MwAPATA Institute and NYCOM take steps to attract youth into agriculture – Malawi Nyasa Times

Malawian agricultural policy think tank – the MwAPATA Institute – and the state-funded National Youth Commission of Malawi (NYCOM) have agreed to work together to find solutions to the challenges that prevent young people from participating in agriculture.

William Chaza, executive director of the MwAPATA Institute, said young people do not seem to be interested in agriculture, which is the backbone of Malawi’s economy, despite comprising more than 80 percent of the population.

Chaza made the remarks in Lilongwe while presenting a study on barriers and prospects for youth participation in agriculture and food systems in Malawi.

The study explored some of the prospects and opportunities for young people to participate in agriculture and agri-food systems. It also looked at some of the barriers and obstacles that prevent them from taking up farming.

“We have identified a number of issues. One is that the number of young people engaging in agriculture has dropped significantly, the level of skills they are applying has also dropped significantly, and there are other challenges in terms of access to finance and access to markets, especially equity markets, which would allow young people to get better returns from their participation and investment in agriculture,” he said.

“Also, we noticed that although we have a relatively favourable policy environment, I think there are still challenges in implementation, especially specific strategies that would guide what should be done to support youth participation in agriculture. But during the study, we also looked at some opportunities and what can actually be done to support or incentivize youth participation in agriculture. So we noticed that there are many opportunities that can be achieved. One of them is to think about from a financing perspective, the possibility of setting up a special window to provide funds to youth to enable them to participate in agriculture, but also to support youth financial literacy so that they gain the knowledge and ability to manage their finances,” he added.

In his speech, NYCOM Executive Director Rex Chapota commended the think tank for conducting this groundbreaking study on the barriers and prospects faced by young people in Malawi’s food system.

Chapota agrees with the MwAPATA Institute that the agricultural sector has failed to attract young people to participate, with the number of young people working in the sector declining steadily over the past two decades.

“The outcome of this case has inspired us to start engaging with all stakeholders in a very rigorous way to ensure that young people are able to participate in agriculture. This study will also help us guide our plans. Currently, we are finalizing the strategic plan for the Malawi National Youth Commission. The findings of the study will have a place in our plans so that we can get young people back into agriculture. The agriculture that young people are talking about is not just traditional agriculture. They want commercial agriculture. They want knowledge-based agriculture, digitally powered agriculture. So this is really a criteria that will form our next steps in engaging young people in agriculture. In fact, the commission will drive this process,” he said.

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