Young farmers are cashing in on social media platforms

Social media connects people primarily. It is like a village: gossip flies around quickly and everyone knows what's happening

"If social media ceased to exist today, I would probably become broke quickly," says Caleb Karuga, a celebrated farmer and heavy social media user, as well as a content creator.

Karuga is a great example of how farmers could utilise social media to further their farming activities.

The first time he posted a farming activity on social media was in 2012.

"Back then I just wanted to share fun moments as I went about farming," he says.

From fun to profit

He had no more expectation than one would have sharing with friends what they are up to at work. He was not expecting more clients or more money.

He began taking note of responses and replies: 'What do I need to start my own vegetable farm?' 'I need an agronomist who can help with pests.' 'What can I do differently to achieve better results?'

"Slowly, my timeline became a forum for people to share ideas, exchange valuable information on farming, and give recommendations to other farmers," Karuga says.

Robust social media usage

Today, Karuga is one of the most famous youthful farmers; thanks to his robust social media usage.

Going by the moniker 'Farmercist' on Twitter. Karuga has over 57,000 followers and counting. He is also on Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, Youtube and LinkedIn. His huge - by Kenyan standards - social media footprint, he says, have brought him much more success in farming than he could ever imagine.

Karuga is the proprietor of Wendy Farms, located in Gikambura, in the outskirts of Kikuyu Town.

"We farm horticulture: mostly common vegetables such as spinach, collard greens, seasonal indigenous vegetables such as saget, managu and amaranth.

"We also rear dairy goats and do beekeeping for honey production. Through social media I have gotten clients who come to purchase produce.

"At the same time, corporate clients such as Safaricom, Davies and Shirtliff, Simlaw Seeds and others, approached me for business, I believe from interacting with my social media pages."

Unlike Karuga, Noah Nasiali - another farmer prolific on social media - started posting about farming because he needed advice from other farmers.

Peer-to-peer advise

"The year was 2008: Whatsapp was nowhere. But there was something called Telegram. I started a farming group on Telegram - for peer-to-peer advise.

"I was a budding farmer myself. I had grown over 75,000 cabbages and was looking forward to cashing in on it. But I had never sat in a farming class.

"I needed to know what pesticides to buy; what fertiliser to apply; what should I look out for; who do I sell to, and so on.

"I was not an agronomist. And some of the challenges I was experiencing needed the input of people who had the experience of actual farming.

"So, for me, getting into social media at the time was purely to interact with other farmers and hear from them so that I - as well as other farmers - could get better at what we were doing," he says.

Nasiali went on to create 'Africa Farmers Club' on Facebook; which today boasts over 204,000 followers, and counting. His farms in Kitengela and Namanga (both in Kajiado County) are on 26 acres collectively. Known as Eteina Farm, it is his bread and butter.

Nasiali maintains a fervent social media presence on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram, Tik Tok and Twitter.

"It makes sense that as a farmer, I would like advice from another farmer - who has successfully done something in farming. That is why social media is relevant for us today," he says.

Sheila Birgen is the Country Lead at Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Network. She says social media networks came into being as an answer to the primal human instinct: the need for community.

"Social media connects people primarily. It is like a village: gossip flies around quick and everyone knows what's happening with who and for whom," she says.

Even so, she notes, social media has morphed over the years to answer users' needs; not only for community but for information and markets as well.

"In the farming community, people are looking for information, which they might need to seek from agricultural extension officers and agronomists.

"On social media they will get the information almost instantly; without delay and for free. They will also know, from other farmers, about farm clinics, discounts of farm inputs, and so on.

Convenient and easy marketplace

"Farmers are also looking for clients to buy their produce and social media is proving to be a convenient and easy marketplace where they could be found by clients," Birgen, whose academic background is in media and communication, says.

Before the advent of social media, Sylvia Kuria, an organic farmer, marketed through word of mouth. "Tell someone to tell someone," she says.

Today, over 80 per cent of her clients, she says, reach her through her social media posts.

"I sell mostly on WhatsApp and Instagram," she says.

Ms Kuria has just over 10 acres in Mai Mahiu, where she grows indigenous leafy vegetables and some fruits. The business wing of the farm, known as Sylvia's Basket, sells produce from her farm - and other organic farmers - along Ngong road in Nairobi.

On WhatsApp, Kuria posts - on her statuses - short videos with sound effects and voice over; showing clients fresh harvest from the farm.

"I am also on Facebook," she says, "where I mostly disseminate information for other farmers and also learn from them."

The creators of social media, says Birgen, had foreseen a time when humans may need to interact more virtually. The Covid-19 pandemic forced physical social distancing on humanity and social media became a viable option to interact and ventilate.

"In a way, human beings have shaped what social media is today: they have been catalytic to development of the unique tools social media has today.

"Users have needed real-time video interactions, the companies created them. Users needed community spaces to meet peers, that function was created too. I understand Tik Tok now has a shops option; where users can auction things and sell," says Birgen.

It is estimated that the average age of a Kenyan farmer is 58 years. Yet, over 75 per cent of the population is aged 35 and below. In Birgen's opinion, social media 'farming' has begun to attract younger people into farming and should bring down the median age of a farmer in a few years.

"Through exchange of information, it has also made farmers smarter: giving them more crop options to farm and move away from maize and beans craze that dominated Kenya's agriculture not long ago," she says.

Now, imagine a world without social media. Would it be easy to access farming information? Would it be easy to sell produce? Would it be fun to farm? The answer, at least from Karuga's point of view, is "No."