Growing up, Lencer Ochele wanted to be many things - a doctor, an engineer, a pilot and a lawyer but not a farmer. She didn’t really see successful farmers in her village so it wasn’t a profession she dreamed of. A number of spirited youth in agriculture campaigns changed all that.

Lencer comes from a humble background where meeting the basic family needs was a challenge. She was frequently pulled out of high school as her family struggled to pay her school fees so she never finished her secondary education.

Growing up, Lencer Ochele wanted to be many things - a doctor, an engineer, a pilot and a lawyer but not a farmer. She didn’t really see successful farmers in her village so it wasn’t a profession she dreamed of. A number of spirited youth in agriculture campaigns changed all that.

Lencer comes from a humble background where meeting the basic family needs was a challenge. She was frequently pulled out of high school as her family struggled to pay her school fees so she never finished her secondary education.

But Lencer has a fighting spirit. She has done all kinds of menial jobs since leaving high school and often found it quite hard as there is a lot of competition for employment - it is said that any job advertised in Kenya receives about 1000 applications.

Despite this, agriculture was still not a profession she thought much about. It wasn’t until she started to notice the youth in agriculture activities and essay contests, blogging contests and the latest "AgriHack Talent" contest run by CTA that her interested was grabbed and she started to contemplate a career in agriculture.

She is now a small-scale farmer in Kisumu – she grows tomatoes and trades in grains and her vision now is to support her community with basic agricultural commodities. Her community is well known for fishing and so farmers struggle to get support. She therefore hopes to become a great entrepreneur in the sector and help the less fortunate farmers.

For her, the YPARD mentoring program couldn’t have come at a better time. When she heard about it, she grabbed it. “I thought it would be nice to know at least one person who knows more than I do about agricultural development and is willing to guide me. It is also good to have the assurance that someone else has been through everything before me and could help me along the way.” She says.

When not working and worrying about her customers, Lencer says she likes reading inspirational books, singing and travelling. What has kept her going in the face of her challenges is the motto: “support a healthy attitude and commitment to succeed.”