Kenya: How to sell farm products online

The internet has emerged as an important marketing tool in the agricultural industry. However, there are farmers in Kenya whom have not fully utilised or have not fully understood the importance of the Internet as a marketing tool.

The Internet can be used to advertise your farm with pictures of your produce, what you are growing and the methods you have used. This will help you engage interested buyers to make orders online for your products.

You do not necessarily need to have a website to do online sales. This can be done through social media platforms such as Telegram, Whatsapp, Pintrest, Facebook pages and groups etc. Social media is a powerful and important tool in the digital marketer’s tool belt. For agricultural businesses, it’s important
to understand how farmers use social media, and how that affects how you market to farmers.

Some say farmers are behind the times. But that’s just not true. The rise of use of data, automation and technology in the field is demonstrating that farmers are incredibly sophisticated.

They not only understand the benefits that technology offers them, but they’re putting it to use. And their farms are benefiting as a result.

A very good example of a Facebook group in Kenya that is actually working well is and maximising on social media presence for farm marketing is Digital Farmers Kenya. This group has managed to amass a whooping 321,154 members and counting as of today. Through this group farmers in Kenya have not only found potential customers but managed to find each other, bond and inspire each other.

Through this group farmers have been able to;

• Share their farm stories with others, what they are growing and how they got started.
• Save time marketing and selling since they can always post the advert online and customers will start to inquire.
• Get timely advice from other farmers with solutions that work.

Considerations to take

• There is less personal connection between customer and producer over the Internet.
• You will need to post content about your farm regularly.
• Know your closest, least expensive, most reliable transport means. Are they reliable?
• Make sure you calculate the cost of all your packing materials into the cost of your products. Be aware of your customers’ packing material preferences.
• Make sure you take into consideration how shipping is compensated. Is it included in the sale of goods, or do customers pay for transportation separately?