Agri-Jobs 4 Youth

In this final episode, we handpick the best out of all the insight shared during the talks with experts and successful youths in the previous interviews. We also celebrate the success that Agri-Jobs 4 Youth has had with its initiative: Over 3,000 jobs have been created, 4,100 youth have been trained, 5,900 jobseekers have been supported through career guidance; 1,200 potential employers engaged on...

A crucial stakeholder in the pursuit of unlocking employment opportunities for youth in the agri-food sector is the county government. Framework conditions, favorable policies, and regulations that foster economic growth and encourage public policy participation of youth play an important role. At the same time, direct representation of youth in district working groups and advocacy in public forum...

In a follow-up episode to their talk about establishing a youth organization and supporting each other as mentors (Episode 8), Curlstar and Hillary talk about the need to purposefully structure and develop the set-up of a youth organization, about acquiring leadership skills, getting involved in advocacy and youth engagement in politics, becoming financially self-sustaining and creating training a...

Youth organizations can offer a lot of benefits for their members: Trainings, peer-to-peer coaching, increased income opportunities, development of the community, personal development, and friendships. Setting up a youth organization though needs a long breath and, in Curlstar’s case, at least one pair of new shoes. She walked endlessly from farm to farm in her home area, advertising for youths to...

The checklist for job seekers can be overwhelmingly long: Get the needed technical skills. Improve your soft skills. Write a professional CV. Find out who is hiring. Perform well during the job interview. Overcoming these hurdles is a challenge if you’re on your own. But you don’t have to be. In this episode, our guests from an ATVET and an online job matching portal will give career guidance and...

Imagine you have successfully taken part in an agricultural training, gained some experience in your own farm, but still just can’t seem to find appropriate employment? No agribusiness in your area is looking for staff, as far as you’ve heard, and going back to being a farm helper doesn’t sound attractive anymore? This sounds just too familiar for many youths in Western Kenya. Our studio guest Sha...

How do you boost the job market while creating a healthy competition among both employers and employees? On the one side, it needs additional job opportunities, on the other it needs the development of skills among the employees. Our guests in this episode discuss how the interplay of the different labour market forces can be improved. One factor they talk about is a performance-driven learning sy...

Generally, the job market has two main actors: Employers and job seekers. One of the main challenges in Western Kenya is that there aren’t enough jobs offered, while the workforce available often isn’t trained on the skills needed to succeed in certain fields. This is certainly true for the agrifood sector, even though it has great potential. In an attempt to find a solution for this dilemma, priv...

“Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.” (John C. Crosby) Kelvin from Episode 2 wouldn’t have gotten as far as he got without his mentors from the youth organisation, the ATVET and the start-up hub. In this episode, the three main contributing partners on Kevin’s journey to being a self-employed agripreneur freely share their wisdom. They talk about the...

Dropping out of school early or entering the job market right after high school without gaining any formal skills first isn’t unusual at all: More than one million young Kenyans follow this road every year. The question is, how can this group still acquire skills that enable them to become more employable or to generate income for themselves? Our studio guest Kelvin went straight from high school...

Only one out of ten young Kenyans actively participates in the agri-food sector. This is a surprisingly low number considering that around 80% of the total labour force in the rural works in the sector, and that agriculture contributes more than half of the GDP. So why are agriculture and its related industries so unattractive to youths? Are they afraid of getting their hands dirty in the soil or...

Agriculture is an important engine of growth and poverty reduction. However, the sector is underperforming in many countries in part because women, who are often a crucial resource in agriculture and the rural economy, face constraints that reduce their productivity. Aggregate data shows that women comprise about 43 per cent of the agricultural labour force globally. According to the World Bank, i...

Agriculture is an important engine of growth and poverty reduction. However, the sector is underperforming in many countries in part because women, who are often a crucial resource in agriculture and the rural economy, face constraints that reduce their productivity. Aggregate data shows that women comprise about 43 per cent of the agricultural labour force globally. According to the World Bank, i...

In a 2014 World Bank report the youth account for 35.4% of Kenya’s population with millions of them entering the labour market annually. Young people tend to be marginalized from process planning and limited in their ability to affect decision making. Young people want and deserve a voice in their communities. Yet young people often have no direct role in shaping or influencing local policies and...

In a 2014 World Bank report the youth account for 35.4% of Kenya’s population with millions of them entering the labour market annually. Young people tend to be marginalized from process planning and limited in their ability to affect decision making. Young people want and deserve a voice in their communities. Yet young people often have no direct role in shaping or influencing local policies and...

According to the 2016 Micro, Small and Medium Establishment (MSME) Survey by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, the country has around 7.5 million small businesses creating employment for around 15 million people. However, becoming an entrepreneur can be a challenging journey. There are dozens of reasons why young people want to start their own businesses. Some have lost their jobs; others w...

Some people know exactly who they are and what they want to be from the moment they start making study and job decisions. Others are not that lucky. Most people have no idea what they want to be or in which direction they wish their careers to expand. It can be hard to choose the right career path when there are so many different options to choose from and especially when so many different options...

"Your network is your net worth.” You have probably heard this phrase before. It is obvious that networking has become much more than a buzzword. In today’s interconnected world, networking has proven to be a powerful tool that can make or break your career. Whether you're seeking out contacts that could help fuel your business, looking for industry advice from experts in the field, or on the prow...

Most of us want to learn, but not to be educated. Education is a powerful agent of change; it impacts our health, livelihoods, contributes to social stability and drives long-term economic growth. It is important for young people as it provides them with tools and critical skills to gain employment and improve their lives. Any job in the world demands a holistic set of skills and competencies from...

Most of us want to learn, but not to be educated. Education is a powerful agent of change; it impacts our health, livelihoods, contributes to social stability and drives long-term economic growth. It is important for young people as it provides them with tools and critical skills to gain employment and improve their lives. Any job in the world demands a holistic set of skills and competencies from...

25% of Kenyans live in the Western Region with over 700,000 farming households. About two-thirds of this population is under 35 years old with an average median of 19.1 years. While the agricultural sector is critical for creating employment and uplifting the standard of living in Kenya and being the backbone of Kenya’s economy, the youth are yet to fully exploit the sector's potential, with sever...