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Wednesday, 13 September 2017

Telegram on Agriculture in Kenya, Thanks to the best agricultural blog in Kenya (Farmers Trend) product Farmers+254

A simple mobile phone 15 years ago was out of reach for most small holder farmers in Kenya but that has changed. Affordable smart phones are increasingly becoming accessible and there is foreseen increase in usage for the technology by small holder farmers to access information in the medium term.

*A mobile phone screenshot of Farmers+254 Telegram Group*

Today, a group of young professional youths involved in agriculture has seen an opportunity in creating an agricultural group on telegram – Farmers+254 – in Kenya, a group where farmers are sharing information, marketing their produce, getting technical help, market updates, trends in agribusiness, value addition support and questions getting answered in real time.
Telegram has indeed become part of the holy grail together with the traditional over the internet SMS to reach more small holder farmers and value chain actors with timely information dissemination.
TELEGRAM
Telegram is a cloud-based instant messaging service, similar to WhatsApp. It allows users to send messages as well as images and videos and currently stands at more than 100million downloads
Telegram groups are emerging to be the newest face of information sharing in Kenya today, and one of its major advantage over its competitor WhatsApp groups being is that telegram group can hold a huge number of members totaling to 5,000+ unlike WhatsApp that accommodates only 256 members.
A comparison between WhatsApp and Telegram highlighted the latter’s ability to transmit messages faster and more securely. However, it’s the security features that make Telegram truly stand out. Telegram allows for a secure chat connection and self-destructing messages

HOW TO JOIN THE GROUP: Download Telegram app from Play store / app store and install it on your phone. After successful installation, click this link to join the group Farners+254 https://t.me/joinchat/AAAAAD_bR5vJhdLPzGFQfg

HOW TELEGRAM IS CHANGING THE FACE OF FARMING I N KENYA
“Tho bulk SMS based based platforms continue to be one of the best information dissemination outlets for small holder farmers Kenya. The challenge has been that these SMS platforms are donor driven and the cost of sustaining them beyond project life cycles have been a challenge. In Kenya you will notice that those Bulk SMS platforms are run by private companies that heavily depend on NGOs contracting and outside projects, they lacks the critical mass to drive margins and stay in the green. They are what i call Start Stop services.” Explain John Kiruthi, the team leader of Farmers Trend
“I find telegram to be the cheapest way to share information so it does not surprise me that agroinformation-based telegram groups are mushrooming in Kenya . Some of the agricultural groups sprouting out on telegram today in Kenya range from rabbit farming, tomato farming, onion farming, organic farming, dairy farming, goat farming, etc” ~ Says John
Farmers in Kenya are increasingly depending on this Telegram group and they get immediate advice including progressive farmers and agricultural experts. Farmers+254 Telegram group is rapidly transforming itself to becoming a support system for farmers.
Farmers are also connecting with each other. Farmers+254 allows farmers from various counties to seek and share agriculture advice as well as connect with experts in various fields and learn new practices. This group has now been active for over 5 months. The biggest discussion has always been about market, cropping periods and diseases. The group’s membership has grown from 50 to more than 1200.
Farmers Trend, the moderators of Farmers+254 Telegram group have noted the enormous market linkage potential that the Telegram platforms brings to value chain actors and Agribusiness SMEs in Kenya. Facilitating the creation of Telegram group by Farmers Trend so that farmers in Kenya share knowledge on inputs and output markets has resulted in improved market information access at a factional cost. Seed and output buying companies representatives has also taken the opportunity to join Farmers+254 Telegram group and market their company products. Farmers Trend representatives administer the platform themselves and content is strictly limited to Agriculture and related issues.

CREDIT TO THE BEST AGRICULTURAL BLOG IN KENYA http://www.farmerstrend.co.ke/

Blogging Technology and Agriculture in Kenya, Thanks to the best agricultural blog website in Kenya (Farmers Trend) thanks to http://www.farmerstrend.co.ke/

A look at blogging and agriculture in not only Kenya but Africa and you will notice one blog stands out, www.farmerstrend.co.ke was started in October 2015 by then 29years old John Kiruthi on the common CMS systems.

Farmers Trend has risen to be the best agricultural blog in Kenya, winning various awards and interviews with local and international media houses.

“I have started to see agriculture as my business venture and I want to work hard to make a success out of it.” ~ Kiruthi

Today, Farmers Trend has grown beyond blogging to Agri Tourism in Kenya and Farm Tours

ABOUT FARMERS TREND

We are an online agricultural information portal (www.farmerstrend.co.ke) providing solutions to pressing issues affecting farmers in Kenya, like access to information, research, and technology in farming, market trends and connecting farmers with potential market/buyers. The portal is run and managed by a group of Kenyan youths who are much involved in supporting and enlightening the smallholder farmers appreciate modern farming skills, technology, value addition and diversification towards sustainable agribusiness.

Farmers Trend portal is visited by thousands of individuals daily, this is visitors with interest in farming, are farmers seeking solutions, persons involved in agribusiness and the likes. Farmers are already using our blog to make changes in their farms, and their income and livelihood are improving, new entrants have been motivated by the success stories shared on our website, and this might mean they can turn their farms into successful businesses and do much more than that.

HOW WAS (FARMERS TREND) www.farmerstrend.co.ke STARTED, WHY ONLINE WRITING AND WHAT ARE YOUR ADVICE TO OTHER ASPIRING AGRICULTURAL BLOGGERS IN KENYA, we ask Mr. Kiruthi

It was definitely a good plan for me and I have really enjoyed writing it, communicating information, etc. If you are thinking about starting a blog (about agriculture or anything else), I would recommend you put together a good plan so you can have more impacts from the beginning. I didn’t have a good plan when I started and I floundered a while. So here are the things I would give thought to:

What do you have to offer the topic? Think about what it is you bring. Is there something that makes your story standout, are you in a unique place geographically, in terms of crops, ready to research, etc.
Who benefits from that information? Another way you would think about it is, who would be the people who want to hear what you have to say?
How is that information best presented? A blog is a great hub of information so is a YouTube channel or a podcast. Think about what you offer and who will be your audience and just doublecheck whether a blog is the best way to go.
Is this an effort of passion or a business goal? Think about what you want to accomplish and the various pieces to accomplish it. This will help you think through the idea of of where you should create the blog. Is it something you want to put on Quora or do you want to self-host?

Agriculture as a farming business rather than development platform in Africa is gathering momentum. I think this is a positive perspective.

Agriculture (production of crops, livestock etc) and Agribusiness (value chain servicing agriculture) are rather different sectors, marked by different risk-return profiles. Agriculture is highly dependent on land, which is incredibly politicised, which in turn makes agriculture or farming unattractive especially for youth without the political connections or financial capital.

With that being said, I think agriculture has enormous potential for eradicating poverty, needs youthful energy and passionate team players.