Africa-Press – Eswatini. The public sector has been encouraged to join hands with public enterprises to put together strategies on how to empower the youth in the country.
This is according to Sonia Paiva, Women Farmer Foundation (WFF) Director and Founder. Paiva was speaking during the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between WFF and the Youth Enterprise Revolving Fund (YERF) in Mbabane on Friday. “The youth should be able to come up with ideas and get help from these enterprises. Upon realising that the youth is not interested in agriculture, we decided to revamp ourselves and invite more young people within the organisation so that we could understand their needs and how they think,” said Paiva. The director went on to say that because the agriculture landscape in the country had on average, older people working in it and that the different generations have a responsibility to come together and share knowledge and expertise.
Training
The aims of the MoU are to foster the start of training, where beneficiaries who apply for the youth fund for projects in farming, get the training they need from WFF. Because WFF specialises in unconventional farming methods, such as protected farming, YERF seized the opportunity to place its beneficiaries at the WFF training programme. The MoU will also see the two entities partnering to provide agri-seminars, opportunities in other areas, market linkages and value addition to products. Paiva went on to mention that the country’s education system produces brilliant students without any practical experience. “The thing that motivates young people is money, and if we are going to motivate them, which part of the agricultural sector that brings in the money are we going to involve them in? Those are the questions we should be asking ourselves as a nation.”
Weaknesses
The two entities started a journey a while back, looking at potential areas of collaboration. Youth fund acknowledged its weaknesses and shortfalls and then looked for a partner to compliment those shortcomings, especially in the agri-space. “We raised our hand to WFF and said that we needed support with the young people we fund. We realised that the number of young people interested in agriculture keeps on growing and we needed a partner to help us groom them into becoming the best the country has ever seen,” said Mandla Nkambule, YERF Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Nkambule reiterated Paiva’s call on the involvement of private entities in the quest to improve the lives of the youth in the country. “We are anticipating a huge uptake of the opportunities by our youth, as a result of this partnership. There are a lot of underutilised farms in the country which can be used for food production by the youth and we have a duty to give them up for these young people to work and produce food for the country,” added Nkambule.
For More News And Analysis About Eswatini Follow Africa-Press
