Greenhouse Farming
Kenya has to feed her rapid growing urban population and this presents a huge opportunity to the young agriculture entrepreneurs. However, despite the incomparable advantages majority of the youths like staying away from the farm or end up in the cities in search of white collar jobs.
The following are tips on how to attract the youth to agribusiness as a Nigerian agronomist and a seasoned entrepreneur Thompson Ogunsanmi states.
- Stop linking poverty with agribusiness
Everybody is talking about involving youth in agriculture; however, young people associate agriculture with poverty, which discourages them. Youth want to work in an enterprise that is going to give them results based on the effort they put in. “Poverty should not be linked to agriculture. Poverty also exists in other sectors of the economy,” Ogunsanmi says.
- Make financing accessible
The second issue is access to financing, so youth can invest in agriculture as a business. Growing one hectare (ha) of produce is more profitable than working in most sectors that the youth turn to for employment. However, few youths have the basic funds necessary to invest in drip irrigation or even buy quality inputs to start their business.
- Build youth skills on ICT
When attracting youth in agribusiness, we should use their natural skills in information and communication technology (ICT) as a means to build networks and access to timely information on various aspect related to agriculture such as markets, commodity prices, source of inputs and development of knowledge about best farming practices.
- Create an enabling business environment
Additionally, the government can and should create an enabling business environment. There is the issue of the double or triple taxation payment. Currently, different institutions collect taxes from farmers, reducing their performance and discouraging them from further investment in agribusiness. Having a low or zero taxation in agribusiness would make agriculture more attractive for youth.
The government should create a network for youth to move their produce from rural areas to the town, and should also assist by evaluating several mounted check points that increase the cost of doing business. Issues such as very high interest rates on credit and lack of tailor-made loans for the young men and women must be considered.
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