So, it’s a Monday morning and the Agricultural Lead reminds me we’re supposed to be in Limuru. Nobody really wants to be in Limuru on a Monday. One—it’s drizzling, and two—it’s a Monday. Quick fast, I get ready and we head to Nyanjega Primary School. It’s cold, but the school children are not. They receive us with those bright, unbothered smiles only kids can manage on a chilly morning.
In a minute, we’re at the school farm.
The Agriculture lead begins engaging them—explaining why we’re planting vegetables and how this isn’t just practical knowledge we’re handing out like end-of-term report cards. No. This is a renaissance we are sparking. A revival. As the day drags on and the drizzle fades into a shy sun, it hits me. Hard.
We’ve been missing the point.
We have not been involving the most energetic, most curious, most adaptable segment of our population in the one sector that literally puts food on the table—agriculture.
Let’s talk numbers. In Kenya, over 75% of the population is under the age of 35, and yet the average age of a Kenyan farmer is 60. Sixty! That means most of the people growing our food are old enough to be grandparents to the Gen Zs scrolling TikTok right now. At the same time, we have an unemployment rate among young people at around 67%, according to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
You don’t need to be a policy wonk to connect those dots.
Imagine if we rebranded farming—not as the last resort for people who didn’t “make it” in urban careers, but as the smart, sustainable, and even tech-driven field it actually is. From vertical farming to climate-smart innovations, from agribusiness ventures to digital marketplaces—agriculture today isn’t about digging in red soil and praying for rain. It’s about data, drones, greenhouses, and dollars.
But here’s the problem: we keep planting in soil and forgetting to plant in people. Specifically, young people.
Back at Nyanjega Primary, one girl asks if we can come back next week. “I want to see how the crops grow,” she says. That’s when I realize: curiosity is already there. Energy is already there. What’s missing is structure, exposure, opportunity—and yes, someone to say, you belong here.
And maybe, just maybe, it starts with days like this.
