Jacob’s Ladder Africa (JLA) and Makueni County entered into a significant partnership on the 18th of January 2024 to enhance the economic growth of the youth in Makueni County through green jobs. . The County Government signed a memorandum of understanding to empower young entrepreneurs in the County by equipping them with the skills and knowledge needed to increase their chances of success in agribusiness.
This partnership is a demonstration of JLA’s mandate to enhance green workforce readiness by catalysing 30 million jobs in the green economy in Africa by 2033. We have devotedly done this through the development and implementation of socio-economic programs, incubation of young entrepreneurs and advocacy. These programs are aimed at empowering grassroot communities to create climate resilient livelihoods and green jobs.
Makueni County Government recently established an Economic Empowerment Fund, whose aim is to provide financial support to various groups and individuals from the County. This fund is based on the premise that micro, small and medium enterprise development initiatives have the biggest impact on job creation and create livelihood opportunities, spurring economic growth in the county if supported and managed well. County governments are critical climate change actors in that they formulate policies and laws that could include the prevention of carbon leakage in energy intensive industries, promotion of cleaner production techniques, provision of economic incentives, among other policy measures. JLA seeks to work with like-minded partners such as county governments and non-governmental institutions to design and implement locally relevant development programs focused on the creation of sustainable livelihoods largely targeting persons with disability, women and youth.
The signing of this MoU therefore complements Makueni County’s Empowerment Fund, which aims to automate the issuance and collection of funds, therefore, equipping beneficiaries. JLA will support the designing of a robust program to aid county staff in the identification and vetting of youth groups, as well as provide training in key areas and mentorship to enable these youth groups to manage their businesses successfully. JLA will also fund 20 youth groups and persons with disability to undertake aquaculture and poultry projects.
This MoU further cements the affirmation that young people are not victims of climate change but also valuable contributors to climate action. The objective of this MoU is to equip youth with skill sets in agro-allied jobs. Together with the County Government of Makueni, this program will focus on select value chains and entails a robust system of selection, vetting, training and mentorship aimed at nurturing a new generation of young financially stable individuals in Makueni County.
In the long run, this intervention will mitigate food insecurity and generate decent livelihoods particularly in the value chains such as Fish Farming, Poultry Farming, Vegetable Farming, Beekeeping and growing tree nursery seedlings. JLA also seeks to partner with more counties to create jobs along other value chains.
