January 8, 2020

Online agri stores catch on in Kenya

Online farmers' marketplaces have become popular in Kenya, as buyers of animals and agricultural products are increasingly resorting to these online stores in trying to find what they need.

One of these buyers, for example, is Dennis Kimathi, a livestock keeper in Naivasha town in Nakuru County. He needed a goat but not sure where to find it. He turned to an online farmers' marketplace.

Another buyer was looking for a number of Kienyeji chickens, a popular variety in the East African nation, and was willing to spend 18,000 shillings (about US$180).

While most of those who have been using the online marketplaces in the East African nation are farmers selling their produce, buyers have also been as aggressive, as they get the opportunity to choose from a wide range of offers, thus getting better prices, reports Xinhua.

"Looking for sellers online is [more convenient] than going to the open air market. First is that you get a variety of offers from different places at affordable prices and the buyer is ready to deliver the product to your farm," explains Vincent Munyao, a trader who uses online marketplaces to look for farm produce.

Munyao said he has also been able to find people from outside Kenya selling produce he wants.

"There is a time I wanted to buy value-added eggs that are not available locally and I posted online. I got offers from sellers in Uganda and one from Abuja, Nigeria", he said, as per the report.

Digital technology now takes center-stage in the Kenyan agriculture industry, notes Joseph Macharia, the founder of Mkulima Young, an online information site and marketplace.

Bernard Mwaso of Edell IT Solution in Nairobi adds, "Digital technology can no longer be ignored because it opens a huge untapped potential for both buyers and sellers among other entrepreneurs in the agricultural value chain. Young farmers and agro traders are the ones definitely driving up the use of technology".