Kenyan graduates turn to agricultural AI tools as jobs dry up | Agriculture News

Kericho County, Kenya – A typical Saturday morning for Chepkoril Rotich, a farmer from Kiboit village in Kericho County in western Kenya, begins before sunrise. By then, Rotich had already milked the cow, sold the milk, fed the chickens, and returned to pick vegetables, which were already ordered. This is how she starts her job every day, and she does it with passion.

When the 33-year-old mother of two left university over a decade ago, she was excited and ready to join the formal employment sector and secure a full-time job.

“I thought I would be hired as a business manager, but after a long job search, I received contract offers from three companies,” she says. “Even the highest-ranking person had a monthly salary of about $200, which was not enough while living in Nairobi.”

A lack of white-collar jobs has left young Kenyans like Rotich unemployed, forcing them to find creative ways to survive and make a living. In doing so, many young people are relying on agriculture and other sectors, and many are leveraging digital technology and vocational skills to stay ahead of the competition.

From field to feed: agriculture becomes social

For example, Rotich uses social media to sell his produce and learn how to practice farming using modern methods. Social media helps us share knowledge with young people, who make up the majority of our approximately 50,000 followers. She also runs a YouTube channel where she shares her knowledge about farming.

According to a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the average age of a farmer in Africa is 60 years old, but Rotich disputed this, saying the estimated age of farmers is causing many young people to avoid farming and not accept it as a future livelihood option.

“I think the reason they say that is because of access to land to do farming, which is mainly owned by older people,” Rotich told Al Jazeera. “In my case, I started farming on the premises of a rented house. At the end of every month, I sold milk and vegetables to the landlord, so after paying off the rent, I borrowed money. So it’s all about the passion and consistency of young people.”

Kiringai Kamau, a lecturer at the University of Nairobi with expertise in agricultural economics, agribusiness and food systems, says young people should take up agriculture as full-time employment because they can understand and implement technology effectively.

“To achieve this, we have established an Empowered Agroecology and AI Learning Center at Murang’a University, which will promote training young people who will enter agriculture in the future to be able to link with the agricultural data ecosystem that will come from the infrastructure provided, and also to provide information to counties, countries and other professionals who may be interested in the data coming there,” he told Al Jazeera.

Derrick Ngigi, technical director at Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN), says that while young people are embracing agriculture, technology is also playing a role in providing opportunities for them.

“Content creation in agriculture, for example, offers many opportunities, such as content creation on modern farming methods that are generating income for young people,” says Ngigi.

In the village of Kaptroi, about five kilometers from Kiboit, Jeffrey Kiprop is busy cleaning his cowshed after feeding his cows early in the morning. The 32-year-old earned a bachelor’s degree in information technology in 2017 but has not been formally employed.

Like Rotich, Kiprop has survived through contract work such as system development and maintenance for schools. He said the highest contract was for 15,000 Kenyan shillings ($116). But now he earns about 7,000 Kenyan shillings ($54) a day through farming.

Kiprop also practices mixed farming, raising cows for milk and chickens for eggs and meat, while also growing crops such as tea, coffee, capsicum, cabbage, and beans.

He uses the latest technology to grow crops and livestock, and uses IT training to ensure maximum profits.

Farming with code: AI is reshaping rural agriculture

Examples of tools he uses include the Plantic app. He says this will help detect diseases and malnutrition in crops using AI by simply taking and uploading a photo of the crop. The app also provides farmers with weather forecasts and best practices for crops to run based on current weather conditions.

“My favorite is Virtual Agronomist, an AI-enabled platform that uses Google Maps to get the coordinates of your fields and specify the type of crop you’re growing,” Kiprop explains. “Instead, thanks to the virtual agronomist, we will be able to know the size of the plots we are farming. It will also sample the soil on our farm and create a nutrient plan, telling us what is lacking in the soil in terms of nutrients and exactly how much to add,” he told Al Jazeera.

Kiprop also uses AI tools to manage cow health and production.

“I also use the Digicow app, which helps farmers manage their dairy operations by tracking all the day-to-day activities on the dairy farm. This includes the amount of milk a farmer has sold and used, dairy inputs such as feed, and records of health habits. This allows farmers to know whether they are making a profit or not,” says Kiprop.

Both Rotich and Kiprop agree that farming comes with its own challenges, and it takes deep passion and consistency to make something of it.

“Consistency is key,” Kiprop says. “Many young people lack that and quit quite early on before they can break even and realize the benefits. You have to do things a lot of times before you can finally get it and learn from the mistakes you made before.”