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Young people from Nakuru County have been urged to turn to agriculture as one of the avenues where they can sustain themselves rather than looking to get employed in offices to earn a living. County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Mr Leonard Bor said there are more returns in agriculture than the traditional income sources such as formal employment.
He said the agriculture sector has a huge opportunity for employment creation that can help absorb hundreds of unemployed youths and improve their livelihoods. Mr Bor observed that World Bank statistics indicate that youth in Kenya account for 35.4 per cent of the population. Of these, a million enter the labour market every year.
Yet, added the CECM very few enter into farming despite the enormous opportunities that lie within the sector.
Speaking at the Nakuru Agricultural Show ground during capacity-building training for over 70 farmers drawn from all the 11 Sub-Counties, Mr Bor noted that while the average age in Kenya is 19.5 years, the average age of a Kenyan farmer is 60, which raises doubts whether the country can be food secure when its most active population is not willing to participate in food production.
The CECM indicated that Governor Susan Kihika’s administration through public-private partnerships was supporting digital innovations that offer an opportunity to attract youth to agriculture through digital platforms and innovations such as social media, apps, robotics, Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence.
The farmers were trained on Climate Smart Agriculture, avocado farming, pest and disease control, post-harvesting techniques, and local poultry farming. Mr Bor noted that the increasing rate of unemployment in the country is posing threat to the county’s development stride and should therefore be tamed by helping young people join agribusiness.
Young people under the age of 35 years make up 75 per cent of the Kenyan population according to the 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census, thus being in a position to bring a shift in food production. “These young people should be empowered to join the agriculture sector so that we tame unemployment as we increase our production,” Mr Bor said.
The CECM said the youth should do away with the mentality that agriculture is for the retirees and realize that even young people can do agriculture as a business. Agribusiness, he said, is a profession like any other and not for the unschooled or unemployed like many believe but for all in society.
While noting that the current century agriculture means more than subsistence farming Mr Bor indicated that increased access to education and new forms of agriculture-based enterprise mean that young people can be a vital force for innovation in farming, increasing incomes and well-being for people in the society.
He advised the farmers to embrace new agricultural techniques in a bid to avoid losses as a result of climate change as well as to address issues of food security affecting various regions.
Mr Bor noted that Kenya just like the rest of the African continent is losing its farmland productivity at a higher rate. The Food Security pillar, he said can only be achieved if Conservation Agriculture (CA) is aggressively adopted by farmers, adding that the CA way has a new dimension in a period of Climate Change, calling for Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA).
“There is a need for sustained innovation in areas like drought resistant varieties of seeds, environment friendly farming practices and better post-harvest management to reduce losses. Dissemination of information to farmers across the country is also key in the implementation of climate proofing agricultural value chains,” stated the CECM.
He said farmers would realize high yields when they embrace climate-smart agriculture to wade through climate change, drought and flooding.
“Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) is the solution to these problems. It involves actions that sustainably increase productivity, enhance adaptation, reduce greenhouse emissions to a possible zero and enhance achievement of national food security and development goals. Responding to the impact of climate change takes a whole village,” he said.
The County Government through Public-Private Partnerships, he affirmed would continue to equip farmers with adaptation practices on climate action, geared to increase food production hence, reducing the food prices.
He outlined climate smart agriculture practices as development and use of drought and heat tolerant potato varieties, finding use for waste products from farms, reduction of post-harvest losses through support of agricultural machinery, adoption of biological pesticides, conservation of agriculture practices such as zero tillage, and mulching and making use of waste material for biogas.
