The agricultural sector is one of the important areas in our society, providing food and creating employment opportunities for young people. As population continues to grow with fewer employment opportunities, there is a need for young people to participate actively in agriculture. Young people have the technological skills, education and creativity to transform farming from traditional agricultural practices to modern ways of farming. Some youth are engaging actively in agriculture through agribusiness and boosting value addition. In 2023, she has knowledge of agriculture.
Leah Atemi is an agripreneur from Elukho village, Lurambi subcounty, Kakamega County, and founder of Atemitech Ventures Limited, which deals in vegetables and other farm products. She has been running an aggregation center where she buys vegetables from small-scale farmers, dries them, cooks and packages the same vegetables, and supplies them to her customers. Leah has derieved Atemi Tech ventures from her name ATEMI which makes her to connect with her customers. A meaning aggregation center for farm produce, T for training, E for extension and agribusiness consultancy, M for market linkages, and I for innovation and technology sharing. She has been able to supply veggies within Kakamega and outside the county, targeting schools, learning institutions and churches since 2023.
Leah Atemi (Left ) , Kennedy Babangida(right), photo by Alujo
Before Leah came up with the idea of an aggregation center, small-scale farmers could not sell their veggies because of an already saturatedmarket . Leah Atemi has turned out to be a solution to market linkages to small-scale farmers as she buys the veggies from them. Once she buys the veggies, she takes them to the aggregation center. Inside the aggregation center she has developed a charcoal coolant, which she uses to preserve the veggies to ensure that they remain fresh. Her focus is on traditional vegetables like black nightshade (managu). Charcoal coolant can preserve vegetables to remain fresh for a period of 3 days, and it’s cheap to install and manage, as you will only be required to sprinkle water on the charcoal.
Charcoal coolant ,photo by alujo
She then dries vegetables using the sun and then packs them, ready to supply her customers, and dried veggies can be used for a period of over 1 year. Packing of veges she does in different grams to ensure she is able to reach to all her customers . Dried vegetable targets customers traveling abroad. Leah also supplies pre-cooked veggies like black nightshade (managu), jute mallow (mrenda), black-eyed pea (kunde), and African nightshade (sagaa). Precooked veggies can be used for a period of over 7 days.
A sample of packed dried and pre cooked veges .(photo courtesy-Alujo)
Leah does not depend only on small-scale farmers to buy veggies. She plants vegetables through the use of organic manure from a biogas plant. She says getting certified seeds is important for farmers who are interested in planting vegetables, water supply and organic manure like slurry she uses from a biogas plant.
Sample of African night shade ‘saga’ photo by Alujo
Agriculture is experiencing innovation compared to past years. From improved seeds and organic smart farming to preservation. It’s all about ideas that can improve farming and value addition.
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