AGMARK (Agricultural Market Development Trust) is a Kenyan not-for-profit development organisation working to improve the incomes and food security of smallholder farmers in Africa. Established in Nairobi in 2004, it trains and supports agro-dealers, connects farmers to quality inputs and reliable buyers, and builds structured cross-border grain trade systems. What began as a Kenya-focused initiative now operates in 18 countries across Eastern, Western and Southern Africa, having trained more than 12,000 agro-dealers and served 2.4 million smallholder farmers.
AGMARK is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya and works in 18 countries across Eastern, Western and Southern Africa: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Malawi, Eswatini, South Africa, South Sudan, Mozambique, the DRC, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Benin and Zimbabwe. Current cross-border trade work is concentrated on four corridors: Busia (Kenya–Uganda), Namanga (Kenya–Tanzania), Kasumulu–Songwe (Tanzania–Malawi) and Tunduma–Nakonde (Tanzania–Zambia).
AGMARK concentrates on cereals, legumes, horticulture and dairy, the value chains where smallholder participation does most for household income and nutrition. The cross-border grain trade work focuses on maize, rice, common beans, soybean and groundnuts. Rather than promoting any single crop, AGMARK works on the conditions around it: input supply, agronomic advice, access to finance, and dependable buyers at the other end.
The Hub and Spoke Model is AGMARK's signature approach to last-mile input distribution. Larger "hub" agro-dealers invest in warehousing, working capital and supplier relationships, then supply and mentor smaller rural retailers across a defined circuit. Suppliers gain fewer, higher-volume points of sale; rural dealers get shorter lead times, volume discounts and less risk of running out of stock. An assessment by Monitor Deloitte for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation found that rural agro-dealer revenues generally rise by 20–40% when they buy through a hub rather than direct from suppliers. The model was developed and scaled Africa-wide through AGMARK's AGRA-funded Agri-Business Development programme (2008–2022) and is now standard practice across its work.
AGMARK works through its trained agro-dealer network rather than directly with individual farmers. Agro-dealers supply inputs, technical advice and market linkages at village level all year round, and they keep doing so long after a project cycle ends, because the business is their own. Among farmers reached through these networks, 60 to 90% access hybrid seeds and fertilisers, and around 200,000 have been trained in improved agronomic, regenerative and climate-smart practices.
A CBTA is a formal association of grain traders operating at an East African border crossing. AGMARK helps CBTAs build the institutional capacity to represent their members, and trains traders in grain standards, trade documentation, negotiation and post-harvest handling. The current AGRA-funded programme covers four corridors (Busia, Namanga, Kasumulu–Songwe and Tunduma–Nakonde), spanning eight border posts across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi. As of the Q2 2026 monitoring report it had supported 9 CBTAs, trained 805 traders and created 5,085 jobs for women and youth, and traders in the programme had moved 8,235 tonnes of grain worth USD 5.79 million. The approach goes back to AGMARK's USAID-funded East and Central Africa programme (2012–2018), which trained 2,500 grain traders and established the East African Grain Cross-Border Traders Association.
Women make up 55% of AGMARK programme participants, above the sector average. The current flagship programme is built specifically around women and youth: it strengthens Cross-Border Trade Associations so that women and young traders can take part in structured grain trade and the jobs it creates, with a target of 5,000 new jobs across four border corridors. AGMARK also publishes a Safeguarding of Vulnerable Persons and Youth Policy setting out how participants in its programmes are protected.
Regenerative practice runs through AGMARK's programmes rather than sitting beside them. The work covers soil health and restoration through composting, cover cropping and minimal tillage; water and climate resilience through rainwater harvesting, irrigation efficiency and drought-tolerant varieties; biodiversity and agroforestry; and helping farmers reach voluntary carbon and payment-for-ecosystem-services markets. These programmes are aligned with the African Union's Climate Smart Agriculture strategy and the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021–2030.
AGMARK has delivered programmes funded by USAID, the World Food Programme, AGRA, IFAD, the European Union, the Rockefeller Foundation, the African Development Bank, COMESA, AFAP, IFDC, FAO, KALRO, CNFA, Land O'Lakes and DFID, alongside private-sector and industry partners including the Syngenta Foundation, the Bayer Foundation, CropLife International, Equity Bank, the Co-operative Bank of Kenya, the Eastern Africa Grain Council and the Seed Trade Association of Kenya. Three programmes are currently active: the EU- and IFAD-funded KCEP-CRAL ISLA project on soil health and agroecology across six Kenyan counties (2026–2028), SISS-Kenya with the Seed Trade Association of Kenya on seed industry strengthening (2024–2026), and the AGRA-funded cross-border trade programme (2024–2026).
AGMARK has managed more than USD 40 million in donor funding since 2004. Its systems cover transparent financial management, monitoring and evaluation, and donor reporting to international standards. An independent Institutional Capacity Assessment from November 2024 is published on the Resources page, together with monthly progress reports and AGMARK's data protection and safeguarding policies, so a prospective funder can review how the organisation runs before committing.
AGMARK welcomes partnerships with institutional funders, bilateral agencies, government counterparts, and co-implementing organisations working on agricultural market systems, food security, or cross-border trade. Initial inquiries can be directed to the Nairobi office via the Contact page. AGMARK typically engages in co-designed multi-year programmes and brings 22 years of in-market experience, a trained agro-dealer network, and established field teams across Eastern, Western and Southern Africa.
Everything AGMARK publishes is on the Resources page: the Company Profile 2026, an independent Institutional Capacity Assessment from November 2024, monthly progress reports, and the Safeguarding of Vulnerable Persons and Youth Policy and Data Protection Policy. Each one opens to read in the browser. Results from individual programmes are summarised on their own project pages, and field updates are published under News and Updates.