FAVOA challenges youth to venture into farming business

One of the country’s Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Farmers Voice Africa (FAVOA) has advised the youth in the country to venture into farming business if they are to transform their social-economic status as well as improve the country’s agriculture sector.

In an interview, FAVOA Board Chairperson Professor George Kanyama Phiri said that youth should stop relying on being employed hence they should focus on entrepreneurship activities mainly by doing farming business.

“Our country has the highest concentration of youth as compared to other age categories when these youth are trained in various programs the first thing they would like is to find a job.

“But now we are advising these youth to focus on entrepreneurship specifically by doing farming business, through this we are hoping that they would be empowered economically while helping the 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 the farmers and youth in the country with a special focus on entrepreneurial planning and profitable investment.

In his remarks, Minister of Agriculture, Robin 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, as a ministry, we believe that youth would help to transform the agricultural sector in the country, hence 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 include; looking into the welfare of farmers and empowering the youth in Agri-entrepreneurship as well as promoting smallholder farmers’ participation in food security-related policy processes.