New Delhi, March 5 -- When Senegalese farmer Pape Fall first downloaded TikTok, it was to watch football and funny videos. In the last two years, however, he's experimented with it to promote his produce and now sells most of it via the platform.

A looped video on his TikTok profile shows a pile of cucumbers with slow-paced Senegalese rap playing in the background. A caption reads: "1.5 tonnes, available tomorrow, god willing." It includes his phone number.

Fall is one of millions of farmers in West Africa believed to be using TikTok and other social media to do business, share ideas and change the perception of agriculture as the work of poor people in this part of the world.

They and experts acknowledge the region is plagued by high ...