Sexy, Swagger.....What is the real meaning of these words for the Youth In Agriculture?

The only way to lure more youths in agriculture is by making it more "sexy" is a statement that has been repeatedly said to the point it was no shocker when the office of the deputy president went ahead and shared their thoughts on twitter concerning the same

The youth must bring in their swag into agriculture in order to accelerate our economic growth.
— William Samoei Ruto (@WilliamsRuto) December 4, 2013

The question that constantly lingers in my mind is, will the use of such words/ expressions really help change people's mentality towards the same? Shouldn't we be addressing the issues of  young people disinterest in agriculture and more so, what the current pitfalls  those already in the farming game are facing?

What exactly is this swag they are talking about?

Is it the swag of being seen on the social media channels as being the first one to use lots of coined "sexy" acronyms in agriculture just for the sake of it,

OR

Is it swag that offers conducive environment for young people to venture in to farming just like any other business........access to credit facilities, land, markets and such

Is it the swag that  students in the educational institutions are presented with, that they end of dropping any agricultural related courses for Economics or other hyped courses in the institutions?

OR

Is it the swag that promotes farming as a viable business/ entrepreneurship course right at the onset of these young people careers and incorporates farming courses/skills right at lower primary for young people to grow appreciating farming?

Is it the swag that makes people higher in the authority make decisions for youths involved in agriculture .....

OR

Is it the swag that recognizes that young people are part of the wider decision making bodies in the country and their views need to be heard in matters agriculture and farming?

Is it the swag that sees assumptions flooding the area of youth engagement in agriculture; that the only part of the agricultural value chain they are interested with is the marketing part.......

OR

Is it the swag that sees youths given an avenue to participate in the whole agricultural chain and not only the marketing portion.....

The list is endless and my only hope is that by these acronyms, we are seeking out to address the challenges Kenyan youth face in agriculture if at all  young people are part and parcel of accelerating the economic growth in Kenya via agriculture. If not, then you swag might as well be ........

Sexy Agriculture? The way to lure youths to agribusiness

 Some two years ago I got a chance to attend an agribusiness Fair courtesy of my AGEC/AGBM department and a mushroom project I was showcasing. The fair organized by  Universities, Business and Research in Agribusiness and Innovation fair(UniBRAIN) and Pan Africa Agribusiness and Agro-industry Consortium(PanAAC) sought to bring to fore the all issues encompassing agribusiness as far as the  agribusiness teaching methods,entrepreneurship ,SMEs developments and all that entails business incubations is concerned. Among the key speaker included Dr.Manu Chandaria, Dr. Assetou Yaye, Executive Director, ANAFE, Anke Weisheit, Innovator Indigenous Knowledge ,Mbarara University of Science & Technology, Amon Anderson, Acumen Fund and Associate Director, Mr. Gillad Millo(Amiran Kenya) among others.


  One particular presenter caught my attention and she is none other than Joan Mwangi Founder and Chair, FEWA  and winner of the Best SME in Kenya award 2009. She came swaying to the podium to talk about how to lure young people in to the agribusiness sector  and summed her talk on one word,sexy agriculture.


I am borrowing the same to strike a relation as to why youths shy away from agriculture/agribusiness. For most of them, a mention of agriculture/agribusiness rings such a bell in their minds.

Looking at the challenges in these twin sectors could shed light on the same.
First of all the system of our education seems to be a jail in itself, geered to producing  white collar jobs seekers and not blue jeans jobs creators and innovators. Most young people would rather  hoop from one office to another in search of an elusive  job instead of spending the time in thinking of business ventures they could start. Again, for those that succeed  in becoming entrepreneurs, agriculture/agribusiness never features anywhere in their business ideas. 

 So why is this so?

Despite agriculture being the backbone of our economy and contributing close to 21.4% of our GDP, it presents a myriad of challenges to these youths in form of:

• Lack of access to credit facilities as the interest rates on loans(unsecured) are way too high.
• Pathetic infrastructure as entails availability of irrigation facilities,storage,transportation and land acquisition means.
• These challenges among others makes youths feel agriculture as such a drab thing.  And only when we give that youths a leeway to farm will we make them love and appreciate agriculture.

Want to make agriculture/agribusiness sexy to generation Y, bring in good infrastructure, affordable financing and effective policies on the same and we sure will be feeding the world!