Establishment of current and emerging trends in agricultural labour markets in Kenya

Agriculture is one of the important sectors in sub-Saharan Africa and improvement of labour force is essential for the development of the sector. The objective of this study was to establish current and emerging trends in Agricultural Labour Market in Kenya and within the East African region through the vacancies advertisements in mass and electronic media. A study covering a 3-year period was executed by analysis of advertised agricultural positions in the mass and electronic media, from the private and public sectors concerning the requirements and qualifications that are required in agricultural labour market. The advertised positions for agricultural labour markets considered institutions of higher learning, national agricultural research institutions, international agricultural research organizations, private sector and public sector between 2012 and 2014. The positions requirements were categorized into BSc, MSc and PhD in agricultural economics, agricultural engineering, food technology and agronomy related disciplines. The study results indicate that computer skills requirement including ability to use internet and internet related applications for technical information increased from 6.7% in 2013 to 12.1% in 2014. About 30% of advertised vacancies required an additional management and organization skills, and about 12% of advertised vacancies in research organizations required ability to layout and manage experiments. This study results indicate dynamism in agricultural labour market and the need to tailor agricultural training in institutions of higher learning for labour market needs.