December 20, 2021

Pioneering youth inclusion through spices and herbs seedling propagation

Fresh Produce

Ethiopia

Despite being the future of agriculture, the youth in sub-Saharan Africa face many hurdles in terms of access to resources such as land, credit, and employment opportunities. However, despite the myriad of challenges they face, there exists opportunities for their active engagement in providing innovative solutions to problems farmers face. At the heart of 2SCALE’s inclusive agribusiness strategy is helping the youth to create sustainable self-employment opportunities along agriculture value chains.

In this youth inclusion blog series, we highlight the engagement of the youth in Kenya and Ethiopia in providing access to quality seedlings for smallholder farmers.

Damascene spices partnership: youth group takes the lead in seedling multiplication

In Ethiopia, one of the key objectives of the Damascene Essential Oil Company-2SCALE partnership is building an inclusive herbs and spices value chain. While women have pioneered backyard production of herbs and spices, the youth are actively engaged in the propagation of quality seed and seedlings.

Bonga-Kaffa vegetables and fruits association (BK) is a youth group comprising of five young men- Tibebu, Eniyew, Mussie, Mohammed, and Avazir. These five childhood friends formed the youth group in 2019 with a hectare of land, and an initial capital of 150,000 Birr ($3,050) which was obtained as a loan from a microfinance institution.

Their initial business was growing and supplying vegetables. However, owing to their limited technical knowledge and expertise on agribusiness, plant diseases and market constraints were major hindrances to them succeeding in the vegetable sector. However, their resilience to triumph in agriculture drove them to venture into spice seedling propagation under the Damascene-2SCALE partnership. To fill the existing skills and capacity gaps the business champion-Damascene provided them with technical support on spice/herbs seedling multiplication. They also received seeds and seedling bags and constant mentorship to build life, communication, and business skills. Most spice producers face a gap in accessing quality seedlings. As a solution, the business champion facilitated linkage between spices and herbs producers and BK youth group.

For these youth, capacity building to enrich their knowledge on seedling propagation is the highlight of their engagement with Damascene, as narrated by Eniyew.

The training was more practical, and this is what has helped us stand here and tell our stories with full confidence. The skills we gained have helped us beyond production. We now have improved negotiation and communication skills which are essential for our business.

By applying the technical knowledge and skills obtained under the partnership, this youth group has so far multiplied approximately 10,000 seedlings of pepper, Coriander, Rosemary, Rue, and Black cumin. For these youth, this is a sustainable business that has also opened up employment opportunities for five youths engaged as permanent employees and about nine more who are engaged on a temporary basis during seedbed preparation (bedding), rooting media filling (poly filling), weeding, preparing shades, and watering.

Being in the business world, we don’t know what tomorrow holds. If we feel the business is slipping away, we know better than to give up. We can ask Damascene, coaches, and each other to get the push we need. This is a realization we got from the Youth inclusion training s facilitated by 2SCALE.

Says Tibebu.

For BK youth group they plan to create a demo plot that could help create awareness and build a business supplying vermicompost- an organic compost made using earthworms, white worms, and red wiggers- to smallholder farmers.

Overcoming the hurdles of group dynamics requires a level of perseverance. The success of this youth group has not been achieved without ups and downs. Their resilience is evident in how they bravely delegate responsibilities, respect each other and use their friendship as a virtue to achieve common similar goals.

On the second part of this blog series, we highlight challenges faced while promoting youth inclusion in the Neighbourhood Freshmart partnership in the Southwestern region of Kenya.

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