Farming has long had an image issue with young people seeing the profession as one of heavy manual labor, often without a dependable income and belonging to an aging population in the countryside. University graduates pursued white-collar jobs and those in urban centers viewed careers in farming as a last option rather than something they would want to pursue. That perception is changing in Kenya and much of Africa.

Today, people can see tours of greenhouses on social media, poultry production advice on TikTok from poultry entrepreneurs, and young farmers posting their stories and experiences on YouTube and Instagram. Podcasts provide information about agribusiness opportunities while digital platforms facilitate connections between producers and consumers or markets. Agriculture now is being portrayed as a breeding ground for new ideas and entrepreneurial spirit, as well as a way for individuals to create wealth.

Mass media and new media formats have changed the way society views agriculture through digital journalism and digital communications. Digital media now create an overall narrative that focuses on people rather than just food scarcity, policy discussions, or seasonal events, to illustrate the success of agripreneurs starting successful businesses, researchers developing sustainable agricultural practices, and students employing technology to solve problems with food systems.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) notes that digital innovation is offering youth new possibilities in the agriculture and food sectors; this is changing the way agriculture is viewed as an industry that provides job opportunities and creates entrepreneurial possibilities for its workers. At CoELIB, this link between communications and agriculture is becoming clearer.

While CoELIB is a place for research and incubation, CoELIB’s Media, Communication and Advocacy arms demonstrate that for innovative ideas to be successful, they need to be communicated well in order to achieve maximum impact. CoELIB has created digital platforms such as CoELIB inFocus, CoELIB Radio, and CoELIB TV, which creates a way for innovative agricultural projects to be documented, discussed, and communicated to a larger audience.

As digital technologies continue being put to use in farming practices, there are many challenges associated with access to improper data, misleading production guidance. Reliable sources of data must be available so that individuals can receive a sufficient volume of accurate, beneficial, and situation-specific data. This means that organisations able to integrate scientific research with effective storytelling play an important role in the dissemination of knowledge.

By Desmond Juma