Kenyan youth are stuck in a quagmire. Life in urban areas is so much cooler, but not if you can’t make a living there. The novel Coronavirus has exposed some deep-seated issues we have as a country, and there is no stop-gap measure in place to fix things, but a radical surgery to ensure food security, the whole basis of public health. An ill-fed nation is an unhealthy nation.
There are many hurdles that the youth face, such as lack of access to credit, undue pressure on arable land, and exorbitant taxes which make acquisition of the necessary productive resources a pipe dream.
It is crucial for the youth to take up farming as the current stakeholders are aging fast, and are much less likely to take up sustainable productivity measures such as the use of new technology. Imagine asking your aging uncle to learn how to use drones to fertilize acres of land. It’s simply unrealistic. In addition to this, we would solve the supply chain hurdle that always comes up with importation from our noisy neighbors.
The youth are yet so see a future in agriculture, as it’s still associated with a simplistic lifestyle. This is far from true. It provides the most important platform for income generation, employment and food security.
You really don’t have to get your hands dirty; a young innovative person can involve themselves in various agribusiness ventures such as logistics, supply chain management and value-addition. The same Kenyan tea from a local kiosk could fetch a much higher price from fancy clientele with a catchy name and Ankara fabric. The net effect is that we would be able to prop up the economy and even in the event of famine, the wealth generated would ensure food security.
With access to faster, cheaper internet across the country, the youth can engage others and learn how to properly farm with the use of tools such as Safaricom’s Digifarm. They can access marketplaces faster and get access to credit, making many young entrepreneurs and fixing the disillusionment that is facing them.
There are no silver bullets to what is happening to the current generation, but a sense of purpose will give them hope-being able to see the light in spite of all the darkness.
