The youth in Africa and Kenya in particular have rarely taken farming as a lifetime venture owing to the misconception that it a preserve of the poor with limited prospect making it big.
The stigma associated Farming as a career is so grave that even parents would not encourage their children to take up as source of livelihood but instead encourage white collar jobs but going by the latest technological advancement in the sector, the input of the younger population comes handy.
Gone are the days when traditional subsistence farming using old and counterproductive ways of production have been replaced by smart agriculture driven by technology.
Twenty six year old Dennis Kemboi, from Molo, Nakuru County is one such young man who despite graduating from university did not intend at one moment to be at home with his parents practicing farming.
For him, his intentions and aspirations had always been getting a good well-paying job that would fulfill all his dreams to uplift his parents.
Kemboi told KNA that three years down the line after clearing college and later working on contract for an organization in his home town , he has now fully invested in Agriculture and has been working on three value chains , namely Dairy, Cereal and Potato farming
Kemboi says although he has been learning on the job based on what he saw his parents do, he has now incorporated technology he has learnt through different engagements.
“I started with the little savings I earned from contract employment and bought two cow for a start, I went on to grow potatoes having been inspired by the organization I was working for and as for maize it was what my parents cultivated overtime as staple food” he narrated.
Kemboi proudly says that he is now among the many players in the food security chain thanks to the input and the guidance of the cooperative societies.
He said the Elburgon progressive dairy cooperative where he sells milk offered him farm inputs such as seeds, dairy meal and even Artificial Insemination services and also comes handy credit facilities..
“Before getting into cooperatives, we used to sell our products through brokers who were milking us dry who at times dodged us whenever we demanded for our dues at the end of the month but that is now behind us ”, he said
The Cooperative model that he was introduced to, Kemboi says has been a sure market, they source the best, get their money in time and get to see the fruits of their sweat.
“ I saw an opportunity in farming , a niche and ever since I have never looked back. My parents initially leased a portion of their farm to me but once they discovered how serious i was they offered me our ancestral land for the dairy, potatoes and the cereals”, he said .
Currently Kemboi said he is operating 23 acres of land some of which he has leased from around saying that in a good year he is able to earn from the three value chains between Ksh 80,000 to Ksh, 100,000
In the next five years, Kemboi who is very optimistic aspires to mechanize his operations both at the farm and at dairy to increase efficiency and yield to boost his production and income urging other youth to venture in agriculture.
Kemboi said his vision was to expand his scope to include sunflower production which the government has lately been promoting but urged the regulators to ease licensing and approvals requirements for value addition players.
“One needs almost 12 certifications for them to value and add their products, the government should reduce the amount of documentation by consolidating everything into one document to make it easier. By Government easing our entrance into the market of value addition and being able also to market our products, most youth will have employment and raise the economy of the country.
Prof. Ken Waweru, Director of Research and Innovation from Cooperative University of Kenya (CUK) said they are currently implementing the Kenya Rural Transformation Centers Digital Platform project to connect farmers in the three value chains of Dairy, Maize and Potatoes
“The focal points of this integration are the farmer cooperatives and we are using them to enhance farmers’ incomes through eliminating bottlenecks and the gaps that are within those value chains, notably middle men”, he explained .
“This digital platform is supposed to make sure that players within the value chains are visible to one another. From the input suppliers to the cooperative and the markets where this product is supposed to reach’, he said during the media tour to publicize the platform.
The project which was launched last year, Prof Waweru said a stakeholder mapping of all the agricultural cooperatives in the three value chains in four pilot counties of Narok, Baringo, Nakuru and Nyandarua was concluded.
“All the agricultural cooperatives in those four counties have already been mapped and the GPS locations was picked. At the moment we are going around to raise awareness on the digital platform that is supposed to put the farmers on board from September”, Prof. Waweru said .
Prof. Waweru noted that the digital platform will see farmers access market directly and reach input suppliers, value adds , financiers and related services like disease surveillance, credit at a click of a button
Innovation and digitization around the Agricultural value chain is the way to go , Prof Waweru added, saying it eliminates a lot of inefficiencies and that is why they picked a digital platform as one of the interventions to address.
“We actually foresee that when the digital platform is fully operational, there will be an ecosystem for innovations that farmer’s exploit to improve the knowledge to adopt modern farming practices”, he said .
The genesis of the project , Prof Waweru explained, explained that the university, through its researchers, approached the African Development Bank with a proposal and were funded to a tune of Ksh 105.5 billion (USD 815,000).
Robert Chemjor, a mixed farmer from Emining, Mogotio, Baringo County said that the Government should invest in Agriculture so that they are able to attract youth but also give them employment especially when it comes to horticulture.
“My call is to invest more in agriculture because it is a source of food for all. Two, it can be a source of income. Three, it is a source of employment. It can employ all the youths. And if the youths can be impressed to do agriculture, we do not have a lot of problems as they will have an income’, Chemjor who is a retired teacher said.
Kenya has seen over the years decline in youth participation in agriculture. The youth labour force in agriculture has declined from 60.7 percent to 28.4 percent in 202) in a span of 25 years despite agriculture being central to addressing youth unemployment .
By Wangari Ndirangu
