Giving youth roots and wings for a better agricultural future in Kenya

From
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)
Published on
12.04.19
Impact Area
Food security, Poverty reduction, livelihoods & jobs
Funders
United States of America

Key delegates including Hon. Japeth Hasunga, Agriculture Minister, Tanzania; Dr Jeff Ehlers, Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and Dr Peter Carberry, Director General, ICRISAT, at the launch of the AVISA project. Photo: ICRISAT

Programs provide income-generation opportunities for young Kenyan farmers

From equipping young women and men with agronomy skills to helping them set up businesses along agricultural value chains, development programs are focusing bringing youth back to farming in Kenya. Starting in 2017, ICRISAT-Kenya, along with Feed the Future Kenya Accelerated Value Chain Development (AVCD) program has been helping Kenyan youth groups set up new and rewarding ventures in agriculture.

“Young people are easy to train because most of them have gone to school. They are also open to taking up new ideas easily,” says Dr Paul Kimurto, from Egerton University that implemented the project in Elgeyo Marakwet.