Youth Engagement in Agriculture Network (YEAN)

What Youth Engagement in Agriculture Network (YEAN) does

Youth Engagement in Agriculture Network (YEAN) is a youth-led private agriculture services enterprise headquartered in Kigali, Rwanda, founded in 2014. The company serves smallholder farmers, farmer organizations, youth agripreneurs, and development organizations, with its operational footprint spanning 30 districts in Rwanda and approximately 40,000 farmers reached to date. YEAN's stated target is to scale to 150,000 farmers by 2025.

The core offering is the Farmer Platform — a virtual community space hosted through WhatsApp groups (34 moderated groups, 3,000+ farmers), a Facebook community (30,000+ members), and the YEAN website, supplemented by on-field physical farmer groups for proximity extension. This is operationalized through a commodity-specific extension model that creates 27 dedicated platforms organized around value chains (maize, potatoes, beans, coffee, fruits, vegetables, poultry, cattle, fish, beekeeping, and others), enabling peer-to-peer knowledge exchange and capacity building. Adjacent products include an Extension Materials Library covering 35+ crop and livestock commodities in both English and Kinyarwanda, and a Consultancy Services line focused on innovative agriculture technologies — notably hydroponic farming training.

Revenue mechanics are not transparently disclosed; the platform appears to operate largely as a free community service for farmers, with monetization channels limited to professional-service consultancy engagements and any contracted partnerships with development organizations such as AGRA and the AIRTEA Project. The organization distributes primarily through self-serve digital channels (website, WhatsApp, Facebook) plus direct field sales via youth-led proximity extension; no pricing is publicly disclosed, and there are no disclosed funding rounds, VC/PE backers, or M&A activity. The business remains lean at 31 employees and is founder/management controlled.

Name

Youth Engagement in Agriculture Network (YEAN)

Legal name

Youth Engagement in Agriculture Network

Website

https://yeanagro.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

YEAN is a Rwanda-based, youth-led agriculture services enterprise operating a Farmer Platform that connects 40,000+ smallholder farmers and agripreneurs across 30 districts through WhatsApp, Facebook, and physical extension groups, delivering peer learning via 27 commodity-specific platforms alongside extension materials and agri-tech consultancy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Extension Services

SIC

Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Farm Operations Planning & SOP Development (AFACAJAB)

Keywords

• Agriculture extension services
• Smallholder farmer support
• Youth agribusiness training
• Commodity-specific extension
• Agricultural consultancy services

Headquarters

HQ city

Rwanda

HQ country

Rwanda

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Agriculture Consultancy Services: YEAN offers consultancy services to provide trainings on innovative agriculture technologies with specific focus on Hydroponic farming and other agricultural innovations
2. Farmer Platform Services: Virtual community platform connecting farmers and value chain actors with peer learning, information dissemination and capacity building services

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

YEAN is a youth-led agriculture services enterprise in Rwanda that operates a commodity-specific extension model, providing a Farmer Platform (virtual community spaces via WhatsApp, Facebook, and website with 27 commodity-specific groups), Extension Materials (digital library covering 35+ crop and livestock commodities), and Consultancy Services (training on innovative agriculture technologies including hydroponic farming) to smallholder farmers, youth agripreneurs, farmer organizations, and development organizations.

Product overview

YEAN offers a platform-centric approach to agricultural extension services consisting of three core offerings: the Farmer Platform (a virtual community connecting 40,000+ farmers across 30 districts with 27 commodity-specific groups), Extension Materials (educational content covering 35+ crop varieties and livestock commodities), and Consultancy Services (training on innovative agriculture technologies including hydroponic farming). The platform leverages ICT tools including WhatsApp and Facebook to facilitate peer learning and knowledge exchange among farmers and value chain actors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Farmer Platform A virtual community space that connects farmers and agripreneurs for peer learning and knowledge exchange. The platform hosts 27 commodity-specific groups and facilitates both virtual online communities and on-field physical farmer groups through WhatsApp, Facebook, and the YEAN website. Target users: smallholder farmers, youth agripreneurs, and value chain actors in Rwanda.
• Extension Materials

Quantifiable outcome

• 40,000+ farmers served
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerYEAN partners with AGRA on youth agripreneurship initiatives. AGRA and YEAN have collaborated to spotlight youth agripreneurs transforming Nyagatare District, Eastern Rwanda, supporting young farmers in agricultural development.
• AIRTEA ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAIRTEA Project delegates have visited the Agribusiness Incubation and Innovation Hub (AIIH), demonstrating partnership in agricultural education and incubation activities.
• YEAN Partner OrganizationsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPartner organizations are included in the Farmer Platform, building a strong farmer-centered partnership that collectively works to support agriculture knowledge management, information dissemination and capacity building of farmers.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Digital Green: Digital Green operates a video-based agricultural extension platform serving smallholder farmers in Africa and South Asia. Its ICT-enabled peer-learning model directly mirrors YEAN's commodity-specific Farmer Platform approach and targets similar information-gap pain points among smallholder farmers.
• One Acre Fund: One Acre Fund serves smallholder farmers across East Africa with a bundled package of farm inputs, financing, and agricultural extension training. It is the closest analog to YEAN's model — combining ICT-enabled farmer training with last-mile agricultural services — making it a strong direct peer despite its much larger scale.

Broad incumbents

• Twiga Foods: Twiga Foods is a Kenya-based broad agri-tech incumbent operating a B2B food distribution platform that also engages smallholder farmers. While its core business is distribution rather than extension, it represents a larger, more capitalized player in the East African smallholder agri-services space.
• Farm Africa: Farm Africa is an international NGO working with smallholder farmers across East Africa on agriculture, environment, and market access. It is comparable to YEAN's development-organization partnerships and smallholder farmer focus, though it operates as a much larger grant-funded NGO.

Emerging players

• Babban Gona: Babban Gona is a Nigeria-based agricultural enterprise serving smallholder farmer cooperatives with training, input credit, and market access. It is comparable to YEAN in serving smallholder farmers with bundled extension services, but operates primarily in Nigeria rather than East Africa.
• iCow: iCow is a Kenya-based mobile agricultural advisory service providing smallholder farmers with SMS and smartphone-based information on livestock and crops. It overlaps with YEAN's mobile-first advisory approach, though it focuses more heavily on individual SMS delivery rather than community-based peer learning.
• Pula Advisors: Pula Advisors provides agricultural insurance and advisory services to smallholder farmers across Africa, partnering with governments and NGOs. It is comparable to YEAN in its smallholder farmer focus and development-organization distribution model, though its core offering is insurance rather than extension.
• Apollo Agriculture: Apollo Agriculture is a Kenya-based agri-tech company that uses mobile technology to deliver financing, inputs, and advisory services to smallholder farmers. Its mobile-first advisory and farmer-data approach overlaps with YEAN's ICT-enabled extension model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCeCpm2bjaE6gPgmyooNr1-Q/featured
• Facebookfacebook.com/1C3oFs5joM
• Instagraminstagram.com/yean_agro
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/yean

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Youth Engagement in Agriculture Network (YEAN)