Ten years on Ethiopian soil: what we’ve learned and where we go next

A decade ago, we arrived in Ethiopia with a question and not much else: could rigorous evidence and mobile technology help smallholder farmers make better decisions, and could governments deliver that kind of support at scale? We didn’t know. We still don’t have all the answers. But ten years in, we know a great deal more about what works, what doesn’t, and what it actually takes to change systems.

Earlier this month, we gathered in Addis Ababa with the partners who have been part of that journey. We’re sharing a short film from the event that captures some of what that decade has looked like on the ground.

From early experiments to national systems

PxD’s work in Ethiopia has evolved considerably. We began by collaborating with the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute (ATI) on farmer-facing digital tools, grew to reach over a million farmers through direct delivery, and are now embedded in the national Digital Agriculture Roadmap alongside ATI and the Ministry of Agriculture.

Progress was rarely linear. Early data showed that only 37% of callers were actually reaching advisory content, with most dropping off at complex menu steps before they got there. Removing the registration requirement alone increased access by 18%. Simplifying language and cutting jargon helped further. These were not dramatic interventions. They were the kind of unglamorous, iterative fixes that don’t feature in annual reports but make the difference between a service people use and one they don’t.

The shift from running programmes to supporting government systems is a different kind of work entirely, and Ethiopia has tested us in that regard. What we have learned here, we carry forward. There is still much to do, but we leave this anniversary with a clearer sense of what the next chapter holds, and with deep gratitude to our colleagues, partners, and collaborators for their continued support.