Analysis of Current Landscape and Emerging Trends in Digital Agricultural Extension Services among Smallholder Farmers in Kenya

Murang'a County has emerged as one of Kenya's leading counties in the digital transformation of service delivery, driven by increasing mobile phone penetration, expanding digital infrastructure, strong county government policy support, and rising demand for agricultural technologies and growing demand for digital technologies. However, despite these advances, there remains limited understanding of the structure, functionality and maturity of the county's digital extension ecosystem. This study aims to analyse and document the digital agricultural extension landscape and emerging trends in Murang’a County, Kenya. A mixed-methods approach was employed, including a survey of 352 smallholder farmers, key informant interviews, and a desktop review. The findings show that mobile applications, particularly the MyMurang'a App, and vernacular broadcast programmes such as Mugambo wa Murimi are the dominant digital extension channels due to their accessibility and integrated service delivery. The digital extension ecosystem is evolving with the emergence of WhatsApp-based advisory systems, youth agripreneur models, digital farmer registration, artificial intelligence, blockchain-enabled traceability and digital soil mapping, although most of these innovations remain at the pilot or early-adoption stage. High internet access costs, limited digital literacy and inadequate rural connectivity remain the principal constraints to access and utilisation. The study concludes that digital agricultural extension in Murang'a County is transitioning towards a more integrated and data-driven advisory system; however, its scalability and inclusiveness depend on addressing persistent infrastructural and affordability barriers. The study recommends expanding affordable internet access through public-private partnerships, strengthening rural digital infrastructure, enhancing farmers' digital literacy and promoting localised, low-bandwidth digital advisory services.