THE YOUTH; WE ARE AGRICULTURE!

In one way or another, most of us when we were young enough to talk am sure underwent the phase of celebrating birthdays, Easter holidays and Christmas holidays with our cousins and close friends and it always got to this state where everyone was required to mention what they wanted to be when they grow up, at this point, every parent is eager to hear their kids say the profession that they had practised the night before the event. It always used to be some sort of competition between us kids, and to the parents it was more of pride. The song always used to be “when i grow up, I want to be a doctor, engineer, scientist, pilot, president, lawyer, architect……” in that line and if you could mention anything less, then you were considered an outcast and a disgrace to your parent and if you didn’t pray hard enough, you would be sure of a ‘little’ beating later in the evening. I had mine in the back of the mind, it was there rooted deep! When my turn came, I would always say; “my name is Brian, and I want to be a doctor!” and the customary round of applause would follow with a little smile on my side to make it complete.
At the time, no one could mention about being a farmer, not our false though, we couldn’t even think of a role model in the field of agriculture to mention! I mean who would trade a tie and suit for gumboots and apron? I will tell you, none of us and certainly none of our parents would allow. Well the schools we happened to go through didn’t help either, being given a garden of flower beds and a field full of tree stumps as a punishment to work on didn’t help either, this made our minds think agriculture as a punishment.
It’s during my high school years, the words of Sir Francis Bacon that ‘knowledge is power’ truly kicked in with me getting to know so much information about agriculture rather than some Gray-haired people with gumboots and aprons in the fields digging. I got to learn the many aspects of agriculture ranging from but not limited to horticulture, agricultural engineering, agricultural economics, animal and plant breeding, crop protection ... you name them and organic agriculture where I found my passion of not just providing food, but healthy food to the people because they deserve it.

Why agriculture!?

Well, according to the figures  by Population pyramid.net it estimates the population of Kenya by the year 2050 to be over 95.5 million people with roughly 15% of this being the youth. while this population is expected to grow, the employment and entrepreneurial opportunity especially for the youth remain limited, poorly remunerated and of poor quality. This population growth maybe alarming, but it presents an awesome opportunity for the youths to venture into the sector to satisfy this growing demand since all this people will expect to have at least three meals a day.
To add salt to the wounds, a report on the Kenya youth agribusiness strategy from year 2017-2021 supported by the ministry of agriculture livestock and fisheries shows the Kenya youth unemployment is higher than the overall national unemployment rate. Thus showing that the Kenyan economy is not creating sufficient jobs to cater for the increasing number of young labour market entrants. As it stands to date, Agriculture remains the backbone of Kenya’s economy, directly contributing 24% of the annual GDP. its this status that has seen agriculture to be place as one of the major economic pillars in the Kenya's vision 2030. The sectors contribution to the economic pillar will be achieved through transforming small-scale agriculture from subsistence to innovative, commercially oriented and modern agriculture. Considering high of youth unemployment and underemployment, the agricultural sector offers multiple livelihood and employment opportunities.

World food demands are expected to swell by 70% by the year 2050 with Kenya being NO exception to this, thus presenting a perfect area for the youth to venture into.

Opportunities in agriculture

With rapid urbanisation trend in the country, there is an increasing gap between food consumption and food production. Urban sustainability will only be dependent on ensuring sustainable food security and food production. A high rural-urban migration in the name of seeking green pastures has coupled with limited employment opportunities in urban areas resulting to poverty in their informal urban settlements, and face even higher food prices and greater difficulties in accessing nutritious food. The opportunities for the youth in agriculture and its value chain are enormous.Hlami Ngwenya on her article 'PERFECT opportunities for the youth in agriculture' outlines support functions such as Policies, Entrepreneurship, Research, Finance, Extension & Rural Advisory Services, Communications and Technologies. All these provide PERFECT alternative opportunities for youth in agriculture and thus eliminating any perceptions as agriculture being a blue collar job. some opportunities may include but not limited to;

