County governments, working with the Council of Governors (CoG) and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), have launched the Model County Youth in Agrifood Systems Strategy, which seeks to increase young people’s participation across the food value chain.
The strategy comes as Kenya faces growing pressure to produce more food locally and reduce its exposure to global supply disruptions. Already the country is staring at a potential humanitarian crisis as deepening global aid cuts threaten the country's ability to prepare emergencies like the forecast El Niño season Humanitarian agencies warn that shrinking donor support is already straining efforts to tackle hunger, support refugees and prepare for climate-related disasters, raising fears that millions of vulnerable Kenyans could be left exposed if heavy rains strike as forecast.
The new county strategy seeks to make young people part of that response not just as farmers, but as entrepreneurs operating across the food economy. It identifies opportunities in agricultural technology, mechanisation, logistics, input distribution, food processing, storage, aggregation, marketing, financial services and climate-smart agriculture.
“Young people must remain at the centre of our development agenda, and this strategy provides a practical pathway to gainful livelihoods, sustainable development, and scalable economic opportunities,” said Council of Governors chief executive officer Mary Mwiti.