Script
1. Are youth in this area involved in agriculture?
2. If yes, what aspects of crop and livestock production, or other food-related businesses are they involved with? (Keep in mind that food-related businesses vary from farming-related businesses such as agricultural services provision to restaurants and food transport.)
3. If not, why not? What are the barriers to youth engaging in agriculture?
a. Follow-up questions:
a.i. Do youth think that agriculture is not modern enough, that it’s outdated and old-fashioned?
a.ii. Do youth feel that working as a farmer or in food-related businesses means that they are taking a step backward and they and their occupation will have low status?
a.iii. Do youth think that they can’t make enough money through agriculture? Do they think that farming is not a good way to make money quickly?
a.iv. Do youth feel that traditional academic training in agriculture is too lengthy and abstract and that they will never be knowledgeable enough to succeed in farming?
a.v. Are youth discouraged by the administrative requirements of farming, for example the need to get complicated and costly business licenses, standards compliance certificates, write funding proposals and the like?
a.vi. Do youth lack transportation to get their products to market?
a.vii. Do youth lack access to land for farming?
a.vii.1. If so, what are the typical processes for family succession on farms in this area?
a.vii.2. If so, how can older farmers be encouraged to include youth in decision-making on the farm and keep them engaged until they are ready to pass on decision-making?
a.vii.3. If so, do communities have access to land that they can provide to youth interested in farming, either through rentals or grants or other mechanisms?
a.viii. Do youth lack mentors who can help them learn agricultural practices, marketing practices, financial literacy, and how to be successful?
a.viii.1. If so, are there agricultural organizations or individual farmers, traders, processors, and others who are interested in and willing to train youth?
a.viii.2. Can other youth who are successfully engaged in farming or the many other types of food-related enterprises from restaurants to agricultural service providers, act as mentors?
a.ix. Do youth lack access to credit to engage in new agro-enterprises?
a.ix.1. If so, what innovative or traditional solutions can be implemented to increase youth access to credit?
a.x. Are youth interested in using modern communication technologies to increase sales and marketing opportunities, improve yields, or otherwise make farming more successful and exciting?
a.xi. Are youth interested in using innovative strategies and stimulating their creativity to improve agriculture?
4. Are youth more interested in some parts of the agriculture value chain than others? If so, which parts?
a. Follow-up questions:
a.i. Are they more interested in marketing and other activities where they can use social media and other digital tools?
a.ii. Are they more interested in home-based processing, for example of organic products, medicinal foods, or other innovative products?
a.iii. Are they interested in catering in urban areas?
a.iv. Are they interested in acting as a liaison between farmers and urban or peri-urban supermarkets?
a.v. Are they interested in consulting to large farms and food-related business to increase their efficiency and marketing?
a.vi. What other parts of the food chain are they particularly interested in?
5. For young women, there may be additional barriers to engaging in agriculture and food-related businesses. Or, existing barriers may be more powerful and limiting. Ask young women:
a. As well as the barriers that all youth face in engaging with agriculture and food-related businesses, are there specific barriers for young women who wish to engage? If so, what are they?
a.i. Follow-up questions:
a.i.1. Do young women have more difficulty accessing land for farming?
a.i.1.a. If so, does this limit their willingness to try farming?
a.i.2. Are there cultural, social, or religious reasons that young women do not feel comfortable engaging in farming?
a.i.2.a. If so, what are those reasons?
a.i.3. Are there specific financial reasons why young woman find it difficult to engage in farming?
a.i.3.a. If so, what are these reasons?
a.i.3.b. If so, are these barriers so discouraging that young women do not even consider engaging in farming?
a.i.4. Are there parts of the agricultural value chain that young women are more interested in engaging in than crop or livestock production—for example, vending and small-scale processing?
a.i.5. What other barriers do young women face in engaging with crop or livestock production, or other food-related businesses?
Acknowledgements
Contributed by: Farm Radio International, Radio Resources team
Reviewed by: Juliet Tunje, Social Inclusion Advisor for the USAID KCDMS Activity
Farm Radio International is working with the Feed the Future Kenya Crops and Dairy Market Systems Activity (KCDMS) of USAID, implemented by RTI International, to co-create radio content resources aimed at advancing youth entrepreneurship in agribusiness. This activity is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with technical assistance from RTI International. The contents are the responsibility of Farm Radio International and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.