi), and social media engagement, with a 2020 partnership with Penn State's PlantVillage adding AI-driven desert locust prediction.

Name

The Mediae Company

Legal name

Mediae Company

Website

https://mediae.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Mediae Company is a 1997-founded Kenyan social enterprise producing edutainment television, radio, mobile, and digital content on agriculture, health, financial inclusion, and education for smallholder farmers, women, youth, and children across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Educational Media Production

NAICS

Broadcasting and Content Providers (516), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (51621)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)

akta.pro primary industry

Educational/Instructional Public Media Services (Schools, Distance Learning) (MPABADAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Children’s & Youth Educational Entertainment (Edutainment) (EDAGALAK), Public Media Digital Platforms & Streaming (Apps, On-demand, Podcasts) (MPABADAG)

Keywords

• Educational television production
• Development media content
• Edutainment broadcasting
• Smallholder farmer programs
• Agricultural extension media

Headquarters

HQ city

Nairobi

HQ country

Kenya

HQ region

Africa

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donor-funded content production: Mediae produces educational media content funded by international development donors including USAID, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and other development organizations. Programs are distributed free to viewers.
2. Broadcast partnerships: Content is broadcast through partnerships with national TV networks (Citizen TV Kenya, Bukedde TV Uganda, ZNBC Zambia) and radio stations, with funding from development partners and governments.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The Mediae Company is a small social enterprise that produces educational and entertainment television, radio, and digital media content for East African audiences, focusing on smallholder farmers, youth, women, and children. It creates edutainment programming including factual shows that tackle development challenges and drama series, distributed free to viewers via national broadcast partners and digital channels. The company also operates complementary mobile-based services such as the iShamba SMS/call-center agronomic advisory service and the Budget Mkononi online budgeting tool, reaching audiences in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

Product overview

Mediae is a social enterprise producing pioneering media for sustainable development in East Africa. The core product portfolio includes multiple interconnected TV programs (Shamba Shape Up, Maisha Makutano, Don't Lose the Plot, Know Zone, Shamba Chef, Mpeke Town, Munda Make Over), mobile/ digital services (iShamba farmer call centre, Budget Mkononi budgeting tool), and broadcast media (TV, Radio, Print, Social Media). The TV programs serve as the primary engagement platform supplemented by direct farmer support services via iShamba SMS/phone and the Budget Mkononi online tool. The company has expanded from its original Kenyan base to Uganda and Zambia with localized versions of its flagship formats.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• iShamba: Mobile-based farmer information service and call centre that disseminates agricultural information to farmers via SMS and phone support.
• Shamba Shape Up
• Makutano Junction
• Maisha Makutano
• Mpeke Town
• Know Zone
• Shamba Chef
• Don't Lose the Plot
• Munda Make Over
• Budget Mkononi

Products and services

• Shamba Shape Up A factual entertainment television series that visits smallholder farming families to provide practical advice on crops, livestock, financial management and household improvements. Aimed at rural and peri-urban smallholder farmer households in Kenya.
• Shamba Shape Up Uganda Uganda-focused factual entertainment television series that visits smallholder farming families and provides on-farm and household improvement advice. Targeted at smallholder farming households in Uganda.
• Munda Make Over Makeover-format television series produced as part of The Mediae Company's edutainment slate, designed to engage farming households with development-themed content.
• Maisha Makutano Kenyan drama television series produced to engage audiences with development-related storylines and social messaging.
• Makutano Junction Drama television series produced for East African audiences, weaving development themes such as livelihoods and social issues into serialized storytelling.
• Don't Lose the Plot Factual entertainment television series following young East African farmers testing commercial agriculture opportunities and exposing them to agronomic and business practices.
• Know Zone Educational television series produced for East African youth audiences, covering educational and life-skills topics in an engaging format.
• Shamba Chef Cooking-focused television series produced to share recipes, nutrition advice, and linkages between farm produce and household meals.
• Mpeke Town Drama-format television program produced as part of The Mediae Company's entertainment-education slate for East African audiences.
• iShamba A mobile information service delivered via SMS and a call center that provides smallholder farmers in East Africa with agronomic advice, livestock guidance, and weather information linked to The Mediae Company's broadcast programming.
• Budget Mkononi An online household budgeting tool designed to help rural East African families plan and track their finances, complementing The Mediae Company's broadcast programming on financial literacy.

Quantifiable outcome

• 93% of Shamba Shape Up Season 10 viewers made changes attributed to the program, with 63% reporting better yields and incomes
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature3 records

