Young Kenyan professionals turn to farming
After having trouble finding white-collar jobs, growing numbers of highly-educated young Kenyans are turning to agriculture. They're bucking the trend of young Africans rejecting a life on the farm and moving to cities.
Career switch
After having trouble finding white collar jobs, growing numbers of highly-educated young Kenyans are turning to agriculture. They're bucking the trend of young Africans rejecting a life on the farm and moving to the cities. Thirty-year-old Francis Kimani (right) graduated as a history teacher but couldn't find a job. Now, he runs a farm with more than 100 cows and some 200 sheep and goats.
Earning more as a farmer
By selling the meat and skin of his animals, Francis Kimani makes 180,000 Kenyan shillings (1,500 euros, $2,000) per month. That's a lot more than what he would earn as a teacher. Recently he struggled with drought, which killed 18 of his animals. He now plans to grow feed on a small, irrigated part of land so he can feed his animals during the next dry period.
Branching out
Mary Gitau, 30, faced difficulties finding a white-collar job in Kenya too. She started her own small farm some 20 kilometers (12 miles) outside Nairobi, where she grows traditional crops like bell peppers and raises pigs and chickens. She also grows cherry tomatoes and strawberries and breeds rabbits: new products in Kenya that are becoming increasingly popular among the growing middle class.
Modern techniques
In a greenhouse in central Kenya, young farmer Daniel Kimani makes use of an aquaponics system, in which fish and strawberry plants co-exist symbiotically. Kimani predicts that these innovative methods are going to be crucial for Africa's food production in the future, since they address problems like water shortages and land degradation.
Using social media
Social media is also part of the process. It doesn't just provide startup farmers with tips on on their trade, they also use it as a selling platform. They post pictures of their fruit and vegetables on Facebook or on the Mkulima Young website, a page to help young farmers communicate online. As a result, clients can now communicate with the farmers directly.
A brave new idea
A year ago 35-year-old Joseph Macharia founded Mkulima Young to help new farmers. Today it has more than 25,000 followers. Each day hundreds of questions are posted such as "Somebody selling geese around Nairobi?" or "I have 10 beehives but only three have been colonized. What am I doing wrong?"
Changing times
Agriculture makes up almost 25 percent of Kenya's GDP, and three out of four Kenyans work in the industry. So far, only a few thousand farmers are trying a modern approach, according to estimates. But startup farmer Daniel Kimani is hopeful. He says young Kenyans aren't just focused on white-collar jobs anymore. "We cannot all be lawyers. But we can all be farmers," he argues.
The next generation
New farmers think very differently to traditional ones, Mkulima Young founder Joseph Macharia says. "They are able to access information quickly using their mobile phones and they are interested in intensive agriculture because land is an issue," Macharia notes. Agriculture isn't just a way to feed the family, it's now a business, he says.