For Chepkorir Rotich, a 33-year-old farmer in Kiboito village, Kericho County, a typical Saturday starts before sunrise. She has already milked her cows, sold the milk, fed her chickens, and is back to picking vegetables for orders. Her work begins this way every day, and she does it with passion.
When Rotich left college over a decade ago, she hoped for a formal job. “I thought I would be employed as a business administrator, but after searching too long, I accepted contract offers in three companies,” she says. “The highest paid about $200 a month. Living in Nairobi, that wasn’t enough.”
A lack of white-collar jobs has kept many young Kenyans like Rotich out of employment, forcing them to innovate. Many have turned to agriculture, using digital and vocational skills. Rotich uses social media to market her produce and learn modern methods. She has nearly 50,000 followers and runs a YouTube channel sharing farming knowledge.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports the average African farmer is 60 years old. Rotich disputes this, saying the assumed age discourages youth. “I think it’s about land access, mostly owned by older people,” she says. “I started farming in my rented house compound, and by month-end, my landlord owed me money after I sold him milk and vegetables.”
Kiringai Kamau, a lecturer at the University of Nairobi, urges youth to take up agriculture full-time as they can effectively deploy technology. “We established a devolution agroecology and AI learning centre at Murang’a University to train youth,” he says.
Derrick Ngigi, technical head at GODAN, notes technology creates opportunities. “Content creation in agriculture, like videos on modern methods, generates revenue for youth,” Ngigi says.
In Kaptoroi village, 32-year-old Geoffrey Kiprop earned a bachelor’s in IT in 2017 but never got formal employment. He survived on contracts, the highest paying 15,000 Kenyan shillings ($116). Now he earns about 7,000 shillings ($54) a day from farming. He practices mixed farming: cows, chickens, tea, coffee, capsicum, cabbage, and beans.
Kiprop uses modern technologies like the Plantix app to detect crop diseases via AI. “My favorite is Virtual Agronomist,” he explains. “It uses Google Maps to capture field coordinates, analyzes soil, and generates a nutrient plan.” He also uses Digicow to track dairy farm activities and profitability.
Both Rotich and Kiprop agree agriculture requires passion and consistency. “Consistency is key,” says Rotich. “Many young people lack it and quit early. You have to try many times, learn from mistakes.”
Source: www.aljazeera.com