FarmConnect Kenya is a mobile-first marketplace that eliminates the exploitative middleman chain in Kenyan agricultural commerce, enabling farmers to list produce, set prices, and transact directly with buyers from their phones.
Smallholder farmers in Western Kenya routinely sell their produce at prices dictated by intermediaries who often take 40–60% of the final market price. FarmConnect Kenya was built to disrupt this dynamic, giving farmers control over pricing and direct access to a wider base of buyers.
Farmers register their profile and list available produce with quantity, price, location, and photographs. Buyers — ranging from individual households to restaurant owners and institutional buyers — browse listings, negotiate terms via in-app messaging, and confirm orders with an escrow-based payment mechanism that protects both parties.
The platform features SMS fallback functionality for farmers without smartphones or in areas with weak data connectivity, ensuring no farmer is excluded due to the digital divide. A Kiswahili language option makes the platform accessible to non-English speakers.
The student developer built FarmConnect Kenya over eight months, conducting field interviews with 12 farming households in the Kaimosi area to inform the feature set. The project was selected as a KAFU iiHub Featured Project following a panel review.