[Column] Sheena Raikundalia: Why influencers may be our secret weapon for food security in Kenya
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 local founders 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 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 Kitengala 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 are 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 1.8m, 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 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.
Sheena Raikundalia is the Country Director, UK- Kenya Tech Hub.
