The government has been asked to set aside funds to train youths on different types of farming, an agronomist has said. Simon Peter Karanja adds that it should also offer grants to youths it trains so that they can start farming. He said a lot of young people idle around in villages, estates, and trading centers, while they are energetic and can work.
He noted that others seek casual labor jobs, but when those jobs are not available, they stay idle. Karanja asked President William Ruto to stop promising youths that the government was creating jobs, but come up with strategies where they can fully empower them to depend on themselves. “We cannot keep saying that the government was creating jobs and we are not seeing busy youths. They are just idle,” he said.
“Can our President set aside funds to empower youths, train them, fund them to start farming? They can become self-reliant, employ others, grow, and move on,” he said. Karanja said the country has never lacked market for food, saying some can practice horticulture and dairy farming. He said that thousands of young people graduate each year with different courses, but job vacancies are very few, which is a call to start supporting the graduates with grants to practice agribusiness.
The agronomist, who is also the Kiambu County Democratic Party secretary general, was speaking at Nyambari trading center in Lari sub-county. At the same time, he urged the government to put more emphasis on students to take up technical courses so that they can learn how to start businesses after the courses. He also asked the government to come up with a strategy for fighting corruption by taming its workers.
He urged the Public Service Commission to control civil servants starting businesses, saying the move nurtures corruption. At the same time, the agronomist urged the government to lower taxes on farming inputs, saying Kenya’s economy is held by agriculture. “We have farmers in nearly all corners of this country. The difference is what grows in which region. If taxes on fertilizers, manures, pesticides, seeds, and other items farmers need were reduced, our farmers can start counting profits,” he added.
“Our youthful farmers will also be impressed by the government support of reduced taxation. This will also attract more people to join farming and assure the country of food security,” he added.
