Agriculture
Youth shape future of Malawi’s agriculture
November 09, 2021 / Chisomo Phiri
Malawian youths have risen up to shape the future of the country’s agriculture sector by exploring opportunities along the value chain in production and markets.
Youths in central Malawi’s Lilongwe district, have teamed up under a project called Youth in Agribusiness to harness the potential of the sector away from subsistence farming to employment creation, economic growth, export earnings, poverty reduction, food security, and nutrition.
Founder and leader of the group, Blessings Banda, says the aim of organization is to make agriculture attractive and profitable to the youth so that they can embrace it and be able to create wealth.
Population growth and an economic slump have disrupted livelihoods in Malawi, where unemployment, mostly youth unemployment, is on the rise.
” This is an intergenerational initiative that offers practical skills to empower the youth by providing capacity building so that they take agriculture as a business and be able to create wealth”, explains Banda adding that the project also aims at opening production and marketing opportunities for the youths as well as lobbying for better market prices.
“We are a conduit that connects youths to access agri-finance,” he says pointing out that the institution will act as a guarantor to cushion participants who may struggle to provide collateral against agrifinance loans.
Banda says despite making some progress, Malawi still has a long way to go in agribusiness, especially in the provision of agrifinance as well as extension services in terms of agritechnical knowledge, expertise and support.
“Luckily, government and other stakeholders are already making partnerships aimed at creating a sustainable business environment for agriculture,” he explains emphasizing that deliberate policies and programs are underway to create good, profitable and promising markets.
Endorsing the project, founder and CEO of a Lilongwe-based enterprise, Mtengowakumunda company, Sylvester Chabuka, reiterates that agribusiness is very important to the social-economic development of the country.
He urges the youth to change their mindsets and seeing agriculture as a business.
Chabuka says that though 80 percent of the country’s population are engaged in agriculture, most do not take it as a business but rather for subsistence.
“Am glad to see my fellow youth, Blessings, implementing this project. We need more youths to venture into agribusiness and explore the value addition chains”, Chabuka says observing that value addition for farm produce has huge demand and potential in food processing.
Agriculture accounts for around 28 percent of the county’s GDP and contributes over 80 percent of the national export earnings, according to the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy III.
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