By James Murimi - Reporter
Kenya, 12 December 2025 - Tupande One Acre Fund, in partnership with the MasterCard Foundation, has intensified efforts to empower young people to take up agriculture as a viable and sustainable livelihood, rolling out youth summits across 34 counties to equip them with skills, capital linkages, and ready markets.
According to the organisation’s Government Relations and Policy Manager, Dennis Tirop, the nationwide tour has revealed a growing desire among young people to join the agricultural sector, but also significant barriers that continue to hold many back.
“As we traverse these counties, it is clear that the youth want to venture into agriculture. What they lack is support,” Tirop said.
He highlighted four key challenges: limited access to finance, land scarcity, skills gaps, and difficulty accessing reliable markets. Many energetic youth, he noted, have the passion but cannot raise enough capital to start.
Others are constrained by lack of land, while many more struggle with the technical knowledge needed to run productive agribusiness ventures.
To unlock this potential, Tupande One Acre Fund has implemented a fully integrated agribusiness model tailored to walk with farmers, especially young ones, through every step of the agricultural value chain.
“We support them from access to quality inputs, training, production advice, aggregation and finally access to markets,” Tirop said.
“Our goal is to empower youth so they can view agriculture not just as a fallback option, but as a profitable and dignified career.”
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Part of that empowerment includes solving the market-access challenge. The organisation has invested in export-oriented value chains such as avocado, macadamia, mangoes, chilies and papaya. Through buying centres across the country, Tupande aggregates produce directly from farmers, guaranteeing consistent and competitive prices.
“We realised young farmers needed dependable markets. By linking them directly to foreign buyers, we guarantee them stable returns and spur increased production,” he said.
Tirop was speaking in Nyeri town where the organisation engaged hundreds of young farmers in a county-hosted dialogue.
Tupande One Acre Fund has maintained a strong working relationship with the Nyeri County Government, which invited the team to mentor and inspire the next generation of agripreneurs.
“We came to enlighten youth on the opportunities readily available for them in agriculture, and to hear from them what challenges they face,” Tirop said.
“Together, we can unlock a future where young Kenyans lead the transformation of our agricultural economy.”
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