How Life-Centered Design Is Transforming Kenya’s Dairy Industry
Designing With — Not Just For — Farmers
Kenya’s dairy industry, contributing 3.8% to the national GDP, relies on millions of smallholder farmers. Yet despite their vital role, many face challenges: lack of visibility, unpredictable payments, and limited access to inclusive financial services.
Transformation required more than technology; it demanded solutions co-created with farmers, rooted in their daily realities. Through a human and life-centered design process, a context-led platform emerged, shaped directly by farmer feedback and lived experience.
Simplicity and Trust at the Core
Instead of building something new and unfamiliar, the solution was designed around WhatsApp, a platform farmers already knew and trusted. Every interaction was kept simple: clear message flows, real-time updates, and offline functionality to ensure access even in low-connectivity areas.
“We didn’t build an app and hand it over. We listened, tested, iterated and co-designed with farmers until they validated a context-relevant tool that met their critical existing and emerging needs.”
But farmers weren’t the only ones considered. Agents and cooperatives , who play a critical role in milk collection and payment processing , were involved throughout. The system made their work easier, reducing manual tasks, improving record accuracy, and enabling faster decision-making. For cooperatives, better data visibility led to smoother operations and stronger relationships with farmers.
By designing with all actors in the value chain, trust wasn’t just built , it was embedded.
Learning, Iterating, and Early Impact
First launched in Nandi County, the platform quickly demonstrated the power of co-creation. Within three months, from under 1000 farmers to 10,000 farmers were onboarded, milk supply rose by 156%, and payments became faster and more transparent.
Every feature was refined based on real-world feedback, ensuring the technology responded to actual needs , not assumptions.
As one farmer shared,
“The new system has helped , farmers now do not come to ask for their statements, they get them on their phones. Work has become easier ; it has really improved. ”
Designing for Scale and Sustainability
Built to be affordable , costing farmers just $0.01 per kilogram of milk , and resilient in low-connectivity environments, the platform is designed for responsible scaling. Early results show real improvements: farmers are strengthening household livelihoods, with 55% now able to meet basic needs, 47% reporting a steady source of income, and 46% able to afford education.
Cooperatives are streamlining operations, while processors benefit from a reliable supply of high-quality milk. In addition, 95% of agents report a better quality of life since joining the platform.
Expansion plans are underway to reach 130,000 farmers and extend the model to crops like tea, coffee, and horticulture.
A Future Built on Partnership and Trust
This work shows that innovation thrives when it is built with people, not just for them. By combining emerging smart technology with human- and life-centered design, farmers are gaining not just higher incomes, but stronger, more sustainable and resilient futures.
In a world of flashy tech solutions, simplicity and co-creation remain the true disruptors of building trustworthy ecosystems.