Agatha

For some entrepreneurial women, digital tools can connect them to critical professional communities where knowledge, market signals, and support circulate. Over time, women who are well connected through these networks can extend them, actively bringing other women into these flows of information by translating, sharing, and adapting what they learn for those with more limited access.

How She Uses the Phone 

Agatha, 33, runs a small but well-regarded poultry business from her home on the outskirts of Kano. Over the years, she has become known among neighbours and local traders as someone who understands poultry well, and is often consulted when birds fall sick or egg production drops. Her phone plays a central role in how she learns, works, and maintains this reputation.

Agatha’s work is possible in part because it is accepted within her household. Her husband supports the business and is comfortable with her phone use because it is clearly tied to poultry and income.

WhatsApp is central to how Agatha learns. She is part of several poultry-focused groups that include farmers, feed sellers, vaccinators, and veterinary extension workers. These groups function as her main learning spaces. Members discuss disease outbreaks, feeding ratios, market prices, and seasonal risks. Occasionally, detailed poultry manuals or step-by-step guides are shared as PDFs or images. Agatha waits for these materials, downloads them carefully to manage her data, and experiments cautiously. ​“I don’t try everything at once,” she says. ​“I first see if it makes sense, then I test with a few birds before changing everything.”

WhatsApp also supports daily coordination. She uses voice notes and photos to ask questions, show symptoms, and confirm feed or vaccine orders. Facebook plays a different role, helping her expand beyond her immediate neighbourhood. She posts photos of healthy birds, shares updates when she has eggs or mature chickens for sale, and responds to enquiries from new buyers. This visibility has helped her attract customers and reinforced her standing as a knowledgeable poultry farmer.

Her work depends on data. When bundles run out, learning slows and coordination becomes harder. Still, she prioritises spending on data because the returns are clear. ​“If I stop using WhatsApp,” she says, ​“I will be guessing. With this, I can be sure before I act.”

Her Ecosystem of Learning and Facilitation 

As Agatha’s confidence grew, other women began turning to her for advice, not only about poultry, but also about phones. In the WhatsApp groups she belongs to, Agatha often forwards poultry tips, voice notes, or manuals, to smaller local groups she has created for women nearby. When someone asks about sick birds or feeding schedules, she responds with photos or short voice notes in simple language. ​“Sometimes I answer one woman,” she says, ​“but I send it to the group also, because others may have the same problem.”

Not all the women she supports have smartphones or know how to use WhatsApp. For those with basic phones, Agatha adapts. She calls them to explain information step by step or visits their homes to demonstrate in person – pointing at birds, measuring quantities by hand, and repeating instructions until they are clear. ​“I read the manual to them,” she says, ​“but I also explain it further so they understand.”

When manuals arrive as PDFs, she demonstrates how to scroll and zoom in on images. ​“I cannot do this for everyone all the time,” she says. ​“But if they learn even a little, it helps them.”

Agatha’s learning does not stop with her own business. Through her phone, she becomes a bridge, carrying information from digital spaces into homes where access and confidence remain uneven.