Sh977m fund targets luring more youths into farm employment

By MARK KAPCHANGA

The youth in Kenya have for a long time negated agriculture as a source of employment.

Despite being a chief contributor to the country’s domestic product, accounting for about 24 per cent, the young perceive agriculture as an economic activity for the failures and ageing in the society.

Shockingly, in 2012, nearly 75 per cent of working Kenyans made their living through farming. Favourable rains and relatively huge arable lands have seen the sector create 18 per cent of wage employment and 50 per cent of revenue from exports

Now, an international not-for-profit organisation, has come with an ambitious $11.5 million (Sh977.5 million), four-year plan that will see thousands of youth in rural areas persuaded into farming.

Regional target

Through the Strengthening Rural Youth Development through Enterprise (STRYDE) programme, TechnoServe says it will transform the lives of more than 15,000 young men and women in not only Kenya but also Uganda and Rwanda.

“This will equip them with the skills and knowledge to capitalise on economic opportunities. This will indirectly benefit more than 67,000 family members,” said STRYDE Programme Manager, Moses Kimani.

Youth unemployment is a major problem in Kenya.

Many young people see farming as a last resort. Unfortunately, getting formal employment, even to graduates, is a hard nut to crack.

Currently, there are about 500,000 youth who graduate from various tertiary institutions ready to enter the job market every year. However, due to the slow economic growth, corruption, nepotism and demand for experience from potential employers, 75 per cent remain out of employment.

The rising unemployment has seen the youth under the age of 25 engage in criminal activities. According to research, persons aged between 16 and 25 years commit one in every two crimes reported to police. Between 2007 and 2008, 89,770 crimes were reported. Out of these, 48,710 were committed by youth in the age bracket.

“It’s imperative that we focus on opportunities for youth in order to ensure a stable and prosperous future for the region. Agriculture in Kenya is a growing sector of the economy. It has the potential to create sustainable employment,” said Mr Kimani.

In the past two years, the programme that is sponsored by The MasterCard Foundation has churned out more than 4,600 graduates.

They have in turn created more than 1,200 new businesses and secured over 800 jobs.

Modern techniques

“STRYDE is helping the youth introduce more modern techniques and equipment, and open up their choice of which crops to cultivate and which animals to rare,” said Chris Donohue, TechnoServe’s Acting Country Director- Kenya.

Farming is the most important economic sector in Kenya although less than eight per cent of the land is used for crop and feed production. On the other hand, less than 20 per cent is suitable for cultivation.

To attract more youth in agriculture, TechnoServe carries out a nine-month after-care scheme where those with brilliant business ideas are sponsored.

On Friday, the firm handed over cheques worth Sh2 million in a business plan competition.

“Through STRYDE, I managed to venture into pig farming. I started on a small-scale but today I have more than 12 pigs. I expect the numbers to double in the next year,” said Alice Karanja, a form four dropout from Kirinyaga County.

Experts say to address unemployment in the country, incentives must be created for the youth to change their attitude on agriculture.

“We should begin by investing in technology. If agri-business ventures adopt the use of technology then many youths will develop interest due to the excitement of using technology,” said James Murumba of Egerton University.

According to Dr Murumba, contract farming, agricultural production carried out according to an agreement between a buyer and farmers, is one of the potential agriculture activities that proffers propel maximisation of production.

“Apart from offering extension services to the youth, we are also linking up with financial institutions and the Youth Fund to ensure that the graduates with viable ideas get necessary capital to kick-start their businesses,” said Mr Kimani.