Training young Kenyan farmers in skills for their future

Farm Africa staff recently visited our YESA (Youth Empowerment through Sustainable Agriculture) project in Kenya and were thrilled to see that schools and youth groups involved in the project have been incredibly productive in the last few months!

The Young Farmers Club at Bwake Boys School (Kitale district) has recently planted some healthy looking spinach and kale in their demonstration plot. We heard how, thanks to Farm Africa training, boys at the school have been learning important agricultural skills such as planting crops in straight rows, hoeing and weeding in order to ensure well cultivated soil and maximised yields. The boys will soon be harvesting their crops and selling them to local supermarkets. We were also pleased that local demand for the tomatoes grown in the greenhouse is extremely high and they are flying off supermarket shelves.

All this is hugely encouraging. The majority of Kenyan schoolchildren earn their livelihoods from agriculture after leaving school and it is essential that they develop skills at school which will serve them well throughout their lives. As well as learning how to grow fresh produce successfully, the boys are also learning the business skills they will need in later life to sell their produce and to set up sustainable enterprises that can earn them a living.

When we visited Bwake School we spoke to Joseph, the Assistant Secretary to the school’s Young Farmers Club. He told us that he was “happy to be learning food-growing skills” and that he would be very keen to make his living from agriculture when he was older.