I recently read a tweet by one guy on Twitter who was claiming that youth in agriculture is hot air that cannot be substantiated by practical evidence. My fellow tweep was claiming that the hype about youth in agriculture is probably done in board rooms without practical work. I would personally not support him nor oppose.
Not every one can be a farmer. Farming is a career like any other, which requires knowledge, skills, patience, zeal, and hard work. There is nothing completely wrong with doing something different from farming. Nevertheless, the fact still remains that we all atleast depend on three meals a day.
Agriculture is a career path. You don’t choose a career path because you are poor. Many young people are hiding under the notion of lack of capital and access to land. You don’t have to be a farmer to be in agriculture. You can choose to be an agricultural accountant who guides farmers on the issues to do with record keeping, or probably you can be an IT expert and create an Application that links farmers to the market.
I do agree that you need money to start, but how much is what is not clear. With just two Kukus you could be a proud poultry farmers of 500 chicken in 2years. Secondly you don’t need so much to keep your chicken safe. You don’t need to fence you compound to keep the chicken safe from mongoose. You just need a few coins to get materials and build decent structures for your poultry project.
Any person who wants to venture into agriculture needs a motivation. You need to evaluate your ability as a farmer, identity the motivational factor then develop the right attitude towards farming.
Some of us have been raised by peasant farmers with just an acre but our parents made a break even. The same parents raised us with the notion of farming as a poor man’s job. They taught us we don’t need to toil and moil in the farm like they did. We were also subjected to high schools where the worst punishment was to weed flower beds and do farm activities.
Have seen farmers wear suits and drive big cars. There is need to distance farming from poverty. Farmers are clean people who take their families out on a weekend while enjoying the fruits of their hard work.
I cant forget to congratulate my fellow youth in agriculture who are doing well. They do farm visits and teach farmers on the best ways to do crop management, approach the market as a group and they are also doing farming in there respective places of residence. To my mentors in the field of agriculture thanks for doing a good job.
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