Kenyan youth project thriving

Farm Africa’s Youth Empowerment through Sustainable Agriculture project has now been in place for just over a year.

The project is already having a real and lasting impact on the lives of young Kenyans. It is teaching schoolchildren the key agricultural skills they will need if they are to develop and thrive once they leave school (75% of Kenyan adults are directly engaged in agriculture but all too often Kenyan schools lack the funds and seeds to teach their students the skills they will need when they leave school).

And the project is also giving young Kenyans the information they need about sexually transmitted disease, especially AIDS, so they can make more informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health (High levels of sexually transmitted infections, particularly HIV, in young adults has adversely affected Kenya’s rural economy. Farmers have had to switch to less-labour intensive farming and families affected by HIV are being forced to leave parts of their land idle and unproductive).

The project is located in Trans-Nzoia East District in Kenya’s Rift Valley Province.

Teaching Kenyans how to build sustainable agricultural businesses
So far ten schools – and an additional ten youth groups – have been identified and selected to take part in the YESA project. These groups have a combined membership of 879 which means that Farm Africa has greatly exceeded its outreach target for the project of 500!

Students and young people involved are already busy learning basic agricultural husbandry skills which will be essential if they are to become productive and successful farmers in later life.

Groups operating in schools are making excellent progress with greenhouses already established at each of the ten project schools. The greenhouses are spacious (8 metres by 15 metres) and were chosen to promote learning in schools as they offer stable climactic conditions for growing in an area where weather conditions can fluctuate. The greenhouses also reduce the risk of pests and disease and offer space for cultivation in an area where agricultural land is limited.

In addition to the greenhouses, nine of the ten schools have also successfully established their vegetable nurseries with four schools having already moved their crops from the nurseries into the greenhouses. And three schools have also been successful in setting up outdoor demonstration plots where they can trial growing local vegetables such as capsicum, butternut squash and aubergines.

Of course, what really matters is high-quality training if the school groups are to learn the types of skills vital for their future wellbeing. To ensure effective learning, Farm Africa has established Young Farmers Clubs in the schools. Young Farmers Clubs patrons are first given training in greenhouse skills and management before they in turn train the school groups.

The out-of-school youth groups are also making excellent progress. Each group has already selected their preferred produce to grow as part of the process of setting up their own agro-enterprises and they have also established demonstration plots. The agro-enterprises selected by these groups include passion fruit, poultry, local vegetables, fish farming and mushroom production. One of the groups, Uwezo Tuigoin, selected poultry management and has been busy receiving training in local poultry production, suitable poultry housing, local poultry breeding and selection, and common diseases in local poultry.

Other out-of-school groups are concentrating on building small businesses from different forms of agricultural produce. For example, one group – “Ngonyek” – is learning about fish farming. The group has excavated a pond with the help of a fisheries officer and is now beginning to stock the pond with fingerlings which will grow into fish.

Equipping Kenyans with the skills to establish enterprises
Just as important as teaching young Kenyans how to grow or deliver agricultural produce is teaching them how to put in place the building blocks for businesses that can sell the produce and earn them a sustainable long-term income.

Thirty-eight young Kenyans from nine of the youth groups have already been trained in leadership and teamwork skills as well as financial record-keeping and business-planning.  Farm Africa project staff are working with these groups to finalise business plans.

Teaching schoolchildren about Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Teaching young Kenyans how to grow and sell food is vital for their future development and livelihoods. Just as important in guaranteeing their future welfare is teaching them about the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases like HIV/AIDS so they can make informed choices in later life.

In the year since the YESA project started, each school involved has identified and trained a front line counsellor responsible for co-ordinating sexual and reproductive health learning at the group level within their schools. This has resulted in the project raising awareness of Sexual and Reproductive health with 274 youths in the out-of-school groups as well as with 306 students in the school groups.

Each of the ten out-of-school youth groups involved in the project has selected a trainer (known as a front line counsellor). They are then trained in all aspects of sexual and reproductive health including: sexually transmitted infections like HIV; sexual health rights; family planning; drugs and substance abuse; and youth to youth communication skills. These trainers are also given training manuals and other informative materials before they reach out to and support their friends and peers during group meetings.

To back up these initiatives 5,164 fliers with information on sexually transmitted diseases have been distributed to students within 20 separate groups for distribution within the wider community. In addition, a further 22 copies of DVDs which address sexual and reproductive health issues are being used during talks on sexual and reproductive health. Three videos on sexually transmitted infections and the dangers of risky behaviour and early pregnancy have also been shown to seven separate school youth groups involved in YESA.

The project is now planning to make its advice on sexual and reproductive health more appropriate still to the needs of young people by establishing a Youth Friendly Centre in Kachibora. The centre intends to offer services on sexual and reproductive health in an environment that feels safe and secure for young people.

Outreach to students on Sexual and Reproductive Health is also being achieved through school sports days and gala events. Sketches and songs – aimed at raising awareness among young people of the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS – are performed at these events. One of the groups participated in a World AIDS Day where they performed a short play on the theme of “Getting to zero new HIV infections”.