Joash Njani and Pramila Mwibanda during the recent Kiambu County Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Week held in Juja. They showcased modernised vertical gardens and other technologies used for urban farming.
Kiambu residents have always lived up to the challenge of avoiding predicaments like the Egyptian famine highlighted in the Bible. An entrepreneurial and innovative spirit that anticipates challenges has been their way of life. I see this often with the youth during my many inspections of road construction projects across the county.
The youth constitute 65 per cent of the county’s population of 2.4 million. That means Kiambu has 1.56 million people aged under 35. When opportunities for casual labour arise out of the construction projects, the youth open food joints, carwash bays and other small businesses alongside the road project rather than do the menial jobs. That shows they are more inclined to opening and running micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