Partnerships

27 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Mercy Corps AgrifincoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered on iShamba mobile service evaluation, COVID-19 behavior change campaign (SMS + TV), and Edutainment study measuring impact of Mediae's approach. Co-funded studies with Mastercard Foundation.
• PlantVillage (Penn State)coreTechnology or IntegrationPartnership on Desert Locust Citizen Reporting project, using iShamba farmer network combined with AI prediction models to monitor and address locust infestations in East Africa. Broadcast updated maps weekly on Shamba Shape Up.
• WomenConnect Challenge (DAI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWomenConnect Challenge grant enabled further integration of gender, financial, and digital inclusion into Mediae's edutainment programming. Supported Maisha Makutano development.
• UN WomencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned Makutano Junction to address women's empowerment, household planning, aflatoxin awareness, and gender and land access themes in the long-running drama series.
• FAOcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with Mediae on Makutano Junction Impact Report addressing agricultural development and food security themes.
• IFADcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned content within Makutano Junction drama series to address rural development and agricultural themes.
• CGIAR (CCAFS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFunded study on integrating TV and mobile phone technology in enhancing feedback mechanisms among smallholder farmers. Found that viewers from 96% of Kenya's counties watched the show and wrote feedback.
• University of ReadingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned independent impact study with Wageningen University documenting significant impacts of Shamba Shape Up on viewer income and quality of life.
• SyngentaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAgricultural company partner supporting farmer-focused media content.
• Women's World BankingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to encourage low-income, under-banked women in Kenya to open and use bank accounts through Makutano Junction's Nawiri Dada campaign. Resulted in 138,000 women opening accounts.
• Clean Cooking AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFunded Shamba Chef clean cooking behavior change intervention from 2016-2019. Study showed exposure quadrupled awareness of cleaner cooking options.
• Kenya Women Finance Trust (KWFT)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMicrofinance institution partner supporting women's financial inclusion initiatives.
• CIAT Alliance / Bioversity InternationalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAgricultural research partnership organization focusing on climate information and farming decisions.
• CIFOR-ICRAF (World Agroforestry)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership on agroforestry and sustainable land use themes in agricultural media content.
• Vi AgroforestryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganization supporting sustainable agriculture and forestry themes in programming.
• International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner on livestock-related agricultural content.
• The Agricultural Business Initiative (ABI)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUganda-based agricultural business development organization.
• Davis & ShirtliffminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEquipment and technology partner for irrigation and water solutions featured in agricultural programming.
• Nutrition InternationalminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganization supporting nutrition-focused programming and content.
• GeoPollcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConducted annual KAP (Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices) surveys among Shamba Shape Up viewers. GeoPoll's study examined mobile phone technology impact on Kenya's agricultural sector.
• BusaraminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch organization that evaluated COVID-19 behavior change campaign and iShamba impact on farmer behavior.
• Citizen TV (Kenya)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPrimary broadcast partner in Kenya. Shamba Shape Up airs on Citizen TV in English (Saturdays) and Swahili (Sundays) at 13:30. Maisha Makutano became Citizen TV's most-watched weekend drama.
• Bukedde TV / New Vision (Uganda)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPrimary broadcast partner in Uganda. Shamba Shape Up Uganda airs on Bukedde Television in Luganda and Urban TV in English.
• Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNational broadcast partner for Munda Make Over in Zambia, reaching the largest TV audience in the country.
• 60-decibelsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConducted farmer insights survey of 256 iShamba farmers showing positive impact on farms and lives.
• IpsosminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConducted evaluation of Mpeke Town farming practices among rural and peri-urban smallholder farmers and urban youth.
• Kantar Public (TNS)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConducted independent impact study for USAID Feed the Future on Don't Lose the Plot program effectiveness.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• BBC Media Action: BBC's international development media charity, producing research-based communication programs on health, governance and livelihoods in Africa and Asia. Highly comparable donor-funded edutainment model targeting similar development outcomes.
• Farm Radio International: Canada-based NGO using radio and interactive ICTs to serve smallholder farmers across Africa. Directly comparable in farmer-focused edutainment, research methodology and East African footprint.
• MTV Shuga (MTV Base Africa / ViacomCBS): MTV Base Africa's award-winning edutainment drama series promoting sexual health and youth empowerment across African markets. Directly comparable serialized drama-driven behavior-change format and East/West African audience.
• Development Media International (DMI): UK-based organization running mass-media behavior-change campaigns in sub-Saharan Africa. Operates a similar donor-funded model targeting health, nutrition and development outcomes via broadcast media.
• Population Media Center (PMC): US-based organization producing long-running serialized drama (radio/TV) for social change across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Comparable edutainment methodology with soap-opera/drama formats addressing health and gender themes.
• PCI Media Impact (now part of Free Press Unlimited): International development-communications organization producing entertainment-education content for social change globally. Comparable research-based edutainment production for development donors.

Broad incumbents

• Sesame Workshop: Global non-profit behind Sesame Street and international Sesame co-productions including South Africa's Takalani Sesame. Comparable educational media mission and donor-funded model, though at significantly larger scale and with children's focus.
• Citizen TV (Royal Media Services): Kenya's largest private broadcaster and Mediae's primary broadcast partner. Comparable in audience scale and pan-East African content distribution, though operating as a commercial broadcaster rather than development-content producer.

Others

• MEASURE Evaluation / Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs: US-based health communication programs producing research-driven BCC (behavior change communication) campaigns in Africa. Operates adjacent to Mediae in the donor-funded development-communication ecosystem, often as a commissioner.

Regional players

• Soul City Institute for Social Justice: South African organization using TV drama, radio and print for health and social-justice edutainment. Highly comparable methodology but primarily serves Southern Africa rather than East Africa.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/mediaeorg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-mediae-company

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Mediae Company