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Govt pushes for youths in agriculture

20 Jul, 2018 - 00:07 0 Views

eBusiness Weekly

Hebert Zharare
Government is in the process of crafting a comprehensive policy that will among other things come up with strategies meant to mainstream the youths into the agriculture sector, in the process assisting them to benefit from value addition programmes, a senior Government official has revealed.

After realising the importance of agriculture exhibitions nationwide, efforts are also being made to ensure the youths in agriculture participate in agriculture shows as a strategy for them to share experiences in various forms of farming.

Speaking to the Business Weekly on Wednesday Senior Principal Director Public Affairs and Knowledge Management in the Office of the President and Cabinet Ambassador Marry Mubi, said agriculture is key to economic development, therefore the need to excite the youths to join the sector.

“Agriculture is a key sector in economic development and we want to excite more youths so they go into the sector. There are broad professions in the agriculture sector. During the agriculture shows we want to have children’s corner exhibiting and showcasing various opportunities obtaining in the agriculture sector.

“We want the young people to understand that there are many opportunities in the sector. There is a stereotype that when you talk of agriculture, many people start thinking of weeding in the fields using some hoes. We want to remove those stereotypes. The youths must think of value addition, soil testing and research in various seed varieties and forward and backward linkages in agriculture,” she said.

Ambassador Mubi said the Agriculture Show Society has entered into partnership agreement with 13 other agriculture show organisers to jointly manage some regional shows in different parts of the country.

She said it was Government’s desire for the youths to participate in regional shows, adding in the meantime the target was participation in the main agriculture show in Harare.

“It is our hope to have the youths participating in all these exhibitions. However, in the meantime we are participating in the main show.”

Profiling youths farming business activities

Latest information from the Ministry of Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development indicate there are tens of thousands of youths who have ventured into farming using family farms, while others are leasing land.

However, it emerged there is information deficiency in the agriculture sector on which strategic farming programmes are being undertaken by young farmers, calling for documentation of their business activities and profiling of the businesses.

Ambassador Mubi said there are several youths in various provinces who are into farming businesses including crops farming and animals rearing among others and the exhibitions were supposed to assist them amass knowledge in other value chains in the sector.

“We are in the process of coming up with a comprehensive policy that will guide the youths’ participation in the agriculture sector. We are running with the national brands, as Zimbabwe, we need to export many agriculture products. We need to excite many youths to venture into agriculture,” she said.

Farming activities related to particular ecological regions

Zimbabwe has at least five ecological farming regions with different rainfall patterns, making it difficult for some crops to be grown in some parts of the country.

There has been disturbing developments where some farmers without irrigation facilities have tried tobacco farming in some dry areas in Matabeleland region, while others have also tried to venture into maize farming.

There have been sad stories of the crops and other farming activities that have failed because they did not provide a strategic fit in the particular ecological region.

Stemming from this background, Ambassador Mubi, said there was a greater need for national profile of different crops and farming activities suitable for each region if the youths were to derive maximum benefits from farming programmes in their locations.

“Having served as an ambassador in countries including Italy, we have seen local people learning how to target foreign markets. This is done after they have managed to satisfy local markets. The farmers must know what to grow in each province,” she said.

This has been the biggest let down for farmers who grew crops without knowledge of where to sell them.

Therefore, working with graduates from agriculture colleges, the youths farmers can now venture into unique businesses that will have far reaching consequences in the economy.

The fields that have ready markets locally and abroad include the horticulture sector, tobacco farming, animal rearing and husbandry among others that can ensure their sustenance, eventually cascading into national economic benefits.

Backward and forward linkages in farming

Farming the world over is a multibillion dollar industry and the youths as the mainstay of economic development should be accorded opportunities to tape opportunities in this lucrative sector. Backward production linkages refer to linkages from the farm to the part of the non-farm sector that provides inputs for agricultural production, for example agrochemicals and other critical farming implements.

There are vast business opportunities the youths can leverage on especially in the area of seed varieties research, improvising on requirements for tillage, planting and chemicals applications. Given that some farmers are planting vast swathes of land with maize and other cereal crops that are prone to pests, designing drones for chemicals application is a huge business for those who are techno savvy. Forward linkages which entails the distribution and processing of agricultural outputs are fundamental components of agribusiness that the youths can also venture into.

There are vast business opportunities that arise after producing farm produce and there is a greater need for a sustained approach meant to help the youths realise their dreams. There are many opportunities that arise in value addition of farm produce that are demanded by foreign markets. There are areas such as canning fruits and vegetables, juice making, meat processing into biltong among others that can generate foreign currency.

Pooling resources and venturing into partnerships

It is common knowledge in Zimbabwe that raising capital has been a mammoth task for many budding businesses as banks do not lend money normally to people without a track record and collateral.

This leaves many youths without access to capital to start their agribusinesses, a situation that calls for people to join hands. As Ambassador Mubi notes there are so many farm produces that were going to waste.

“If you travel along highways you notice there are so many tomatoes, mangoes that are being lost. These products can be stored in huge refrigerators or dried up and used during off season when they fetch more value. The people can pool resources and venture into juice processing and other forms of value chains.

“My understanding with small scale farmers in Italy is they formed groups where they negotiated for better prices for inputs when they buy in bulky. The same can be done when sourcing markets because they are likely to get a better deal when they source markets as a group,” she said.

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