Our History
From ICTforAg to a Global Community Platform
AGX has evolved over more than a decade, growing from a practitioner-focused convening into a global, community-driven platform supporting collaboration at the intersection of agriculture, technology, and innovation.
Stewardship & Community Leadership
AGX is a community-driven platform stewarded through partnerships, not owned by any single organization.
Today, CGIAR and DevGlobal provide stewardship, supporting:
- Strategic continuity across events and initiatives
- Community convening and coordination
- Thematic development and follow-through
AGX’s direction is shaped by both its stewards and its broader community of researchers, practitioners, innovators, funders, and partners.
This shared model keeps AGX open, credible, and responsive to evolving regional and sector needs.
History at a Glance
2025
AGX Launch & AGX AI
Hosts:
- AGX
- AGX AI
In 2025, ICTforAg evolved into AGX – a broader, year-round platform designed to support deeper collaboration and thematic engagement beyond a single annual convening.
As part of this evolution:
- AGX Unconferences were launched as participatory, community-led gatherings
- AGX AI was introduced, funded by the Gates Foundation, to advance responsible, scalable AI Advisory tools for small-scale producers across Africa and Asia
AGX AI operates within AGX, building on its established community, partnerships, and convening platform.
Hybrid, Multi-Location Convening
ICTforAg 2024 marked the platform’s most ambitious format yet – a three-day hybrid convening spanning five global locations and a virtual day designed to engage participants across time zones.
The event connected the global digital agriculture community through synchronized programming in Washington, D.C., Los Baños, New Delhi, Nairobi, and Texcoco, alongside a large virtual audience. This distributed model demonstrated the platform’s ability to convene the ecosystem at scale while deepening regional participation.
- 2,940 registrants with 2,175 attendees participating in person or online
- 314 speakers, including 37% women
- 641 in-person attendees across five global hubs
- 7,265 virtual session views
- Top virtual participation from Kenya, India, the United States, and Nigeria
2024
2023
Global Online Chapter
ICTforAg 2023 brought together the global digital agriculture community through a three-day fully virtual conference designed to engage participants across time zones and regions. The event reinforced ICTforAg’s role as a trusted global convening space for dialogue, knowledge sharing, and collaboration at the intersection of agriculture and digital innovation. With participants joining from over 100 countries, the conference demonstrated the growing global momentum around digital agriculture.
- 2,608 registrants with 1,778 attendees participating across the three days
- 145 speakers, including 43% women
- 40 sessions, including 11 keynotes and 6 lightning talks
- Participants from 100+ countries
- Top attendee countries: Nigeria, United States, India, Kenya, and Mexico
Global Expansion
Hosts:
- USAID
- DAI
- GIZ
- Intellecap
The shift to virtual participation during the COVID-19 period accelerated global reach and accessibility.
Key milestones include:
- 1,500+ participants in 2020
- 3,000+ participants from 123 countries by 2022
- 145 speakers, reflecting increased geographic and sectoral diversity
This period established ICTforAg as a truly global platform while also highlighting the need for continuity beyond a single annual event.
2020
2019
Stewardship Transition
Hosts:
- USAID
In 2019, stewardship transitioned to USAID, expanding the platform’s ambition and institutional backing.
The convening grew in scope and visibility, engaging 40 speakers and strengthening its role as a global learning forum for digital agriculture.
ICTforAg Beginnings
Hosts:
ICTforAg launched as an annual, practitioner-focused convening bringing together 100–200+ participants each year.
It quickly established a trusted space for practical dialogue at the intersection of information and communication technologies (ICT) and agriculture, with a strong emphasis on peer learning and real-world implementation.
The origins of ICTforAg trace back to the USAID FACET project (Fostering Agriculture Competitiveness Employing Information and Communication Technologies) around 2011, when FHI 360 launched the ICTforAg social media channel to share information about digital technology and agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. When the FACET project ended, FHI 360 expanded the ICTforAg brand into a formal conference, which grew into the global convening platform recognized today.
2010s