Transforming Kenya's motorcycle taxi riders into soil experts

Motorcycle taxi (boda boda) riders are a common feature in Kenya, providing essential transport services, delivering goods and connecting people.

Su Kahumbu, iCow founder and chief executive officer, saw the connectivity of boda boda riders as an opportunity to deliver agricultural knowledge to farming communities to help them improve their productivity.

Kahumbu’s idea gave rise to the iCow Soil Advocacy Program, a training program designed around the ability of boda boda riders to reach remote rural areas.

Launched in June 2021, the program has trained hundreds of boda boda riders to become ‘soil advocates’ through an online course of two to three months that covers climate change, carbon cycles, the soil food web, regenerative agriculture, composting, cover cropping, soil structure and advocacy.

Classes are held on Zoom or WhatsApp groups, enabling the program to have a greater geographical reach.

Photo: Quick-cooking beans sprouting in the soil in Kenya (credit: CIAT/Georgina Smith)