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The Role of the Youth in Agribusiness and Market Access; A personal experience as a Middleman

The Role of the Youth in Agribusiness and Market Access; A personal experience as a Middleman. By Evans Kosgei Toroitich. Outline of Presentation. Background of Trans Nzoia County, Kenya Drivers of the business Impact of the business

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The Role of the Youth in Agribusiness and Market Access; A personal experience as a Middleman

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  1. http://letsendhunger.wordpress.com The Role of the Youth in Agribusiness and Market Access; A personal experience as a Middleman By Evans Kosgei Toroitich

  2. Outline of Presentation • Background of Trans Nzoia County, Kenya • Drivers of the business • Impact of the business • Challenges encountered and strategies employed to overcome them • Recommendations on how to attract the youth to the business and retain them therein http://letsendhunger.wordpress.com

  3. Background of Trans Nzoia County • High agricultural production zone; maize is the main crop grown; 2012, Kenya produced 38 M bags of maize in total. Trans Nzoia County contributed 4.6M bags of maize, a 12% contribution(MOA, 2012) Source: Tegemeo Institute Of Agricultural Policy And Development,2009 http://letsendhunger.wordpress.com

  4. Background of Trans Nzoia County 2 • Majority of the farmers are small scale farmers i.e. have access to 0.08 hectares of arable land per capita (Jayne et al, 2003) • Farmers, especially women, do not own or have access to transportation that would enable them transport their produce to desired markets • Due to these inadequacies, middleman plays a pivotal role in ensuring maize is physically and economically accessible to urban consumer • Proved; public policies brought about by populist pressures aimed at eliminating the middleman tends to increase food insecurity in the region concerned (Molner, 1999) • Why? channels for food supply between the producer and consumer are narrowed down as are food trading options http://letsendhunger.wordpress.com

  5. Drivers of the business • Tried my hand as a middleman 1st time in 2004/2005 maize season • Primary driver-raise school fees for my A-level studies • Offer employment to a few young locals known to me http://letsendhunger.wordpress.com

  6. Drivers of the business • Resources at hand were a bank loan of US $ 7,060, a pick-up and a lorry-all through my father • Bought 90kg maize at US $. 25 • Target market-National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) due to two main reasons:- • Favourable buying price US $. 38 • Contribute to Strategic Grain Reserve (target was 3M bags) http://letsendhunger.wordpress.com

  7. Impact of the business • I was able to raise enough money (U $2,115) to pay for my A-level school fees and have some left over for pocket money • The business enabled me to employ the 7 youth as loaders, • 3 are currently full time employees at my father’s farm • 2 bought 200 local chicks @ ≈ US $. 0.5 each; aimed to grow the chicks to maturity and sell them in April, 2005 when schools closed for holidays • One joined a savings and loans group; aiming to buy a motorcycle in the future http://letsendhunger.wordpress.com

  8. Impact of the business 2 • Gave farmers, especially women, bargaining power in dealing with other middlemen; difference in buying price, US $. 25/ninety Kg bag vs. US $. 22/ninety Kg • Long term storage 3rd most significant contributor to post-harvest losses of maize, after extended on-field drying and delayed harvesting (Mejia, 1999) • Business aided farmers with ltd storage and processing capacity, to avoid losses attributed to weevil infestation and grain discolouration http://letsendhunger.wordpress.com

  9. Challenges encountered and strategies employed to overcome them http://letsendhunger.wordpress.com

  10. How to attract and retain youth middlemen in agriculture • middleman in agriculture, a good means of raising money in the shortest time possible-attract the youth by demonstrating this e.g. media documentaries • Create more opportunities for the youth to access credit on fairly reasonable basis; UWEZO (Kenya), Youth Livelihoods Program (Uganda), and Youth Development Fund(Tanzania) • Relevant authorities should consistently repair and maintain feeder roads http://letsendhunger.wordpress.com

  11. How to attract and retain youth middlemen in agriculture 2 • licensing or some regulation is crucial in curbing rogue middlemen; process of acquiring one should be as less bureaucratic as possible to avoid mushrooming of underground middlemen • Generally, EAC should revisit its development agenda which favours urban over rural development • Arable land largely found in rural areas • Suppose EAC committed herself to electrify all rural areas by 2016. Net effect? • Reduced rural-urban migration • increased agro-based industries in rural areas • Increased youth engagement in agriculture http://letsendhunger.wordpress.com

  12. References Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), (2012). Trans Nzoia boosts agricultural activity http://www.kilimo.go.ke/index.php?option=comcontent&view=article&id=508:tran-nzoiaboosts agricultural productivity&catid=149:news&Itemid=46 [Accessed on 24th October, 2013 Mejia, D. (1999). Compendium on Post Harvest Operations; overall losses in maize. Food and Agricultural Organisation. Rome Jayne, T.S., Yamano, T., Weber, M.T., Tschirley, D., Benfica, R., Chapoto, A., & Zulu, B. (2003). Smallholder income and land distribution in Africa: implications for poverty reduction strategies. Food policy, 28(3), 253-275. Molnar, J. J. (1999). Sound policies for food security: The role of culture and Social organization. Review of agricultural , 21(2), 489-498. Tegemeo Institute Of Agricultural Policy And Development (2009). Maize Production Outlook and Implications for Food Security. Egerton University, Nakuru. http://letsendhunger.wordpress.com

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