A passport or a laptop: How young Kenyans are finding work beyond home
BY Oduor Rosequillet Nabwire
On a farm in England, Irene Wairimu learned that a working day could be measured in trays of raspberries.
The Agriculture and Biotechnology graduate from Bukura Agricultural College was among the first cohort of Kenyan students to take up work in the United Kingdom through the labour mobility programme. After graduating in 2024, she spent six months at Woodfield Farm, harvesting blueberries, planting raspberries and picking the fruit.
A typical day came with a target. Workers were expected to pick about seven trays of raspberries, but Wairimu says she sometimes picked as many as 15. The additional trays could attract a higher rate of pay and a bonus.
For her, the work offered more than a wage. She learned different ways of planting, managing and harvesting crops, while also having to coordinate with supervisors, meet targets and keep up with the pace of the farm.
But working abroad also came with challenges she had not experienced at home.
The farm brought together workers from different countries, and communication could sometimes be difficult. Her Bulgarian supervisors added another language barrier. Then there was the winter cold.
Wairimu recalls developing swelling around her nails and missing three days of work after falling ill. The days were unpaid, while her housing costs continued.
When the contract ended, she returned to Kenya. She later started Coin Agrovet in Isu, Mbeere North, Embu County, where she now serves farmers through the business.
Unlike Irene, Festus’s challenge came before he could even board the plane to England.
In November 2025, he secured a job on a commercial strawberry farm in England, but his family struggled to raise enough money to cover his travelling costs.
“The problem is funding,” he says.
The Youth Enterprise Development Fund has a migration loan designed to help young Kenyans who have secured employment abroad. The facility can support pre-departure costs, including passports, visas, air tickets, medical examinations, professional certification and pre-departure training, with individual loans ranging from KSh10,000 to KSh300,000.
Festus says he received KSh185,000 through the fund to finance his journey.
Once in England, he worked in strawberry production and packing.
But international work does not always require a plane ticket.
For Douglas, the search for work beyond Kenya began with a link sent by a friend. It led him to a recruitment agency that was relatively new in Kenya, accepted beginners and trained them before connecting them with clients.
He has worked with foreign clients from Kenya for the past four years and has also built a client relationship of his own.
His work takes place from a desk in his room, but the schedule is determined by different time zones. Some shifts begin at about 6 p.m. and continue into the early morning. On the day of the interview, he finished his shift at about 4 a.m.
A laptop and an internet connection were enough to open the door to the work, but keeping it going was another matter.
Electricity interruptions, weak internet connectivity and an inadequate laptop affected his work. At one point, his sister’s house became a backup workplace when power cuts made it difficult to work from his own home.
He saved for a better laptop and eventually bought a second one.
The demands extended beyond equipment. Douglas had to learn to manage his time, communicate proactively, conduct research and deliver work without the physical supervision that comes with a conventional workplace.
During a three-week visit to Uganda, he continued working remotely. But working across time zones has also affected his routine. Late shifts can disrupt sleep, while working from home can be isolating. He has tried to create a life outside work through errands, hiking, swimming and occasional work from coworking spaces.
For those who do travel, recruitment agencies remain an important link between Kenyan workers and employers abroad.
Benjamin, who has worked with a recruitment agency in Nairobi and its office in Qatar for about three years, says he has helped about 1,500 Kenyans travel to Qatar for employment.
His work has since expanded to connecting Kenyan workers with employers in Germany. He says the employer came to Kenya looking for workers in professions including medicine, nursing and hospitality. Depending on the position, applicants may need relevant professional qualifications and German-language proficiency, including B1-level competence.
But overseas employment is not limited to graduates and professionals. Recruitment agencies also connect Kenyan workers without specialised professional qualifications to jobs abroad.
Daniel Maria of TDM International Limited recruits both skilled and unskilled workers for overseas employment. He says about 700 Kenyan security guards were recruited for work at Hamad International Airport in the previous year. Some received additional training to work as screeners and fire wardens.
For jobseekers, however, finding an overseas employer also means establishing whether the offer is genuine and understanding the obligations that come with it.
The State Department for Diaspora Affairs advises jobseekers to verify recruitment agencies through the National Employment Authority and ensure their employment contracts are authenticated by a Labour Officer before departure. The process helps workers understand the terms of employment and guard against fraud, coercion and undue influence. The State Department’s Kazi Majuu platform also provides information on overseas job opportunities and labour mobility.
For a prospective worker, the questions begin before the journey: Who is recruiting? Who is the actual employer? Where is the job located? What is the salary, and what deductions will be made? What costs must be paid before departure?
The scale of overseas employment is significant. On 10 September 2026, Principal Secretary for Diaspora Affairs Roseline Kathure Njogu said Kenya had placed more than 580,000 citizens in overseas jobs through the Kazi Majuu Programme and other initiatives. She cited language training, skills certification, recognition of qualifications and pre-departure preparation as part of efforts to strengthen labour mobility and protect Kenyan workers abroad.
Healthcare is also becoming part of this international recruitment drive. On 2 February 2026, Njogu and Athari Global Chief Executive Officer Dr Deepak Soni signed a Letter of Intent to advance the Muuguzi Majuu programme, which seeks to connect qualified Kenyan healthcare professionals with employment opportunities in Canada.
Once abroad, Kenyan diplomatic missions provide another point of support on consular and welfare matters. The State Department advises Kenyans facing distress abroad to contact the nearest Kenyan embassy, high commission or consulate for assistance.
For Irene, however, the experience in Britain became useful after she came home.
At Woodfield Farm, she had been exposed to different approaches to crop production and to the discipline of working towards production targets.
Back in Embu, she applied that experience when she established Coin Agrovet.
“It helped me, as a young person, to come up with my own business,” she says.
Irene’s story is one example of how experience gained abroad can be put to use back home. For Kenyans who remain abroad, that connection can take a different form, through investment, skills and expertise.
The Kenya Diaspora Investment Strategy 2025–2030 provides a framework for attracting diaspora investment and facilitating the use of diaspora savings, skills, expertise and technology in Kenya’s economic development. The strategy identifies direct diaspora investment, skills and technology transfer, and stronger support for diaspora investors among the department’s priorities.
The department has established the Diaspora Investment Support Office (DISO) to provide information, investment facilitation, investor protection and aftercare to diaspora investors.
It has also been developing digital mechanisms through which Kenyans abroad can identify and participate in investment opportunities in Kenya without having to return physically.
On 20 September 2026, the Government of Kenya, the United Nations in Kenya and Equity Group Holdings signed a Joint Declaration of Intent to collaborate on the Kenya Diaspora Impact Platform in New York. The proposed digital platform is intended to connect Kenyans and other diaspora-based investors with credible and verifiable investment and development opportunities in Kenya, including community-impact projects, financing for micro, small and medium enterprises, philanthropy, and skills and knowledge transfer.
Irene travelled to England and came back with skills she could use in her own business. Festus had to find the means to get to a job he had already secured. Douglas found that an international career did not require him to leave Kenya at all.
For each of them, work beyond home has taken a different form.
The work may begin on a farm in England, in an office in another country or behind a laptop in a Kenyan home. What follows is shaped by what workers are able to earn, learn and build from the opportunity.
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