Youth in Kakamega have been encouraged to embrace agriculture as an income-generating activity, with the assurance of support from the county government.
The County Executive Committee Member (CECM) for Social Services, Sports, Youth, Gender and Culture, Jackline Masicha, also urged parents to allocate portions of land to the youth for farming.
She said that while youth are being encouraged to engage in Agriculture, the majority lack land to farm on and often get discouraged when they try to acquire some but meet challenges.
Masicha was speaking during an Agricultural Field Day in Navakholo, where she represented her counterpart for Agriculture, Mophat Mandela.
She noted that the county government will partner with various organizations to provide financing to support youth in agriculture.
Masicha said that they will introduce various policies to encourage more youth to participate in farming.
This comes as Practical Action through the Resilient Agriculture that Works for Young People (RAY) project, has supported more than 10,000 youth in Kakamega county to venture into agriculture.
Practical Action Senior Project Officer, Monicah Rapado, noted that youth are engaging in different value chains and adopting agricultural technologies that make farming easier.
Kakamega County Director of Agriculture, Titus Omengo, urged farmers to register with the Kenya Integrated Agriculture Management Information System (KIAMIS) in order to benefit from services such as subsidized fertiliser, livestock vaccination and other government support programs
He also urged farmers across the county to join Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) which will enable them to produce sufficient farm produce for the market.
by Moses Wekesa
