Lilongwe, October 20, Mana: Farmers Voice Africa (FAVOA) has advised youths in the country to venture into farming business if they are to transform their social economic status as well as improve countrys agriculture sector.
In an interview with Malawi News Agency (MANA), FAVOA Board Chairperson Professor George Kanyama Phiri said youth should stop relying on being employed and should focus on entrepreneurship mainly by doing farming business.
“Our country has highest concentration of youth as compared to other age categories. When these youths are trained in various programs the first thing they would like is to find a job.
“But now we are advising these youths to focus on entrepreneurship. Through this, we are hoping that they would be empowered economically while helping government in transforming the agricultural industry as well as creating jobs in the country,” Phiri said.
Recently, FAVOA officially launched a project dubbed FAVOA Innovation and Investment Group (FIIG) at Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR).
The main mission of the project is to strengthen and nurture business skills among farmers and youth in the country with special focus on entrepreneurial planning and profitable investment.
Minister of Agriculture, Lobin Lowe hailed FAVOA for involving the youth in its initiatives especially in the area of agriculture.
“As a Ministry all along our focus has been on rural smallholder farmers and we have invested a lot in these farmers but they have not moved to the required standards.
“Therefore we have now started focusing on involving the youth in agriculture. We believe that youths would help to transform agricultural sector in the country. I am excited to hear that FAVOA is engaging the youth in its agricultural projects,” he said.
FAVOA was established in 2017 and its objectives includes looking into the welfare of farmers and empowering the youth in Agri-entrepreneurships as well as promoting smallholder farmers participation in food security related policy processes.