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An SMS knowledge network connects farmers to practical answers and creates a data and commerce layer for agricultural suppliers.
The hard part was not getting farmers online; it was giving a basic SMS exchange enough local relevance that 35% of users contributed knowledge each month.
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WeFarm began as an impact project and became a startup in 2015, led by Kenny Ewan after seven years working with indigenous communities in Peru. Its core product lets a farmer without internet access send a question by SMS for free. Machine-learning classification selects roughly 10 to 15 people likely to know the answer; usually two or three respond. The company described a network of about 140,000 farmers, with roughly 35% contributing knowledge each month and 85–90% still active three months after joining. Radio partnerships could bring in 4,000 to 5,000 signups in an hour. WeFarm reported some revenue, though it remained pre-profit, and expected around $50,000 in commercial revenue in 2017. It had raised a $1.7 million seed round after an earlier £500,000 Google Impact Challenge award, and employed about 20 people across London, Nairobi, Kampala, and Peru. Its intended business model combined aggregated supply-chain insights for businesses with transaction commissions when farmers were connected to sellers.
For an SMS service aimed at farmers with limited internet access, start where the target audience already gathers: local radio, agricultural cooperatives, buyers, and nonprofit field programs. WeFarm found radio partnerships particularly effective, with a record 4,000 to 5,000 signups in one hour.
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Data credibility: The creator’s interview reports 140,000 farmers, activity and retention rates, existing commercial contracts, and a roughly $50,000 2017 revenue target. The target is not realized revenue, and the figures were not independently audited in the transcript. The founder said the business had generated some revenue but remained pre-profit.
For a farmer knowledge network, keep farmer access free and sell a clearly bounded business outcome to organizations that buy from or serve those farmers.
WeFarm’s network effect depends on answer quality, local relevance, and low-friction access reinforcing one another. A farmer can ask over SMS; classification routes the question to people with relevant knowledge; useful answers make the service worth returning to; more participation then improves topic coverage.
Building a community service across regions means some early markets will have too few relevant answerers, so silence can look like lack of demand. Keep the initial scope narrow: one geography, a handful of crops or livestock topics, and a response team that can cover common questions.
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