Who Wants to Farm? Answers Depend on How You Ask: A Case Study on Youth Aspirations in Kenya

LaRue, K and Daum, T and Mausch, K and Harris, D (2021) Who Wants to Farm? Answers Depend on How You Ask: A Case Study on Youth Aspirations in Kenya. The European Journal of Development Research (TSI). ISSN 0957-8811

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Abstract

While there is a consensus that rural poverty has to be reduced, there are two opposing views on the role that agriculture can play in this regard: a “farm-based” and an “off-farm led” development paradigm where the respective other sector is merely a complementary income source during a transition period. The latter paradigm is supported by studies finding that rural youth in sub-Saharan Africa are not particularly interested in agriculture. However, policy discourse on youth in agriculture often situates their aspirations as either full-time farming or non-farming, thus either supporting or opposing one or the other of the two paradigms, while neglecting the shades of grey between these two extremes. Using a mixed-methods approach—a household survey and a narrative-based tool called SenseMaker—to collect data from both adults and youth in 261 households in rural Kenya, this study suggests that this categorical understanding needs to be revisited to inform rural development strategies based on the actual aspirations of rural youth.

Item Type:	Article
Divisions:	Research Program : East & Southern Africa
CRP:	CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes and Dryland Cereals (GLDC)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Agricultural development, Rural areas, Youth bulge, Poverty, Youth aspirations
Subjects:	Others > Agricultural Research Others > Rural Development
Depositing User:	Mr Arun S
Date Deposited:	12 May 2021 10:53
Last Modified:	12 May 2021 10:53
URI:	http://oar.icrisat.org/id/eprint/11792
Official URL:	https://doi.org/10.1057/s41287-020-00352-2
Projects:	UNSPECIFIED
Funders:	UNSPECIFIED
Acknowledgement:	This work was undertaken as part of, and funded by the CGIAR Research Program on Grain Legumes and Dryland Cereals (GLDC) and supported by CGIAR Fund Donors. Initial parts of this work were undertaken as part of, and funded by the CGIAR Research Program on Policy, Markets and Institutions (PIM) and supported by CGIAR Fund Donors. Furthermore, we gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the “Program of Accompanying Research for Agricultural Innovation” (PARI), which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The authors are grateful for the comments and constructive feedback of Regina Birner.
Links:	Google Scholar

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