Developing and testing a social media-based intervention for improving business skills and income levels of young smallholder farmers

PurposeThis study aimed to develop and test the impact of a social media-based intervention for improving the business skills and income of young smallholder farmers.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the researchers used an exploratory approach to develop a social media-based intervention for acquiring business skills and improving income. Second, the researchers tested the effectiveness of the developed programme on a sample of 506 young smallholder farmers. Finally, the intervention and data collection took place over five years (2017–2021).FindingsThe result showed steady improvements in business skills and income from 2017 to 2021 for the treatment group, unlike the control group. Also, improvements in business skills led to a reduction in expenses and an increase in profit from 2017 to 2021. A further evaluation of the result showed that an addition of 5.1 mean scores in business skills led to the addition of $91 income between 2017 and 2018; for 2018–2019, 2.6 improvements in business skills increased income by $123. For 2019–2020, a 2.7 improvement increased income by $209, whilst for 2020–2021, a 1.6 improvement increased income by $320.Originality/valueThe results of this study could help explore ways of using social media to change behaviour aimed at improving income amongst young smallholder farmers.