A platform created to boost local farming still not popular with farmers: Nakuru Farmers Call Center

In the 80s, in order for farmers to receive extension services, field officers relied on community meetings, known as barazas, to provide farmers with agricultural information.

In the 21st century, things have changed. Farmers rarely access physical extension services due to the low number of agricultural extension officers.

Under the current circumstances, farmers rely on word of mouth from fellow farmers or what they get from the internet, hence the move to e-extension. 

Nakuru Farmers' Call Center, was established so as to be able to reach out to farmers on social media and mobile phones to provide extension and advisory services.

Mtaa Wangu contacted the call centre to find out how responsive it was: 'As soon as we dialled, the voice on the line immediately put us through to an expert who looked at our geographical area and advised us on the best seed varieties to use and how long they would take to grow. 

Daniel Kepha, Senior Agricultural Officer and Coordinator of the Nakuru Farmers Call Centre, says the centre came in to fill the gap left by the struggling extension service.

"The call centre came in to help connect farmers through calls, messages and WhatsApp because the ratio of farmers to extension officers has reduced. You'll find that one extension officer can handle between 700-1000 farmers, which is a very high ratio. So we had to come up with a call centre to communicate directly with farmers through mobile networks and social media," says Kepha.

"We also advise farmers according to the season and on good agricultural practices, follow up with farmers to check if they have done what was recommended, use the platform to invite farmers to training/field days, and link farmers to seed producers and even markets. Since we can't reach the farmers physically, we also link them to their district agricultural officers after the training to help them implement what we have taught them," he said.

Although the call centre was set up to provide farmers with easy access to information, a significant number of local farmers we spoke to said they had never heard of it. A few, however, said they were aware of it.

Robert Kamau, a farmer in Njoro, said he had used the platform once to enquire about where to get quality seed varieties. 

While he recommended the platform as a good initiative because it is fast and effective, he advised that it needs aggressive popularisation to bring all farmers on board to ensure that they are all digitally accommodated and adequately informed on good agricultural practices to ensure food security.

According to Mr Kepha, the call centre has reached over 60,000 farmers in the county, but Sabina Kavini, a farmer from Kihingo ward, is not one of them. She says she doesn't know about the call centre and gets most of her agricultural information and knowledge from group training sessions held in her area.

Farmers looking for advice on good agricultural practices across the value chain, from planting to harvesting, can contact 0701032032/0737032032.