Menu
According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics there are 26.6 million Kenyans between the ages of 15 and 34. The population of Kenya is around 56.2 million, meaning young people make up nearly half of the population. The official estimate of young people not in education, employment or training is 2,097,425, or around 8% of the cohort.
Many of young people in Kenya are underemployed, they work in the informal economy with no job security and little or no ability to accumulate funds to become resilient. One of the challenges that FIPS-Africa has encountered is young men’s credit worthiness. This is because many of the young men in Kenya are being targeted by on-line gambling companies, claiming to offer a route of out poverty.
Through training, small grants, and market linkages, FIPS-Africa is supporting 33,122 young agri-entrepreneurs across 9 counties in Kenya to develop sustainable incomes in three value chains. These value chains work for young people because they require a limited amount of land, have a quick turnaround to sale of produce, and potential for good returns.
Currently FIPS is active in three value chains:
• Poultry keeping
• Growing fodder crops, and
• Horticulture
Feasibility work is underway to expand these options with bee keeping looking like a favourable.
The FIPS-Africa work with and for young people simultaneously addresses challenges and creates additional opportunities in their communities.
Between 2022 and December 2023, FIPS-Africa was actively working with young agri-entrepreneurs, current estimates suggest that FIPS has reached:
Note: The number of youths per value chain was extrapolated from youth surveyed end of 2023 in the regions. While youth in poultry and fodder may reflect the true picture, those in vegetables may be biased because the survey happened when FIPS had issued vegetable seeds to youth across the regions during the period.
Enhanced School Shamba Learning Centres
FIPS is deepening its work with young people. In the short-term developing support materials for use in schools is a way to get information into farming families about smart farming practices. It is also a root to improve nutrition in schools through production of staples such as vegetables. It also helps young people to envisage a positive future as an agro- entrepreneur.
FIPS is developing a proposal to establish a model of Enhanced School Shamba Learning Centres to be delivered in schools. Each school will have demonstrations some combination of the following crops and livestock:
• Fodder grass (KALRO grasses and Advanta forage millet and sorghum)
• Chicken rearing (term time only)
• Vegetables
• Maize and beans
• Fruit trees / tree nurseries
• Improved jikos
FIPS would Identify and train 1 VBA around each school. They will be trained to offer chicken vaccination services, produce eggs for the school, and conduct demonstrations on improved fodder grass. Small packs of maize and beans could be disseminated to farmers in higher rainfall areas
The National Government in Kenya has a policy commitment to establish farmer cooperative in Kenya’s 1,450 wards.
FIPS-Africa, in collaboration with East Africa Market Development Associates (EAMDA), and representative from the office of the president – Presidential Economic Transformation Team (PET) introduced multi-purpose cooperative model to Kakamega County leadership.
This was done in a consultative meeting in Kisumu County, aiming to listen for the County’s input/feedback on the model that FIPS is planning to pilot in Kakamega County. The County was positive of the model and is keen to have it rolled out. This pilot will help us learn about establishment and running of a sustainable farmer cooperative.
FIPS-Africa has developed a private-sector-led agricultural extension model where agrodealers work as last mile distributors of farm options and extension services.
Farmers may purchase farm inputs directly from the agrodealers or through a network of village-based advisors serving specific villages. Either way they access farm options and services without the need to travel to the urban centres. The model is sustainable because the agrodealers earn money from the VBAs acting as sales agents, or on the mark-up on goods and services they sell directly. 70 agrodealers have received grants from FIPS-Africa to set up agro shops in villages
FIPS-Africa is piloting a digital ordering system with a network of 85 agrodealers. The system generates real time data and this data is being used to prioritize support from FIPS-Africa in the upcoming season. The developers are working on graphics packages that can deliver greater insights into the data.
In the pilot, the agrodealers generated sales of KES 54 million (around $40,000) in five months, achieving a net profit of KES 6 million (around $4,500)