A farmer from Naro Moru village in Nyeri County has turned to Facebook to advertise and sell Brachiaria Mulatto II hybrid grass, a move that has enabled him to reach over 2,426 people.
Gibson King’ori opened his Facebook page in January 2016 but only used it for posting social matters until he learnt how the platform could be used as a selling tool during a farmer’s field in the county. While there, they were trained on how to reach more customers on social media.
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“I wondered how my Facebook friends could be my potential customers given that most of them I barely knew on a personal level but I decided to give it a try,” said King’ori.
“I started by taking brachiaria grass photos and posting them on my account without including a caption. This brought in engagement as some asked questions while others appreciating the pictures by liking them.”
He went an extra mile to ask friends he knew to share the photos on Facebook in a bid to reach more people. His followers increased and so did the interest in the grass.
“When I realised more people were interested in the grass I started posting prices per split and sent messages of free delivery to those who were within 4-6km radius from my farm,” said King’ori.
He sells a split at Sh10, a bundle of 100 splits at Sh1000 and he can also measure them in kilograms whereby a kilo goes at Sh40.
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Most of his customers, are livestock keepers and prefer brachiaria grass because of its high crude proteins at approximately 18 per cent, it is a drought tolerant fodder grass of up to six months, makes excellent silage and boost milk production in dairy cows and goats.
Today King’ori can deliver his seedlings all over the country for customers who order over 100 splits. His means of delivery to people from far places such as Kisumu, Mombasa, Nakuru and Eldoret , is through courier services such as Wells Fargo, buses, or matatu sacco courier services.
“I use other delivery services to reach my customers from far but for those within Central and Nairobi regions I use my car to make the deliveries,” said King’ori.
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To entice more buyers during the last festive season from December 1st 2017 to January 2018, he placed an offer: if a customer buys two bundles worth Sh2, 000 they would get another bundle free. This earned him Sh320, 000 as compared to Sh120, 000 he makes within two months on normal occasions.