With funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USIU will be providing training for small scale agribusiness entrepreneurs, leading to a Certificate Program in Management and Innovation for Agribusiness Entrepreneurs. This program aims at improving the management and leadership capacity of small scale agribusiness entrepreneurs through training that provides analytical tools, market oriented skills and information to increase the quality and productivity of the agricultural sector and contribute to food security in Kenya. The long term impact of this program is to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the agribusiness entrepreneurs, thereby, positively impacting on the various players along the value chain.
Although agriculture is the single most important sector in the Kenyan economy, small scale farmers have been largely excluded from commercial production and their participation in agribusiness entrepreneurial activities curtailed due to inadequate information about market opportunities and sector policies. With over 51% of the rural labour force in Kenya engaged in small scale agriculture, it becomes imperative to develop subsistence farming into a vibrant commercial sector in order to accelerate agricultural growth and contribute meaningfully to improved food security and poverty reduction in the country.
This first phase of the program will benefit 60 agribusiness entrepreneurs, 50% of whom shall be women, drawn representatively from all over Kenya. This takes into consideration that although women are the mainstay of small scale agriculture as well as critical actors in economic development and food security, they have difficulties accessing resources and information. By the end of this phase, it is expected that a scalable model for subsequent training of agribusiness entrepreneurs will have been developed and ready for use to train entrepreneurs regionally as well as throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
An event to launch the program was held at the USIU campus in Kasarani on July 29, 2011. At this event, the pilot phase of this certificate program officially commenced and will and run for a period of 18 months. The chief guest was Dr. Romano Kiome MBS, SS, the Permanent Secretary – Ministry of Agriculture. Also joining the occasion was Mr. Brady Walkinshaw, Associate Program Officer- Global Development at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The uniqueness of this program lies on its focus on small scale agribusiness entrepreneurs, who have been largely left out by established public and private training institutions. The certificate program will address deficiencies in training currently available, which are typically programs mounted by business schools and directed toward the needs of medium and large-scale enterprise. By building leadership and management skills of agribusiness entrepreneurs, the program will facilitate an environment that makes the agricultural sector more effective in improving the lives and livelihoods of small-scale agribusiness entrepreneurs.
