Smallholder Farmers Are Not ‘Beneficiaries’, but ‘Co-Creators of Change’

Eluid Rugut, a youth agri-champion at the Ban Ki-Moon Centre. Credit- Busani Bafana-IPS

By Naureen Hossain

NAIROBI, Apr 17 2025 (IPS) - Eliud Rugut comes from generations of farmers, yet his family expected him to move out of their home and pursue another career.

He studied economics and started working in business and marketing, though it would be short-lived as he lost his job during the COVID-19 pandemic. When he moved back to his parents’ home, he wanted to turn around their farm’s productivity.

The farm’s production of millet, sorghum, and maize had been decreasing over the years—it had declined by 60 percent, a significant loss when the farm was the family’s main source of income. Part of the reason for this loss was attributed to the impact of climate change on soil degradation or pest infestations, and part of it was also because his parents were relying on the same seeds and farming techniques with little variation.

“My mother was open to new innovations,” Rugut said, explaining that she had asked him to bring forward new ideas to resolve the issues they faced. “She convinced my father to give me one acre to grow products in.”

At first, Rugut’s father was highly resistant to sharing his land because he would be losing part of his income. In a patriarchal society like that in Rugut’s community in Kenya, men hold greater rights when it comes to land inheritance and are the final authority on how the land is to be used. Eventually Rugut’s father agreed to lend out one acre of land.

It was with this single acre that Rugut built a greenhouse where he applied his farming techniques, technologies, and seeds. He planted crops such as bell peppers, indigenous vegetables, and several fruits, all of which grew during a different season from his family’s grains. Upon seeing the productivity from these crops—and the significant earnings they brought in—Rugut’s father was almost in disbelief that they could produce such results in a shorter timeframe than his maize crops. He took to walking around the greenhouse some nights, as though he needed to see the results and understand for himself, Rugut said. It was a step forward in changing his mind about adopting new approaches to farming.

Rugut would also download and play YouTube videos on agriculture for his father to watch at home. The exposure to different farming techniques through educational (and free) videos that were made by or were about farmers and their lived experience also went a long way in opening up Rugut’s father’s mind to the possibilities, especially when he saw how his son was applying those same techniques on their farm.

Rugut took action, bringing knowledge and innovation to his family and the wider community. Today, he is one of the founders of Silo Africa, which manufactures and sells silo systems for smallholder farmers, which are equipped with smart technology that allows farmers to track the stored grains’ conditions. This was also founded on his innovations with his family’s farm as a way to combat pests and weevils going through their grains. The company is looking to expand their business beyond Kenya and provide silos to farmers across the African continent.

Rugut’s journey in the agri-food industry was shaped when, in 2022, he joined the Ban Ki-Moon Centre for Global Citizens’ (BKMC) Youth Agri Champions Program. “It was one of the game changers of my life,” he said when describing his time in the program.

The opportunities to learn about scaling for impact and climate in agri-food systems had shaped his mindset around his work and the ideas he could take back to his community. With his fellow youth champions, they could commiserate about shared experiences and commonalities over land ownership and how these shaped their farming practices. These were opportunities to share best practices.

BKMC’s most significant impact was giving champions a platform to “elevate [their] voices.”

“That is one thing the youth have never had. Our voices were never heard,” Rugut said. “We never had platforms to voice our challenges, to voice what we are doing.”

Through the BKMC, Rugut could attend conferences like COP28 and share the stage with world leaders, doctors, academic researchers, and policymakers, which was “nerve-wracking” at first. Rugut’s time as a Youth AgriChampion showed him that it was possible for youth farmers, especially smallholder farmers, to “communicate [their] challenges.” More than that, their perspectives held weight.

Rugut has been pleased to dispel any misinformation around small farmers and prove that they are “open to learning” about new farming techniques, since they were already finding ways to adapt to the challenges brought on by climate change. What they need is for this information to be accessible, which is where he would “really challenge” conference attendees to “package” their research in a way that people like him could take the information back to the communities.

Each year, the Youth AgriChampions put out a ‘demand’ paper, which they present at the UN Climate Conference. Regular demands from these papers call for further investments in climate financing, capacity building, and access to climate-smart technology.

“We’ve gotten our voice through the Ban Ki-Moon [Centre] and through this demand paper—there is a document that can speak for us, and people who can speak for us.”

Although conferences like the UN Climate Conference and CGIAR Science Week bring stakeholders from all over the world and can serve as platforms for farmers from the Global South to participate in the conversations, there is still scope for further growth and inclusion.

Such conferences are largely for other stakeholder organizations that conduct research or run interventions in the agri-food systems, but it is still rare for farmers from marginalized communities—or “beneficiaries,” as they are known—to be present in these discussions. The research and solutions discussed in these conferences are often written and presented through a technical lens for a different audience.

“They talk a language that is only understandable by […] the researchers, the scientists, and the donors,” Rugut remarked. “But the very actors… they call it the ‘beneficiaries,’ the people who are at the forefront, who are supposed to have this technology, [who are] affected by the changes, they haven’t been at the table… It’s not enough, but it is a start for us.”

“As a youth and as a smallholder farmer, people view us as beneficiaries. But we are not just beneficiaries. We are co-creators of the change. We are very innovative. We want to be at the table to partner with various actors in the industry so we can improve it.”

Seeing them as “receivers” waiting for solutions is risky because it undermines those on the ground who are innovating and contributing. Even though they are deeply affected by food insecurity and the risks of farming across different environments, farmers are at the forefront of tackling the issue.

Rugut argues that young farmers are part of that charge in the strides and innovations they are making in increasing food security. They only need further support from larger actors such as the government, financiers, and non-governmental organizations in the agriculture industry. “The guys who are working in these big offices, they have three meals a day. We guarantee them three meals a day. So, are we the beneficiaries or are we the actors?”

IPS UN Bureau Report