Kabokyek, a small village in Kericho County is where Duncan Cheruiyot was born and bred. As a small boy, Duncan wanted to be an automotive technician but his environment did not favour such dreams. His was a predominantly farming community and so only farming related ideas flourished.

Sugarcane farming is the major economic activity in the area and maize is grown for domestic consumption. During the holidays, Duncan and his siblings worked on the farm weeding in the sugarcane and maize plantations. He hated the holidays, but with time he developed a liking for farming – that’s when he realized the new clothes and shoes his parents bought him came from the farm proceeds.

Kabokyek, a small village in Kericho County is where Duncan Cheruiyot was born and bred. As a small boy, Duncan wanted to be an automotive technician but his environment did not favour such dreams. His was a predominantly farming community and so only farming related ideas flourished.

Sugarcane farming is the major economic activity in the area and maize is grown for domestic consumption. During the holidays, Duncan and his siblings worked on the farm weeding in the sugarcane and maize plantations. He hated the holidays, but with time he developed a liking for farming – that’s when he realized the new clothes and shoes his parents bought him came from the farm proceeds.

He started being part of the farming and realized that the harvests were being limited by pests and diseases, decreasing soil fertility and harsh environmental conditions among other challenges. He grew up knowing that, despite the challenges, farming pays and that agriculture is the main source of livelihood.

From this experience, he realized that farming can be more profitable if the challenges are reduced. His dream of becoming a technician transformed into a dream to pursue a career in farming. He therefore chose a career path in agricultural research in pursuance of his dream as a farmer and also in order to help other farmers by providing solutions to some of the challenges they face.

Duncan was introduced to plant breeding, the business and science of crop improvement, and how it could be utilized in reducing the effects of some of the agricultural production challenges while undertaking an internship at the Tea Research Institute. For some of the challenges such as diseases and pests, breeding for resistant crops has emerged as one of the viable and environmentally friendly options especially for the small-holder farmers who are often resource constrained and cannot afford the high cost chemicals.

Duncan is now a graduate research student at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) looking at development of disease resistant wheat varieties. He has gained hands on experience in plant breeding and studying different techniques on how to improve on different important traits in plants is his passion.

As a budding researcher, he seeks to gain more knowledge and skills so that he can effectively contribute to crop research and development, and put a smile on every farmer’s face. Duncan envisions himself not only being a successful farmer, but also as part of a workforce that promote agricultural production and livelihood amongst small-holder farmers in sub-Saharan African countries. 

He believes YPARD has offered a platform where he can gain a number of skills that are vital in achieving his vision. From the mentoring program, he expects to horn his proposal and scientific writing skills, data management, presentation, communication and leadership skills. He can’t hide his joy towards the mentor he was assigned Justus Ochieng who has expressed his commitment to the program.

The future is agriculture and its success depends on the interest, passion and innovation coupled with capacity building in today’s farming youths. As a youth, he knows that this is not an easy task, but as Charles Robert Darwin would put it, “In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed”. To those seeing farming as boring, Duncan says that in addition to hanging out with his family, he travels, exploring new places and learning from different cultures. Farming can be fun too.