Gloria Mbatha — Founder & CEO, AgriGuard AI Gloria Mbatha is a passionate agricultural innovator with more than six years of experience working directly with smallholder farmers across multiple value chains in Africa. A graduate of Strathmore University, she has dedicated her career to helping rural communities overcome barriers to markets, finance, and climate resilience. While working closely with farmers, Gloria observed a deep injustice: productive farmers were constantly denied loans and insurance — not because they lacked ability, but because they lacked formal records and collateral. Inspired by how easily assets like motorcycles, tractors, and vehicles receive financing through monitoring tools, Gloria began asking: “If assets can be financed through monitoring, why can’t farms be financed using data from the land itself?” This question led to the creation of AgriGuard AI — a platform that deploys low-cost, solar-powered farm sensors, integrates GIS intelligence, and analyzes consent-based mobile-money data to build a living digital profile of each farm. This data helps derisk lending and unlock financing for the farmers who feed the continent. Gloria’s vision is to enable at least 1 million smallholder farmers to access fair, patient capital — while protecting their crops and strengthening climate resilience. She believes deeply that when farmers are trusted and empowered, entire communities rise