Debora Jemal

Ethiopian social entrepreneur revolutionizing agricultural innovation through technology

Debora Jemal is a visionary Ethiopian entrepreneur whose work in agricultural technology has profoundly impacted smallholder farmers across East Africa. As founder of AgriSpace, she developed the first AI-driven platform connecting farmers directly to markets and financial services. This innovation increased crop sales by 300% for over 500,000 farmers while reducing post-harvest losses by 40%. Her blog series on gender equity in agriculture has been translated into 12 languages and inspired policy changes in Kenya's agricultural sector. Jemal's TED Talk "How Tech Can Heal the Food Chain" has over 2 million views, positioning her as a global leader in food security solutions. Her work with the African Union's Digital Agriculture Initiative has created training programs reaching 200,000 rural youth. In 2018, she pioneered blockchain systems for fair coffee pricing that now benefit 15,000 Ethiopian farmers. Jemal's recent partnership with NASA's Harvest Program combines satellite data with farmer insights to predict climate impacts, a model now adopted by 12 African governments.