By Muthoni Mugo
Allan Migaili started earning a livelihood in agriculture from a young age. The first born of five children, Allan hails from a humble family and despite doing exceedingly well in his primary education, he could not afford fees for his high school education. He therefore relied on sponsorship and the Palmhouse Foundation came in and paid for his high school education. He says no amount of words can express his gratitude to his personal sponsor and mentor Mr Erick Kimani from the Palmhouse organization. It was in high school that his interest in agriculture arose. He learned that majority of the funds that Palmhouse Foundation provided came from Palmhouse Dairies. This came as a surprise to him, as he did not imagine that a company as small as Palmhouse Dairies, and for that matter an agricultural institution, could produce such significant amount of funding.
By Muthoni Mugo
Allan Migaili started earning a livelihood in agriculture from a young age. The first born of five children, Allan hails from a humble family and despite doing exceedingly well in his primary education, he could not afford fees for his high school education. He therefore relied on sponsorship and the Palmhouse Foundation came in and paid for his high school education. He says no amount of words can express his gratitude to his personal sponsor and mentor Mr Erick Kimani from the Palmhouse organization. It was in high school that his interest in agriculture arose. He learned that majority of the funds that Palmhouse Foundation provided came from Palmhouse Dairies. This came as a surprise to him, as he did not imagine that a company as small as Palmhouse Dairies, and for that matter an agricultural institution, could produce such significant amount of funding.
This discovery and his interactions in agriculture finally led him to pursue agricultural studies at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture & Technology (JKUAT). Allan scored an A in in agriculture in high school during his final year of study and therefore he chose to study Agricultural engineering. He is now in his fifth year of university and expecting to complete the course in December 2015. As part of his studies, he is currently researching the effects of using a super-absorbent polymer named biosorb as a soil amendment. A soil amendment is any material added to soil to improve its physical properties, such as water retention, permeability, water infiltration, drainage, aeration and structure. If effective, biosorb in soil would help increase irrigation intervals, save water and improve soil water holding capacity for food and pasture production.
Position: | Agricultural engineering student |
Country: | Kenya |
Education: | Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology |
Mentor | Franklin Simtowe, Senior scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) |
Today, Allan’s passion for agriculture and agricultural development pushes him to talk about it and share his knowledge and skills with his peers in the community whenever he gets an opportunity. As the Secretary General of the JKUAT Peace Unit Program (PUP), a society that works to foster peace, harmonious coexistence and cohesion between students with diverse political, social and cultural backgrounds, Allan has sneaked the youth and agriculture agenda into its activities.
Allan loves making friends, listening to music and debating. He is also a lover of nature and conservation, and a co founder of the Western Student Empowerment Team (WESET). WESET voluntarily give career and motivational talks to high school students in schools located in the larger Western region and parts of Rift Valley region. This is largely drawn from his experience – many young people lack mentors and so the learn from their own experiences.
He believes that his career path is taking him towards his vision; a society with high levels of youth employment, owing to investment in the agricultural sector. He is therefore determined to ensure that he uses the knowledge and experiences to bring his vision to realization. His goals for participating in YPARD's mentoring program are to:
- Learn how to network and identify more like minded people who can help him grow his career after school.
- Share his academic knowledge and skills with people who can use it to improve their livelihoods, expand their agribusiness enterprises and expand one or more areas of their different investments in agriculture.
- Gain mentorship on ways and methods of proceeding with his education, up to the doctorate level.
- To gain assistance in laying strategic plans in career advancement and adaptation to life after campus and working in the cooperate world.
Muthoni Mugo is a communications specialist for Kimetrica LTD, a social enterprise that delivers Knowledge Management services for development projects. She is passionate about communities solving social problems through innovation and entrepreneurship.