When Robert Mwangi landed an auditing job in Nairobi in 2018 after four years of job hunting, the income barely covered his expenses. To supplement it, he started a small beekeeping project back home in Molo. A year later, he harvested honey worth the same as his salary. That experience sparked deep reflection and awakened a passion for farming.
Now 34, Robert left his white-collar job to pursue farming, starting with beekeeping and poultry farming. Although the ventures were initially unsustainable, his breakthrough came five years ago when he discovered the IFAD-funded Jobs Opening for Youths (JOY) Project, which introduced him to Black Soldier Fly (BSF) technology.
Today, Robert is the Managing Director of CAMLPO Limited, based in Lare Ward, Njoro, Nakuru County.
Turning waste into wealth
After receiving training in circular agricultural innovations, he ventured into BSF farming and is transforming agricultural waste into protein-rich animal feed and organic fertiliser. He has built a thriving agribusiness that also tackles environmental challenges while reducing the high cost of animal feed.
“Today, we proudly call ourselves champions of Black Soldier Fly farming. We discovered that BSF farming offered excellent results, high profit margins of up to 60pc, high weight gains for poultry and low production costs. Partnering with other stakeholders in organic agriculture, we learned to produce organic fertiliser, which turned out to be even more profitable”, he explains
With support from the JOY Project, the company is helping address youth unemployment by engaging rural youths, some not in education, employment, or training. Beyond its growing revenue, Mwangi is training over 200 young people through hands-on experience at his model farms. He is also mentoring five other youth-led startups.
“The impact on my community, especially in rural areas, has been profound. Through our work, we’ve been able to create jobs, mentor youth, and help them build capacity to start their own small enterprises. It’s fulfilling to see them earn a decent living and rediscover hope through agriculture”, he says.
Bridging the gap
The story is the same for Lenah Mwangi, 35, the founder of Inuka Solutions, with an accounting background, who faced the same struggle many graduates face: joblessness. With no background in agriculture, she began by volunteering, gaining hands-on experience. Today, she helps others transition from various career paths into agribusiness.
“I struggled to find work because every employer wanted experience, not just attachment experience, but hands-on, practical experience. So we started Inuka Solutions, a social enterprise born out of that need to create opportunities for young people to gain real skills and bridge the gap between school and the job market”, she says.
With support from the Joy, which is shaping the future of rural employment in nine counties across Africa, including Kenya, Lenah, who is based at Egerton University, is currently working with over 1,000 smallholder farmers across different value chains, potatoes, maize, and cereals.
The programme has been linking youth to training, finance, markets, and skills needed for wage and self-employment and entrepreneurship in the agri-food sector.
“We partnered with the JOY Project in 2022, where we were onboarded and trained as Business Development Service Providers (BDSPs) for young entrepreneurs, and we trained 15 students by the end of 2023. Seven are now successfully running their own enterprises, while the rest are in wage employment. Among those self-employed, some ventured into value addition, one started black soldier fly farming, and another focused on agri-tech and digital marketing. We continue to follow up and provide refresher trainings or link them to opportunities to earn and grow,” she says.
Currently, they are working with four other cohorts at the university. “It’s a two-way exchange: Farmers benefit from fresh knowledge brought in by students from universities and colleges while students gain hands-on exposure. We took them through end-to-end business training — how to start, manage, market, and sustain a business. We also focused on essential soft skills for those seeking wage employment”.
She describes the program as a flagship partnership that helped them structure and formalise their business operations. She takes pride in seeing her three mentees win awards in mixed farming, the circular economy, and horticulture.
Scaling up
According to Brian Chipili, Youth Technical Specialist at IFAD, the project implemented with various partners is set for the launch of the second phase early next year. In the first phase, Kenya was allocated €1.2 million (approximately Ksh180 million), and the initiative surpassed expectations by creating 5,000 jobs, exceeding the initial target of 3,000.
He explains that the integrated hubs domiciled in select universities and TVET institutions like Egerton University, Pwani University, and Shamberere Polytechnic have equipped youth with market-relevant skills. The model has also been institutionalised in these institutions and adopted by some county governments at the policy level.
IFAD is currently in talks with more donors to expand the programme to Asia and Latin America. With already 60,000 job opportunities created, the second phase will include new countries such as Zambia and Sri Lanka.
“The donors are impressed. This next phase will expand opportunities, strengthen policy advocacy at both the regional and global levels to reach more rural youth. We will put in more funds to deepen impact in existing countries”, he states.
In Kenya, more than 43,000 rural youth, half of whom are young women, have been connected to job opportunities. Cabinet Secretary for Youth Affairs, Creative Economy, and Sports, Salim Mvurya, says the project has demonstrated that inclusive agribusiness models can restore dignity and hope for a generation ready to build Africa’s rural economies.
Challenges
There has been a lot of negative perception regarding agriculture by the youth, but IFAD is changing this narrative through interventions that address key challenges such as limited access to financing, knowledge, and skills needed to succeed in agribusiness.
IFAD Kenya Country Director Ms Mariatu Kamara explains.
