Last
month, we invited social media influencers for a discussion on food security at
the residence of the British High Commissioner, Jane Marriott. Globally, the
social media influencers/creator economy is worth over $100bn and influencers have become a powerful force in
society, with millions of followers who trust and value their opinion. They have the ability to shape public
discourse and mobilise communities around important issues ranging from climate
change, gender, and food security.
Kenya
is no exception, with a thriving influential community of influencers who use
their music, comedy, art, fitness to reach millions of followers, connecting with
diverse audiences to understand, engage and inspire action. The potential in this space is demonstrated
by companies such as Wowzi, founded by a local founder during Covid. It has
scaled to over 100,000 content creators, running campaigns across 10 African
countries including with FIBL, a Swiss research firm to create awareness about
organic food.
Working
with our partners Wowzi and 10 influencers, the aim was to really understand
what the influencers do, their engagement with their audiences and how to
leverage their platforms for social good.
As
many of you are aware, KOT (Kenyans on Twitter) reacted quite strongly to this
meeting: “what do these entertainers know about food security” they
mocked? Quite a lot, it turns out!
One
of the influencers, Charles Mungai, a farmer from Central Kenya, recounted how
he spent months trying to explain that with numerous failed maize seasons, it
was time to change and plant cassava- but no luck! He advocated the use of
simple drip irrigation methods to counter lack of rain and was met with further
resistance. He then took his ideas to
YouTube and found a following of 5,200 young farmers willing to listen, learn
and change.
More
insights on nutrition followed. I learnt
how drought resistant crops such as terere (amaranth) and cassava are super
nutritious, with high protein content but usually seen as “poor man’s food.” No amount
of convincing from the government, NGOs, (or me on Twitter), will change that
perception; people won’t consume it, and farmers’ won’t grow it!
Now
take a fashion or fitness influencer, with followers of millions starting to
include terere in their meal plan as a protein supplement and advocating the
benefits. A completely different approach.
These “entertainers” are followed and respected, particularly by the
youth! Don’t forget the Kenyan population is young, 75% of people under
35. If they want to start eating terere,
and start buying, demand grows, which means more incentive to diversify from
maize to a drought-tolerant, healthier crop!
Another
discussion was on school gardens. One of our partners, A Farmers Media had
successfully planted school gardens in Kintengala International School, with
students’ planting, learning, and cooking these vegetables. Sukuma, I learnt
grows in 8 weeks, if more schools grow vegetables and can feed their students,
more children will stay in school. Once crops grown successfully, they can be
sold in school markets, teaching children entrepreneurship and eventually even
small-scale value addition.
One
of the influencers, King Kaka, is going to visit 56 schools across Kenya. With
his followers of c1.8m, if he starts the conversation around growing
vegetables, there is a higher chance of student buy in. What’s more exciting,
school gardens can work across Kenya. Soil tests done by KALRO (Kenya
Agriculture and Livestock Research) have shown such vegetables can also be
grown even in areas such as Wajir, Garissa.
Finally,
no question around food security can be complete without talking about waste. I
heard that whilst in some places in Kenya people are starving and dying, in
other counties there is surplus food - going to waste! The reasons for this appeared varied and
complex- the cost of transporting food,
regulations such as CESS (where each county charges a duty for food
passing through) means that in many cases it is
cheaper to let food rot then get it to a market or sell it. This showed me is that in addition to
improving production, there is a distribution, data, and information asymmetry
problem, another area ripe for potential influencer action.
Food
security is a complex issue. While the
role of farmers, extension workers, buyers, processors, financiers, and techies
is clear, influencers can also play a key role.
Through their engaging content, they can demystify the problem, inspire
followers to take action to support local farmers, promote productive
practices, reduce food waste, and help make healthier food choices. They can
start conversations to spark new ideas, new ways of thinking and finally shifting
mind-sets.
I left the conversation energised, and wanting
to move from this picture of “feeding
hungry Kenyans to how Kenya can feed the World.” Kenyans can make this happen. I’m already picturing, Kenyan terere, and
Kenyan avocados made into delicious guacamole being sold in British
supermarkets such as Waitrose, Tesco, Sainsbury’s. I remember Archers, a British radio show
about a fictional farming community and the impact it had, the conversations it
generated and the influencers can do the same here.
Kenyans
have always come together in times of crisis- the “Kenyans for Kenyans”
campaign during the last drought is a great example, where Kenyans raised
millions of pounds in several weeks. However, if we keep doing the same things
and they aren’t working effectively or sustainably, we need to be bold and open
to trying different things.
Following
this, with Wowzi and other partners from
the private sector and KNBS we hosted a food security hackathon. Seeing such bright, diverse minds working together
to explore different, concrete ideas has been truly inspiring. If we can support new ways of doing things,
we truly can make Kenya food-secure and
ideally the world’s next food basket.
By: Sheena Raikundalia
Country Director, UK- Kenya Tech Hub
