How youth using social media to ink agri deals

Recommendations for policymakers

The study includes clear recommendations for policy makers and technology companies to improve conditions for youth practising social agriculture, and is intended to spark further interest in (and collaborations among) those interested in youth employment and the digital transformation of agriculture.

One of the takeways is that social agriculture is a global phenomenon that has developed under the radar of traditional approaches to digital agriculture. It represents one possible future of agriculture, but remains poorly understood in terms of the opportunities for and challenges to realising agripreneurs' livelihood goals.

Despite little attention from mainstream digital agriculture work, social agriculture introduces a significant new source of revenue; selling information as well as produce. When asked about what they buy and sell using social media, 52 per cent of participants indicated buying information and 78 per cent reported selling produce, advice and or services.

''Development actors and those interested in digital transformation of agriculture should deepen their understanding of social agriculture in context, including how these practices are situated within a wider agricultural ecosystem and value chain, and as part of a wider process of digital transformation of agriculture and rural livelihoods," says the report in one of its recommendations.

Social agriculture is already popular among young, educated farmers-there are lots of people doing it, and there could be lots more. Social media platforms, according to the report have more users than dedicated digital agriculture platforms.

Based on an industry-standard estimate that 22.5 per cent of 33 million registered users are active, digital agriculture platforms have an estimated active user base of approximately 7.5 million in Kenya. Wefarm, a popular digital agriculture platform, had 1.4 million users in 2018.

"Facebook advertising indicates that the number of users interested in agriculture is estimated to be 9.3 million. In other words, despite any concerted marketing efforts, the number of people using social media platforms for agriculture in Kenya is higher than the total active users of dedicated digital agricultural platforms," it notes.

Without any dedicated marketing, social platforms have a wider reach than any one dedicated digital agriculture platform. The top three social media platforms used for agriculture in Kenya, according to survey participants using Facebook, are Facebook (62 percent), YouTube (16.15), and WhatsApp (13.35 percent). Only 3 percent of respondents preferred dedicated digital agriculture platforms such as Wefarm.