Nairobi, Kenya | 3 December 2025 — In a region where more than 70 percent of people draw their livelihoods from agriculture, and where food systems are strained by climate shocks and volatile markets, a new movement is taking shape. It is youthful, ambitious, technology-driven — and rapidly gaining momentum across East Africa.
This week, Nairobi hosted the East African Youth in Agri-Food Systems Expo 2025 (EAYASE-25), a three-day convening designed to pull young innovators from the margins of agriculture to its very center. The Expo, steered by the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat in partnership with AGRA, attracted agripreneurs, investors, policymakers, and development partners eager to harness the region’s demographic power: a population that is 60% under the age of 25.
A Generation Positioned to Lead
For years, agriculture across the region has operated under the weight of an aging farming population and low productivity. But the tide is turning. Advances in digital agriculture, fintech, value addition, and climate-smart innovation have opened new doors — and young people are walking through them with confidence.
“Across Africa, young people are already proving that agriculture can be innovative, profitable, and climate-resilient,” said Stella Clara Massawe, Senior Specialist, Policy and State Capability Eastern and Southern Africa at AGRA. “Through EAYASE-25, we are enabling youth-led businesses to scale — through access to finance, digital solutions, climate-smart technologies, and supportive policy environments.”
AGRA’s efforts echo a wider continental shift. Through partnerships with governments, private sector actors, and financial institutions, the organization has supported thousands of youth enterprise pathways — from agri-fintech and regenerative farming to agro-processing and high-value exports. The aim is clear: reposition agriculture from subsistence to a competitive, high-growth economic engine.
A Regional Strategy for Youth Leadership
The EAC sees this youth-driven momentum as central to long-term regional stability and prosperity.
“The East African Community is committed to ensuring youth are fully integrated into regional development and food security strategies,” said Fahari Marwa, Head of Agriculture and Food Security at the EAC Secretariat. He emphasized that forums like EAYASE-25 create rare opportunities for young innovators to directly shape policy, attract investors, and align with regional priorities.
Marwa added that beyond the Nairobi event, the goal is to build a sustainable regional network of youth agripreneurs that continues to collaborate, mentor one another, and share opportunities. This vision aligns squarely with the EAC Youth Strategy and the African Union’s Agenda 2063, both of which position youth empowerment and sustainable agriculture as cornerstones of continental transformation.
Voices from the Frontlines of Innovation
For many young agripreneurs, the Expo comes at a time when the region is searching for new engines of growth.
“This is our moment,” said Joyce Ng’ang’a, a participant in the convening. “Youth must step forward to lead the transformation of East Africa’s food systems — not only to secure future food supply, but to build resilient, innovative, and globally competitive agri-food economies.”
Ng’ang’a also called for greater inclusion, urging governments and development partners to ensure that agricultural training, financing, and value-chain opportunities fully accommodate youth with disabilities — a group often left behind.
A Growing Continental Wave
EAYASE-25 follows another key youth-focused convening: last week’s Youth Forward for Agrifood Systems Transformation Forum (Youth FAST Forum) in Kigali. Organized by Rwanda’s Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources (MINAGRI) with support from development partners, the forum advanced the implementation of Rwanda’s National Strategy for Transformation (NST2) and the Strategic Plan for Agriculture Transformation (PSTA5).
Both gatherings signal a rising consensus: youth are not just beneficiaries of Africa’s agricultural transformation — they are its architects.