By 2018, farmers and fruit vendors in China were drowned in debt because of abated sales and leads. Vendors were seen persuading tourists to buy fruits and vegetables from them in the streets. All of this changed one fine day when these talented farmers and vendors discovered the power of social media. Now, these farmers are rural entrepreneurs approaching their potential customers through live streams and bite-sized videos, reported Bloomberg.

Rural entrepreneurship is now a growing trend in China. It involves the rural population making use of technology and social media to expand business opportunities and client base. According to the company, revenues generated by rural content creators on ByteDance Ltd.’s Douyin, which is TikTok‘s Chinese twin brother, have risen 15-fold year on year.

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One such beneficiary of the medium is village-born Jin Guowei, a farmer who once had huge debts, now an internet sensation with 7.3 million followers and 300 million yuan ($ 46 million) of sales. He once sold 6 million yuan worth of pomegranates in 20 minutes, all thanks to ByteDance. Guowei is now called Brother Pomegranate by his social media family, reported Bloomberg.

The number of farmers and fruits vendors who are rapidly augmenting their sales with the help of media is big. According to Bloomberg, more than 100,000 farmers streamed 2.52 million sessions on Alibaba Group‘s Taobao Live in the year that ended in March this year. On the other hand, social media platform Douyin’s agricultural content creators with more than 10,000 followers rose sixfold in 2019-20 from the previous year.

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Why are consumers responding to rural and agricultural live streams and videos?

One of the reasons according to Bloomberg is the mass exodus of rural population into the cities. This happens generally because of a lack of resources and opportunities in the region.

Now, considering this, E-commerce experts and live streamers suggest that the secret to farmer’s digital content’s success is a mix of city dwellers’ nostalgia for nature, distrust in traditional markets because of food safety scandals, and the entertainment of watching unique rustic personalities.