1. Agriculture is a growing industry; According to crop life, Consumer demands for agricultural products are growing around the world. In fact, they estimate that the world food demands are expected to swell by 70% by the year 2050 with Kenya being NO exception to this thus presenting a perfect area for the youth to venture into. Growing demand also means different kinds of agricultural products particularly consumers showing greater interest in eating healthier, organic, and locally-grown foods
2. Research & Technological Innovation; With the launch of the Kenya youth agribusiness strategy by the ministry of agriculture livestock and fisheries, at the heart of it is to engage the youth in research, development and utilisation of innovative agricultural technologies. a demand for higher quality and quantity of food and related products, agriculture industry, has now to be centred around technological innovation. More innovations are being witnessed in agricultural industry which include vertical farming to meet growing world food demands, efforts to address climate change, such as carbon-capture technology, crops resistant to disease, and able to withstand difficult weather conditions
3. Wide career involvement; while It’s assumed that much of the work in agriculture is the cultivation of plants. There waits a diverse careers available for us the youth to engage on.You don't need to be on a farm, There is an incredible variety of career options for recent grads and professionals, and you can be sure that there is something for everyone! The industry needs marketing and advertising professionals to not only sell agricultural products to consumers, but to also determine what they want.Agriculture also needs sales professionals to sell products to consumers, and agricultural equipment to manufacturing firms. The industry also works in conjunction with logistics professionals who are able to develop supply chain management strategies that ensure productions levels meet demand, and that storage, transport and consumption of raw materials is sound. It also needs scientists to study the soil, changing weather conditions and conduct genetic research to develop new strains of plants that are resistant to drought or parasites. So whats your pick?
4. Agriculture means sustainability!; Venturing into agriculture is NOT a 'mchinku' idea, it means it will be there in the longtime, the probability that people will stop eating is probably infinite. In addition, there is a huge focus on environmental sustainability. Many industry professionals are committed to ensuring that food production demands are met well into the future, and that cultivation is pursued in the same manner. thus coming up with methods that are environmentally-friendly, replacing existing sources of energy that are otherwise detrimental will be of a great venture.

The youth must recognise the opportunity and grab it!

Challenges in agriculture

1. Access to knowledge & information; The slogan that was mostly used when i was growing up was that education is the key! and thus the Poor and inadequate availability of knowledge and information limits productivity and the acquisition of skills at the same time hindering the development of entrepreneurial ventures.
2. Access to land; Access to land extremely important for young people trying to earn a livelihood in agriculture, Land access is  the number one requirement for starting farming, with the probability of the youth purchasing land through acquired savings, given high rates of youth unemployment and low wages, it can often be difficult for young people to have land. steps such as giving Loans to assist youth in acquiring land and leasing arrangements can help bridge the gap."The state plans to introduce a land lease model to make it easy for the youth to lease land, the government will spend Sh340 million to enhance access and sustainable use of land for the youth in agribusiness"this was the agriculture CS willy bett during the launch of the Kenya Youth Agribusiness Strategy 2017-21 at the first National Youth Conference in Agribusiness in Nairobi
3. Inadequate access to financial services; The access to financial services such as savings and loans is of fundamental importance to start any agricultural activity. the youth will need finance to cover the costs of planting and harvesting, as well as investments in improved productive capacities. Most financial service providers are reluctant to provide their services which including credit, savings and insurance to the youth due to their lack of collateral among other reasons. Promoting financial products catered to youth, mentoring programmes and start-up funding opportunities can all help remedy this issue. Encouraging youth to group themselves into informal savings clubs can also prove useful in this respect.

Its important to state that venturing into the field of agriculture should NOT be done lightly and in the time of desperation but rather be done with proper research regarding to the field of agriculture one would like to venture into. your passion bucket for agriculture should be full because this is what one will need when things don't go to plan. seek the advice of those who have done it before to ease your entry into agribusiness. consider agriculture not just for the money but think of a social impact you could make, think of empowering a community, of changing the world of agriculture, have a vision that people will laugh about when you talk to them about it. also note that just like any other profession, patience is key for one to master this field. agriculture will not be a get rich quick scam, it will have to drain you of your energy, time and determination to achieve success. so get ready and see the sky as your lower limit. by doing this, success in the agricultural field will be guaranteed