Despite their difficulties, African farmers continue to fight for food security. African farmers are not poor; they are simply cut off from the wealth cycle because they lack the skills and knowledge required for value addition. The narrative is changing as we highlight the resilience of African farmers; we are telling the entire story; the stories of African farmers.
Mashel Nyagilo Ouko is a crop production specialist with 8 years of experience growing avocado, organic macadamia, hydroponic vegetables, pyrethrum, horticulture vegetables, and tobacco production. He is also knowledgeable about agriculture and vermicomposting, which he teaches to Kenyan communities. He is a public speaker and offers project management and management consulting services.
Mashel, despite wanting to be a lawyer and a military officer before becoming a farmer, is so passionate about agriculture and is driven by his passion, not because he studied agriculture at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. His passion is his strength, and it has enabled him to manage all of these crops and handle everything he does as a farmer.
Mashel began farming while at university and used it as a source of income, going to the market during the holidays to sell exotic and indigenous trees in coated bags from his backyard nursery. It was an opportunity for him to be engineered into his field of study.
He has attended agricultural training, worked in various agricultural companies, and participated in agricultural schemes or projects in order to contribute his quota to food security and a sustainable agricultural ecosystem. Mashel has given back to his community by piloting projects and influencing young people in beekeeping, conservation agriculture, integrated production management, fish farming, and other fields.
However, he has experienced a roller coaster of ups and downs, wins and losses, approvals and disappointments as he has faced numerous challenges such as little to no finance, marketing, human resources, inorganic farming, little to no government support, few agricultural investors or partners, and many more.
His accomplishments include a variety of projects and training. Farmers’ adoption of new farming techniques, as agriculture innovates on a daily basis to complement the original, is also part of his accomplishments.
He hopes that if the right steps are taken, agriculture will be the major industry in Africa within the next five years, as every professional in another career will either run farming as a side industry or full industry. His goal is to create a more youth-inclusive agricultural ecosystem because he believes that young people are the key to advancing agriculture in Africa.
His message to all young people is to take the initiative, become a leader in the agricultural sector, and seek advice and support from someone who is technically knowledgeable about crop production so that he can groom you in the process before handing you over to the session