Back in the days when i was still a young man, i remember my mum made sure we know where the food that we found on the table came from; so she'd organize every weekend for us to go to the farm and help in either weeding or planting the seeds. For me this wasn't exactly comfortable for a number of reasons; One, it clearly affected my program (yes kids also have them!) to go play soccer which i was particularly fond of, together with my pals. The issue i had is that, since we were living in a pretty much urban area, i kinda felt uncomfortable carrying the jembe(hoe) around because i didn't know what my friends or worse still, the girls would think of me. But that didn't worry my mum because somebody had to work on the farm and that person had to be me and my siblings.
As i write this article, i reminisce on my past and i have no regrets whatsoever simply because, despite the fact that i was raised in an urban environment, i was in a good position to march up or at least give my counterparts raised in reserve or farmlands, a run for their money as far as farm work is concerned. So much has changed since my old days. I remember in primary school we had a subject called agriculture which was intentionally taught in the carriculum by the government through the Ministry of Education in order to equip everyone with that critical knowledge in agricultural practice because it was believed at the time that every one ought to have at the minimum, some knowledge on farming. This trend gained its momentum in my country Kenya in the period just after independence where the president at the time rallied all and sundry with the famous call of "turudi mashambani" - a swahili phrase for lets get back to the farms. This was our small Agrarian Revolution of sorts. The idea was for people to gain independence not just from the political standpoint but also on matters of economy and food security. People therefore learnt about different farming practices in schools, plant and animal diseases, crop varieties, soil management e.t.c. and which were examined at the end of the term. A great deal of the existing successful farmers we have today, owe their success or at least some of it to the kind of training they received back in the days which formed their foundation in agriculture. Today as i write this, so much has changed. Agriculture was merged with science in the curriculum review by the ministry which therefore watered down its value and the depth of its content.
This has therefore meant that we as a country lack the suckers as it were that'd replace the bananas once they are gone.
Most young people shun careers in agriculture and natural sciences in general and instead prefer pursuing careers in other areas like law, medicine and IT which are considered lucrative in the modern world. This has therefore led to the mushrooming of learning institutions aimed at meeting this ever expanding desire and hunger for success. The government has also pumped in huge sums of money coupled with a raft of legislation aimed at boosting and attracting private investors in the education sector. The result of these initiative has been that the so called lucrative sectors like IT and law, have been over flooded by the many candidates who are continually being churned out every other year by these colleges. Many young people who had hopes of a better future in these fields have ended up being a disappointed lot in search of an ever elusive employment opportunity.
The government also is facing a huge challenge in the sense that, a lot of these young people are well educated yet there isn't any meaningful work to engage them since the market can only absorb too many of them. The health of the global economy hasn't help much either with the recent poor performing of the local currency against the world major currencies like the dollar and the sterling pound, coupled with the global economic crunch that hit the US and Europe in the recent days. The situation in Europe has seen countries declaring bankruptcy like Greece and Portugal due to huge debts; This therefore means that people should expect huge job cuts as companies prepare themselves for the looming disaster.
Agriculture has remained as the only hope for many people especially the youth. The Kenyan government for instance has only discovered this and in response it has initiated quite a number of community projects aimed at empowering people hence boosting their livelihood. Young people have been encouraged to form groups through which the government would channel funds to viable projects. This has seen a great deal of them building fish ponds for aquaculture, beekeeping, small scale dairy farming and rabbit keeping among many others whose products are sold both locally and abroad. So many young people have testified of the changes this projects have had on their lives in terms of improving their living standards and thus keeping them away from drugs and crime. Others with IT skills have also developed mobile and desktop applications that help farmers interact and share ideas on good farming methods, challenges and opportunities.
This achievements are laudable but there still remains opportunities which that remain untapped.
The governments ought to fast track the development and adoption of a youth policy and a framework on agriculture in order to cement the achievements made so far. This will boost the confidence of many young and upcoming small scale farmers who hitherto had shunned agriculture. The policy should address issues on land accessibility, subsidies and market for their products. The youth also ought to change their attitude as far as agriculture is concerned by embracing and appreciating the reality that agriculture could be the next biggest employer in the ever uncertain and shrinking environment of white collar jobs.
