25 September 2024, Kenya: Actor Catherine Kiboi is helping a new audience benefit from CABI’s online learning platform. CABI Academy is an important learning resource for a diverse range of users. For smallholder farmers, it offers a chance to gain specialized knowledge and practical skills that enhance their farming practices and improve crop yields.
The Academy has a range of online courses covering critical topics such as water management, soil health, and sustainable agricultural techniques, all designed for direct application in farming operations.
The courses foster community engagement and networking among farmers, promoting collective efforts in sustainable practices. The flexible online format allows farmers to learn at their own pace, making integrating education into their busy schedules easier. This ultimately benefits their livelihoods and the agricultural sector.
Promoting digital learning through social media influencers
In May 2024, CABI partnered with influencers to market CABI Academy. One of the influencers, Catherine Kiboi, is an actor in a Kenyan vernacular TV drama series, “Ithaga Riene” (Someone Else’s Treasure). The Kikuyu show airs on Inooro TV, popular in Kenya’s Central and Rift Valley regions.
Catherine plays Leah, a waitress doing her best to make ends meet but gets caught up in a love triangle while trying to raise funds for her boyfriend’s mother’s medical bill. The television drama has been running since 2018. As a result, Catherine’s popularity on social media has grown, and she now has over 800,000 followers.
Away from the screen, Catherine tends to her kitchen garden. She dreams of owning and managing a farm for her home use and as a learning hub for others.
CABI spoke to Catherine Kiboi about her farming experience and engagement with her social media followers about CABI Academy.
Who is Catherine Kiboi?
I am a trained broadcast journalist, digital content creator and actress. I am also a small-scale farmer by apprentice and practice. I have a small kitchen garden and have been growing vegetables such as spinach, kale, cabbage and coriander. I also grow maize and rear chickens.
I love creating content that’s beneficial to the many girls and women who look up to me, especially on my Facebook page. My role as Leah in the television drama reflects the issues many girls and women face while trying to support their loved ones. Leah makes mistakes that shape her fate, and the girls facing similar issues use my social media platforms to seek advice and guidance.
Why did you choose to work with CABI?
Being brought up by farmers made farming a daily household experience. I plan on making farming a career. With CABI Academy offering free online courses, I can expand my knowledge of farming skills. Plus, I can partner with CABI to create awareness of farming with my peers and followers who look up to me.
What is your future in agriculture and farming?
I dream of farm life. Food security for me and my family and then expand into business — all in one kind of farm. Vegetables and farm produce from my farm to my kitchen. I believe in the beauty of creating, and farming is that beauty. I will also share my farming knowledge, skills and experience with my following to promote a positive attitude towards farming and agriculture. I hope to be in a position to help solve other people’s problems, health and well-being through sustainable food production and organic farming and create a sustainable economy for myself.
How did your fans receive the CABI Academy on your social media platforms?
The fan feedback was largely positive, with many asking how long I have been into farming and what I grow. Some commended my hard work, while others suggested we work together.
The most challenging part was receiving technical questions about pests and diseases. After a post with an image of my spinach harvest, a fan asked what they could do about pests affecting their spinach. I had to research and refer them to the PlantwisePlus Factsheets app, where they got a solution. I also learnt about biocontrol products after a question on how to improve soil fertility for spinach farming.
One fan’s comment caught my eye: “ Mkulima Mwanza (fellow farmer) Cabi Spray App is the new elephant on the town.” It’s great that some of my followers were already using CABI tools, like the Crop Sprayer.
I feel satisfied and happy with the fanbase’s response. Interacting with farmers and those looking forward to starting the journey has been great. The interaction and follow-up questions brought a lot of positive energy towards learning at CABI Academy. There was a willingness to hold hands and join the #UkulimaTrue movement.
Those who joined CABI online classes were satisfied with the platform. I hope they all see the courses through to the end and get a certificate.
What is your message to young girls and other farmers like yourself?
In Kenya, we say “Kazi ni kazi” (work is work), meaning you should take any opportunity that comes along. As women, bringing life is in our biology and farming is bringing to life the green, the yellow and a happy ever after. Push the knowledge and skills to others to keep the farming culture flowing through generations.
Reaching a new audience through social media influencers like Catherine Kiboi
Partnering with social media influencers like Catherine Kiboi marks a fresh communication strategy for CABI, enabling us to connect with a broader and more diverse audience. By collaborating with influencers, we can tap into their followers—people who often share similar values, interests, and needs.
Catherine has shared her personal journey of becoming a successful kitchen garden farmer, showcasing how the tools have supported her progress. Through her own words and images, she has made the experience more relatable and authentic for her followers.
This direct engagement has sparked meaningful conversations about the PlantwisePlus tools, encouraging deeper involvement from the audience. Catherine’s influence has inspired many to take action, including enrolling in a CABI Academy course. By sharing her story, Catherine has helped more farmers discover and benefit from the PlantwisePlus digital tools.
PlantwisePlus and CABI Academy
CABI’s global PlantwisePlus programme delivers digital advisory tools that boost sustainable agriculture and improve the capacity of public and private actors who support smallholder farmers to diagnose crop health problems and recommend sustainable solutions.
PlantwisePlus aims to increase access to intuitive decision-support tools and information that can enable advisors and farmers to make more informed decisions about crop management.
As such, CABI Academy combines CABI’s expertise in crop health, agricultural advisory services, and digital development to create a range of online training courses and certifications that build capacity and strengthen the advice available to farmers.
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