The Watoko Fellowship selects one extraordinary person per country to carry the mission of intelligence infrastructure for planetary food systems.
Agriculture is the largest industry on Earth and the least digitized. Changing that requires more than technology — it requires voices in every room where decisions about food systems are made. The Watoko Fellowship places one person per country at that intersection: someone who understands the ground truth of farming in their market and carries the conviction that intelligence infrastructure can transform it. These are not employees. They are evangelists, connectors, and representatives of a future that most of the world hasn't imagined yet.
The fellowship is not a job. It's a set of activities that fit alongside your career — designed to build Watoko's presence in your country while building your own network and reputation.
Speak at conferences, write content, explain why agricultural intelligence matters. You translate Watoko's vision into language your market understands.
~4 hrs/monthIdentify cooperatives, institutions, and buyers in your market. Make introductions. Open doors that only a local voice can open.
~3 hrs/monthHost local meetups, attend agricultural conferences, and represent Watoko at industry gatherings. Be the face of the mission in your country.
~2 hrs/monthReport market insights, farmer needs, and technology gaps back to Watoko. Your perspective shapes the product roadmap for your region.
~1 hr/monthOnce a year, every Fellow in the world converges on Kampala, Uganda — the heartland of the mission — for four days that change everything.
Keynotes from Watoko leadership and invited speakers. Strategy sessions on the year ahead. Field visits to farms actively using Watoko technology. Workshops on storytelling, partnership building, and agricultural intelligence. Cross-continental networking that no video call can replicate.
The founding team. Investors. Researchers. Policymakers. Every other Fellow — from Nairobi to Sao Paulo, from London to Jakarta. The people building the future of food systems, in person, with no screens between you.
Fellows cover their own travel to Kampala. Watoko covers housing, meals, and all event logistics for the full duration. Four days. No cost once you arrive.
The fellowship is a mutual commitment. Here's what each side brings to the table.
A curated community of 10–15 extraordinary people across 5 continents. Lifetime membership. The relationships are the product.
Featured profile on watoko.com, social media amplification, speaking opportunities, and press coverage. We invest in making your work visible.
Early access to the product roadmap, direct line to leadership, and behind-the-scenes briefings on agricultural AI months before the public sees it.
Four days in Uganda with every Fellow, the founding team, investors, and researchers. Field visits to farms. The gathering that changes everything.
8–10 hours per month. Attend virtual sessions, create content, show up at events, and stay active in the community.
Introductions to cooperatives, institutions, and decision-makers in your market. Your local knowledge is what makes the fellowship work.
Speak, write, create. Carry the mission into rooms we can't enter and tell the story in ways only you can.
Cover your own flights to Kampala for the annual summit. Watoko covers everything else once you arrive.
Year 1 targets 10–15 Fellows across five continents, with Africa as the center of gravity. One person per country. Every voice matters.
The heartland. Where the mission begins and the impact is most immediate. 4–6 Fellows in Year 1.
Agricultural powerhouse. Shared challenges with African farmers at a different scale. 2–3 Fellows.
Home to the largest smallholder farming populations on Earth. Enormous scale, enormous opportunity. 2–3 Fellows.
Policy and trade hub. Where EUDR, development finance, and agricultural research converge. 1–2 Fellows.
Technology capital. Where the builders, investors, and institutions that shape global ag-tech live. 1–2 Fellows.
We don't need a specific resume. We need people who believe that agriculture is the most important industry on Earth — and are willing to act on that belief.
Farmers, agronomists, cooperative leaders, food system researchers. You understand the ground truth of agriculture and want to bring technology to the people who need it most.
Developers, data scientists, AI practitioners, product designers. You build things and want your skills to serve the next billion farmers instead of the next ad algorithm.
Organizers, educators, content creators, advocates. You know how to move people, build movements, and translate complex ideas into stories that spread.
Researchers, policymakers, development practitioners, investors. You shape the systems that determine whether technology reaches smallholder farmers or stays in Silicon Valley.
The fellowship is structured to invest in you first, then channel that investment into impact. Every phase builds on the last.
Written application and video submission, followed by interviews with Watoko leadership. We select for mission alignment, not credentials. One Fellow per country.
Your cohort meets for the first time. Mission deep-dives, communication frameworks, and an introduction to the tools and processes that will structure your fellowship year.
Evangelize, build partnerships, organize events, and report market insights. Monthly virtual sessions, exclusive product briefings, and a direct line to Watoko leadership.
All Fellows from every continent converge. Keynotes, field visits, strategy sessions with leadership, and cross-continental networking. The gathering that changes everything.
Once a Fellow, always a Fellow. Lifetime access to the community, alumni events, and the growing network. Senior Fellows mentor incoming cohorts. The fellowship never expires.
The most prestigious fellowships in the world — Ashoka, TED, Echoing Green — select on conviction, creativity, and character. We do the same. You don't need a PhD, a startup, or a social media following. You need to believe that agriculture is the most consequential industry of the 21st century, and be willing to act on that belief publicly, consistently, and with courage.
Do you genuinely believe that smallholder farmers deserve world-class technology? Can you articulate why?
Can you carry the message into rooms we can't enter? Communities, institutions, geographies where Watoko's voice doesn't yet reach.
Are you someone other Fellows will want to work with? The community is the product — every member shapes it.
Have you already done something — however small — to improve agriculture, food systems, or rural livelihoods? Show us, don't tell us.
No. The Watoko Fellowship is not a job and does not include a stipend. What it offers is more valuable: a curated global community, visibility, insider access, and the Kampala Summit experience. The best fellowships in the world — TED, Ashoka, Acumen — prove that the right community and identity are worth more than a paycheck.
8–10 hours per month. This includes evangelism, partnership building, events, and reporting. Plus the 4-day Kampala Summit once per year. We designed the program to be fully compatible with a full-time career.
Anyone over 18, from any background, in any of our five regions (Africa, South America, Asia, Europe, North America). We select for conviction and character, not credentials. You don't need a degree in agriculture or a background in technology.
Four things: evangelize the mission (~4 hrs/mo), build partnerships (~3 hrs/mo), organize and attend events (~2 hrs/mo), and represent your country by reporting market insights (~1 hr/mo). You carry the mission in your own way — speaking, writing, organizing, or connecting.
Once a year, every Fellow converges on Kampala, Uganda for 4 days. Keynotes, field visits to farms, strategy sessions, and cross-continental networking. Fellows cover their own flights. Watoko covers housing, meals, and all event logistics.
There is no cost to participate in the fellowship itself. The only expense Fellows bear is their own travel to Kampala for the annual summit. Everything else — housing, meals, event logistics, community platform access — is covered by Watoko.
Applications for Cohort 1 open soon. Join the interest list to be notified the moment they go live. Cohort 1 Fellows will shape the fellowship itself — you won't just be joining a program, you'll be co-creating it.
Up to 15 Fellows. Five continents. One per country.
We'll notify you when applications open.
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"Watoko replaced five different tools we were using. Now everything — field data, trading, payments — lives in one place."— Operations Lead, East Africa Cooperative
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