A mentor ship and exchange programs for the youth spearheaded by the veteran farmers should be encouraged, aimed at equipping them with the necessary skills on agriculture and entrepreneurship. These efforts and many others not mentioned here will go a long way in bringing that paradigm shift in our thinking and spell out the mysteries and attitude developed over many years.
As i write this article, i reminisce on my past and i have no regrets whatsoever simply because, despite the fact that i was raised in an urban environment, i was in a good position to march up or at least give my counterparts raised in reserve or farmlands, a run for their money as far as farm work is concerned. So much has changed since my old days. I remember in primary school we had a subject called agriculture which was intentionally taught in the carriculum by the government through the Ministry of Education in order to equip everyone with that critical knowledge in agricultural practice because it was believed at the time that every one ought to have at the minimum, some knowledge on farming. This trend gained its momentum in my country Kenya in the period just after independence where the president at the time rallied all and sundry with the famous call of "turudi mashambani" - a swahili phrase for lets get back to the farms. This was our small Agrarian Revolution of sorts. The idea was for people to gain independence not just from the political standpoint but also on matters of economy and food security. People therefore learnt about different farming practices in schools, plant and animal diseases, crop varieties, soil management e.t.c. and which were examined at the end of the term. A great deal of the existing successful farmers we have today, owe their success or at least some of it to the kind of training they received back in the days which formed their foundation in agriculture. Today as i write this, so much has changed. Agriculture was merged with science in the curriculum review by the ministry which therefore watered down its value and the depth of its content.
This has therefore meant that we as a country lack the suckers as it were that'd replace the bananas once they are gone.
Most young people shun careers in agriculture and natural sciences in general and instead prefer pursuing careers in other areas like law, medicine and IT which are considered lucrative in the modern world. This has therefore led to the mushrooming of learning institutions aimed at meeting this ever expanding desire and hunger for success. The government has also pumped in huge sums of money coupled with a raft of legislation aimed at boosting and attracting private investors in the education sector. The result of these initiative has been that the so called lucrative sectors like IT and law, have been over flooded by the many candidates who are continually being churned out every other year by these colleges. Many young people who had hopes of a better future in these fields have ended up being a disappointed lot in search of an ever elusive employment opportunity.
The government also is facing a huge challenge in the sense that, a lot of these young people are well educated yet there isn't any meaningful work to engage them since the market can only absorb too many of them. The health of the global economy hasn't help much either with the recent poor performing of the local currency against the world major currencies like the dollar and the sterling pound, coupled with the global economic crunch that hit the US and Europe in the recent days. The situation in Europe has seen countries declaring bankruptcy like Greece and Portugal due to huge debts; This therefore means that people should expect huge job cuts as companies prepare themselves for the looming disaster.
Agriculture has remained as the only hope for many people especially the youth. The Kenyan government for instance has only discovered this and in response it has initiated quite a number of community projects aimed at empowering people hence boosting their livelihood. Young people have been encouraged to form groups through which the government would channel funds to viable projects. This has seen a great deal of them building fish ponds for aquaculture, beekeeping, small scale dairy farming and rabbit keeping among many others whose products are sold both locally and abroad. So many young people have testified of the changes this projects have had on their lives in terms of improving their living standards and thus keeping them away from drugs and crime. Others with IT skills have also developed mobile and desktop applications that help farmers interact and share ideas on good farming methods, challenges and opportunities.
This achievements are laudable but there still remains opportunities which that remain untapped.
The governments ought to fast track the development and adoption of a youth policy and a framework on agriculture in order to cement the achievements made so far. This will boost the confidence of many young and upcoming small scale farmers who hitherto had shunned agriculture. The policy should address issues on land accessibility, subsidies and market for their products. The youth also ought to change their attitude as far as agriculture is concerned by embracing and appreciating the reality that agriculture could be the next biggest employer in the ever uncertain and shrinking environment of white collar jobs.
A mentor ship and exchange programs for the youth spearheaded by the veteran farmers should be encouraged, aimed at equipping them with the necessary skills on agriculture and entrepreneurship. These efforts and many others not mentioned here will go a long way in bringing that paradigm shift in our thinking and spell out the mysteries and attitude developed over many years.
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