Dr. Keith Shepherd

Keith Shepherd is Chief Scientist and co-founder of Innovative Solutions for Decision Agriculture (iSDA), developing AI-assisted digital advisory services for smallholder farmers across Africa. With over 45 years’ experience in international agricultural research, he has led major programs on sustainable land, crop and soil management, and science-based decision support systems. He pioneered global advances in soil-plant diagnostics using infrared spectroscopy and co-founded the Africa Soil Information Service, which produced the first digital soil map of Africa. Keith has developed science-based agronomic recommendations for diverse dryland systems in Sudan, the Philippines, Syria, and Eswatini. He holds a BSc in Soil Science and a PhD in Agricultural Botany from the University of Reading, and is an Honorary Scientist at Rothamsted Research, UK.