A Youth in Agriculture Forum convened by Co-operative Bank of Kenya in Eldoret brought together young farmers, agripreneurs, industry executives, academic experts and cooperative leaders on Tuesday, anchoring morning discussions around the technologies and value chain opportunities reshaping modern agriculture, from vertical and precision farming to biotechnology, digital marketing and dairy sector solutions that span agrovet services, animal health, value addition and market access.
The forum drew a cross section of voices whose combined expertise mapped both the promise and the practical pathways available to young people entering agriculture as a commercial vocation rather than a subsistence pursuit.
Mr. Julius Sitienei, Vice Chairman of Co-op Holdings Co-operative Society and Member of the Co-op Bank Board of Directors, joined the proceedings as a senior representative of the bank's cooperative governance structure, lending institutional weight to a conversation that the bank is positioning as central to its agribusiness development agenda.
His presence alongside branch and divisional leadership signalled that the forum was not a peripheral outreach exercise but a deliberate engagement with the next generation of agricultural entrepreneurs in one of Kenya's most productive farming regions.
Technical and sector perspectives came from a lineup of practitioners whose organisations operate at the intersection of finance, production, processing and research. Mr. Douglas Gatimu, Head of Agribusiness at Co-op Bank, anchored the financial and credit dimension of youth agribusiness development, while Mr. Daniel Kimosop, Branch Manager at Eldoret Main Branch, represented the bank's local operational footprint in the Rift Valley.
Christopher Kibet Rop, Chief Executive of Sirikwa Dairies, and CPA Stephen Kirwa Tirop, Chief Executive of Ainabkoi Farmers Co-operative Society Ltd, offered ground level perspectives on cooperative dairy enterprise, while George Kibet of Mashambani Agrovet addressed input supply and animal health services. Prof. Miriam Kinyua of the University of Eldoret's Department of Biotechnology extended the conversation into the science driving next generation crop and livestock productivity.
Eldoret's selection as the forum venue carries agricultural and strategic logic; the broader North Rift region accounts for a material share of Kenya's wheat, maize and dairy output, and its cooperative farming culture makes it a natural testing ground for youth led agribusiness models that blend traditional cooperative structures with precision agriculture tools and digital market linkages. Co-op Bank's agribusiness unit has over the years built a lending and advisory portfolio oriented toward cooperative societies and smallholder value chains, and the forum represents an effort to extend that orientation toward younger market participants who bring technological fluency but often lack structured financial access and market intelligence.
"We are reaffirming our commitment to harnessing youth innovation and positioning young people at the centre of modern agriculture," said Co-op Bank Kenya, in the bank's framing of the forum's broader institutional intent.
The Eldoret gathering forms part of a wider Co-op Bank strategy to cultivate agripreneurship as a viable, bankable career pathway for Kenya's youth, at a time when the agriculture sector is undergoing a technological transition that rewards those who can combine biological knowledge, digital tools and cooperative market structures into scalable rural enterprises.
