Analysis of the Contribution of the Competence-Based Agriculture Curriculum towards Promoting Innovative Agri-preneurship Among Junior Secondary School Students in Kenya

Abstract

The continued rise in youth unemployment evident from the surging cases of rural-urban migration culminating to social crimes, mushrooming of slums, HIV/AIDS and the never- ending vicious poverty cycle prompted the Kenyan government to change its education system from the 8-4-4 to the current 2-6-3-3-3 which is considered to take a more pragmatic approach to the teaching of vocational subjects such as Agriculture. With the 2-6-3-3-3 system being deemed fit to produce skillful youth who will significantly contribute to the economic development of the country, this study narrowed down to analyze the possible contribution of the competence-based agriculture curriculum towards promoting innovative agripreneurship among junior secondary school students. The study heavily relied on reviewing the most current and relevant literature linking competence based agricultural education to youth innovation and agripreneurship conducted for a 7-month duration between February and September 2024. Scholarly databases such as Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, John and Wiley, Taylor and Francis were used as the sources of secondary data for the study. The journal articles selected for the study were first verified to meet specified criteria such as written in English, have empirical data, focus on Competence-Based Education, agripreneurship and innovation among students and published in peer-reviewed journals. A total of 47 articles were used as sources of secondary data. In addition, content analysis of the grades 7 and 8 Agriculture and nutrition curriculum was also used as a source of data. The study established that Competency Based Agriculture promotes innovation and agripreneurship among learners. The study also established that the Junior Secondary Agriculture and Nutrition Curriculum covers much content promoting innovative agripreneurship. The study therefore recommends that teachers of Agriculture as the curriculum implementers should make efforts to implement CBA agriculture in a practical manner.