Youth challenged to venture into commercial farming for job creation and boosting the country’s food basket.
The youth
have been challenged to be job creators rather than wait for employment in white-collar
jobs, which have in the recent past proven unavailable.
This call was
made by various leaders and youth from Kiambu County during a tour on the 700-acre
Bendor Estate in Gatanga Sub-County belonging to businessperson Dr. Chris
Kirubi (CK).
According to
Samuel Mwangi, an agronomist in the farm, farming is a very viable business
venture if only the youth took it very seriously as farm produce had ready
market both locally and abroad.
“Availability
of (white-collar) jobs these days is very limited even as the demand for the
same keeps on increasing. The youth need not sit back and wait at home for the
jobs that may not come anyway,” said Mwangi.
“There are
numerous opportunities in value addition chain where one can exploit even if
they do not have a shamba to farm. Alternatively, for those with shambas at
home, one can venture into farming on a small scale and expand as they gained
experience. This can be done individually or in groups,” he added.
He however
cautioned the youth against expecting a quick fix into their venture as farming
demanded a lot of patience and persistence.
Mwangi said
that the farm was originally a coffee estate but last year, Dr. Kirubi initiated
new projects to diversify their farming and create more job opportunities to
both the local community and Kenyans at large.
“Currently,
coffee is our main crop, occupying 270 acres. Last year, we introduced hash
avocado farming under 20 acres of land which we plan to increase to 60 acres
within the next few years. We also have 50 acres under bananas,” explained
Mwangi.
The farm is
also rearing Kienyeji chicken, fish and goats.
According to
Mwangi, they plan to continue increasing and diversifying their production with
time in line with President Uhuru Kenyatta’s BIG 4 Agenda.
“At the
moment, the farm has a direct workforce of 500 people thus feeding
approximately 2,500 people daily. We plan to increase this number as we go
along. Consequently, CK signed a contract with Twiga Foods to supply bananas
for domestic use thus supporting the government in its quest for food security,”
he said.
The
benchmarking trip that brought together 30 youth and small farmers from Kiambu
County was organised by Gladys Chania following overwhelming demand from
residents.
“This tour
culminated from a photo I earlier posted on social media with CK at the farm
which created a lot of interest with so many people requesting me to arrange
for a session where they could come and learn from the farm. I am happy that
they have learnt a lot from the visit,” explained Chania.
She appealed
to Kiambu Government to come up with a programme where they could lease the
vast idle land within the county to the youth for utilise them in commercial
farming activities that would not only create jobs but also boost food security
in the country.
She also
suggested that they should also sink dams and water pans at various locations
across the county that could provide regular water supply to enable locals
engage in viable commercial farming.
“The activities
in this farm are a big challenge to county governments as they seek to create
more jobs for the youth and also to feed their people. We have witnessed so
many people earning a living from this venture and it is my wish the same can
be duplicated in counties especially when utilising idle land,” she said.
Catherine
Muturi, a 4th year Law student, narrated of how she tried doing
banana farming on their family land at Kithimani but failed due to lack of the requisite knowledge to do
bananas.
“I never knew
that bananas need regular supply of water and manure to grow and just depended
on rain water. Most of them dried up. How I wish I had such an opportunity as I
would not have ended up losing that kind of investment,” she said.
Catherine is now earning about sh. 3,000 weekly from the
sale of sukuma wiki and spinach she has grown on a ¼-acre piece of land.
She
encourages other youth to venture into farming, as the returns are very good.
Zacharia
Muiruri Ndung’u who is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Procurement and
Analysis has over 40 dairy cows at their farm at Mang’u Location in Gatundu
North Constituency with 20 of them already lactating.
He
says that they have also ventured into avocado and macadamia farming, the
proceeds of which he is using to pay for his university education.
“I
inherited the idea of farming from my dad who is a career farmer. After campus,
I realised that no job was forthcoming and I decided to join my father in the
farm and so far I have no regrets,” he says.
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