Some West African farmers turn to TikTok as part of agriculture's changing image
ABC News
Some farmers in West Africa have turned to TikTok to sell their produce, transforming how they do business
DAKAR, Senegal -- When Senegalese farmer Pape Fall first downloaded TikTok, it was to watch football and funny videos. In the last two years, however, he's experimented with it to promote his produce and now sells most of it via the platform.
A looped video on his TikTok profile shows a pile of cucumbers with slow-paced Senegalese rap playing in the background. A caption reads: “1.5 tonnes, available tomorrow, god willing.” It includes his phone number.
Fall is one of millions of farmers in West Africa believed to be using TikTok and other social media to do business, share ideas and change the perception of agriculture as the work of poor people in this part of the world.
They and experts acknowledge the region is plagued by high levels of hunger and poverty that have been worsened by the loss of foreign funding from the U.S. and other donors. But they say the improved knowledge and market access that come with social media has resulted in better yields.
The average farm in Senegal income is $1,000 a year, according to a study by the International Food Policy Research Institute published in 2017, but successful farming entrepreneurs can make up to $3,000-$4,500.
Rural school districts say the Trump administration’s visa changes are jeopardizing a key source of teachers
Cuba is grappling with a fast-growing wave of synthetic drug use that is hitting young people hard
An old NASA science satellite is no more
Stryker, a U.S. medical equipment company, says a cyberattack has disrupted its global networks
Virginia senators are pushing to curtail a 5.3% tax break for data centers
The Iran war is testing America's ability to combat swarms of cheap drones that have become a staple of the modern battlefield after Ukraine and Russia demonstrated how effective they can be
Hawaii's Kilauea volcano is shooting lava fountains up to 1,000 feet, and falling ash and volcanic fragments are forcing temporary closures on the Big Island
Meta is acquiring Moltbook, a social network where AI agents post and chat with each other
The FDA is approving a generic drug for a very rare genetic disorder, but not for autism
A new study in the journal Nature Cities shows that as temperatures rise aboveground, the number of subway riders reporting uncomfortable heat belowground increases
Tomoko Kobayashi reopened her inn in northeastern Fukushima to bring a sense of normal life back to her deserted hometown five years after the nuclear disaster
French President Emmanuel Macron is traveling to Cyprus
Bigger and bigger data centers are leading to proposals for massive electric power transmission lines, sometimes across hundreds of miles