In 2020, the estimated youth unemployment rate in Kenya was at 7.27 percent. This is according to Statista. The situation keeps worsening yearly especially for graduates given that more than a third of Kenya’s youth who are eligible for employment have no jobs.
Due to this, graduates like Stanley Otieno are finding their own ways of navigating the unemployment scene by creating employment opportunities for themselves. Together with his friends, the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) grandaunt set up Spectrum Agronet in order to promote agribusiness in Kenya as well as create an employment opportunity for themselves.
“Because of the high unemployment rate in Kenya, my friends and I came up with the idea of starting Spectrum Agronet, a poultry farming startup, with the aim of boosting agribusiness in Kenya given the role it plays towards the country’s GDP while at the same time creating jobs for ourselves too,” he says.
The enterprise is looking to focus on rearing indigenous chicken and producing highly nutritious and organic eggs to cater for the ever-growing Nairobi population.
“Studies focusing on the egg consumption in Nairobi indicate that there is a growing demand for organic eggs consumption in the capital city and so our main focus is rearing indigenous chicken in a large scale setting in order to cater for the growing population,” he says.
While still in campus in 2017, Stanley and his six friends started the venture as an investment Sacco to raise capital for their business. Under the Sacco, they opened a joint account where each of them would contribute Ksh 300 weekly. The startup is sourcing eggs from four farmers through which it is able to promote livelihoods.
“We also plan on utilizing the chicken waste as a source of capital,” says Stanley.
On the bright side, they are able to save for some capital through their investment Sacco. They have managed to do a lot comprehensive research on poultry farming, consumption cycle in Nairobi and diseases associated with broiler chickens through which they have learned about market dynamics.
To add on this, they joined the AgriBiz programme where they continue to receive training, mentorship, and well detailed information in regards to the business.
“We appreciate Kenya Climate Innovation Center(KCIC) for uplifting the young generation especially the women and youth in the AgriBiz programme. The biggest benefit we have under this programme is the mentorship, training and well detailed information on poultry farming, “says Stanley.
