Address Gen Z unemployment through value chains in key sectors

When a tea farmer in Kericho walks into a local store and buys a leather jacket or a cotton shirt made in Kenya, he is not just shopping, he is actively driving and contributing to economic growth by stimulating multiple sectors of the economy.

Unknowingly, he becomes part of the value chain that is attached to pastoralists in northern Kenya and the cotton farmers in Coast, Nyanza, Western, and Central region counties, to the leather processing tanneries in Athi River and Nakuru and the sewing machines in Nairobi. This forms a network that links rural production with urban industrial transformation, generating thousands of jobs, sustaining livelihoods, and fostering inter-county economic transformation through enterprise and innovation.

That single purchase demonstrates the potential of key sectors of the economy in addressing the growing national challenge of unemployment by giving hope to thousands of jobless Gen Z youth. By focusing on strategic sectors such as farming and livestock, and applying a structured value chain policy framework around them, Kenya can unlock the hidden opportunities in its productive sectors of the economy. What is needed is not just policy drafting, but a comprehensive framework that responds to the grassroots challenges of the rural economy through the value chain. And that must be intentional.

Real job creation calls for practical and tangible commitments from both levels of government. This is not just a game changer, but a path to employment for youth across the country.

The journey to address youth unemployment begins where the Kenyan economy has always begun; at the grassroots, in the hands of the farmers and pastoralists. From the coffee growers of Murang’a to the tea growers of Kericho, to the herders in Turkana, Kajiado, and Wajir, and the cotton growers in Taita Taveta, there lies the country’s potential of creating opportunities for thousands of unemployed youths. These rural economies hold an immense potential to drive industrial growth, employment, and transformation through the value chain for both domestic and export markets.

For instance, if the government harnesses even half of its livestock capacity, that could support the creation of thousands of jobs for the young people. Youth-led firms could collect hides, drivers transport them to tanneries, and engineers and technicians would operate processing machines. This process would gradually build value while absorbing idle youth into the economy. Similarly, revitalising vast acres of idle land for production could generate thousands of direct and indirect jobs in the agricultural and livestock sectors at the rural level, textile processing, and the fashion industry. Each stage would absorb idle youths into the economy.

As cotton is transformed into fabric, young engineers, technicians, and production managers find meaningful roles. In Nairobi, designers and tailors convert them into finished products of jackets, boots, belts, uniforms, and bags. Every item produced secures a job for the young generation.

Preferably, the leather product worn by a tea farmer in Kericho or Murang’a should have come from a Boran cow in Isiolo, the boots on his feet should have been crafted from leather tanned in Thika, and the cotton shirt on his back should have been woven from fibre grown in Siaya and tailored in Nairobi.

As local and export demand for such products grow, youth-led retail ventures begin to emerge, such as e-commerce startups becoming a powerful employment engine of their own, creating opportunities in the digital market, content creators, and logistics that can shape a modern network that reaches both the urban and the rural markets. With the right support from the government, such as ‘Buy Kenya’ campaigns, the retail and ICT sectors also have the potential to generate more jobs for Gen Z.

Every shilling spent on a Kenyan-made product circulates back through the economy, to the farmer, the tailor, the driver, the designer. It is not a one-way extraction, but a reinvestment. The cotton farmer uses his income to buy better seeds, the tannery hires more staff, and the tailor expands. This flow strengthens the entire ecosystem.