8.9 million registered farmers: who will tell them what is new?

On 2 October 2026, Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe said 8.9 million farmers had been registered under government agricultural systems, reported Farm and Livestock News. In March the government published a draft Agricultural Data, Information and Digital Policy, which would create a Kenya Agricultural Digital Information Centre and encourages artificial intelligence, sensors, drones and other technologies, according to TechAfrica News. Kagwe has also presented plans for AI-driven credit scoring and traceability on international stages.

Registries and policies are the foundation. But a registered farmer in Bungoma or Meru still needs someone to tell them, clearly and in their language, what is new, what it means for them and what to do next.

The extension gap

Kenya, like most African countries, has far fewer agricultural extension officers than its farmers need. Field days and radio programmes help. Farmers also spend time on phones, in WhatsApp groups run by co-operatives, input dealers and fellow farmers. Experts increasingly see mobile tools, including WhatsApp, as a way to fill part of that gap.

Video is a natural fit for farming because so much of farming is shown rather than said: how to space seedlings, what a disease looks like on a leaf, how to mix a spray safely, how to store grain so it does not rot.

Short, practical, local

The clips that farmers share are:

• Short: one practice per clip, under a minute
• Practical: a real field, real hands, real tools
• Seasonal: what to do this week, not in theory
• In the farmer's language: Kiswahili reaches widely; the mix works for younger farmers

Making them at the speed of the season

With Tari Studio, an agronomist, co-operative officer or agribusiness can type /script with the length and the topic, for example "45 seconds: how to spot and handle fall armyworm in maize". The AI director writes timed scenes with lines and on-screen words. An agronomist must check every recommendation, especially product names, doses and safety steps, before the video is made. Scripts are free. Scripts with /script.

The AK1 model suits farming content: it leans towards real places, natural light and candid people. Attach photos from your own demonstration plots so the field on screen looks like the farmer's own.

Trust is local

Farmers trust people they know: a lead farmer, a co-operative chairperson, an agro-dealer. Clips work best when they are shared through those people. Download the finished video from the library to send in WhatsApp groups, or publish to Facebook and TikTok from the Studio.

A role for counties and co-operatives

County agriculture departments and co-operatives sit between national systems and farmers. A shared, checked library of short clips, aligned to the crops and seasons of the county, would turn registration numbers into better harvests.

Write your first farming script.