Samuel Kadungure
News Editor
YOUTH is often the time when one starts to dream of the future, think of the path to take – and aggressively set life in motion – but for many, being a farmer is not part of the envisaged future.
Many dream to be doctors, pilots, engineers or lawyers, but rarely to be farmers.
When the term farming is mentioned, the image of aged poor scruffy man with a flat cap and tweed jacket, sucking a piece of straw and looking beaten down by the sun comes to mind.
It hardly looks like farming is a lucrative venture– so many migrate to cities or abroad for ‘better’ opportunities.
Youths perceive farming as a job for the aged illiterates staying in rural areas. Even some farmers’ children are reluctant to go into farming because of this negative impression, and the fact that it is not driven by technology.
Mr Simon Nyabadza of Rusape, who was recently earmarked for sponsorship at the SADC Innovation and Rural Transformation Fair for his strides in finding tech-driven solutions to propel food security among smallholder farmers and boost rural development, said technology has the ability to uplift the lives of small-scale young farmers.
He said they also provide high-tech products and services to farmers in the form of agri-yield sensors, weather stations and soil moisture sensors as well as laboratory services for soil analysis and fertiliser advice.
“There is a growing culture among youths for quick returns, quick deals and ultimately ‘the get rich quick’ mantra. This is because the current characters who are deemed ‘successful’ and project flashy lifestyles are mostly dealers. Concurrently, the adverse effects of social media cannot be ignored – again creating a façade that success is an overnight exercise. Thus, agriculture is not perceived as attractive. Access to competitive finance plays a critical role in the business model of agriculture.
“Respectfully, on paper there are avenues in which youths are meant to access this, but the stark reality is that it is not the case. This is a major hindrance. The current economic environment poses unique challenges to youths. Many graduates are churned out annually, and there are no jobs. I am of the belief that we can create employment and entrepreneurship to stimulate growth. However, the demands of life do not wait, and thus youths justifiably feel excluded from opportunities, be it jobs or tools necessary to start their own ventures in agriculture and agribusiness,” he said.
There is growing concern that if youths are the future of the nation – and then rural youths are the future of agriculture and rural industralisation – how then can they be attracted to stay or work in the rural areas?
What will be the future of agriculture and food security without young farmers?
No farmer, no food.
No food, no life!
“The demographics are quite telling. Africa has the youngest population. As of 2023, 40 percent of the population was 15 years and below, compared to the global average of 25 percent. This youth population is projected to reach 850 million by 2050, and two billion of the work-age population by 2060. Regardless of all amazing achievements of mankind, from artificial intelligence to medical cures and discoveries, every one of us needs to eat.
“Therefore, there is a growing local, regional and international market for food. There is massive potential there. There is no future in agriculture without youths. Personally, one thing that keeps me going is remembering what Zimbabwean billionaire, Mr Strive Masiyiwa has repeatedly emphasised on – that if he could go back in time, he would have been in the agricultural sector.
“In our culture, seeing is believing. I believe that is imperative, especially given the challenging environment for millennials and Gen-Z that we showcase the success stories. It is certainly not all gloom and doom. Rather, there are young men and women charting the way in respective disciplines within agriculture. Let us make them more visible to motivate each other,” he said.
Indeed, there are numerous success stories of young farmers in Manicaland who took the responsibility to convert huge swathes of barren land into bastions of forests, aquaculture, fruit trees, crops, horticulture, livestock, plantations and wildlife production, agribusiness, value addition and ancillary services down the value chain.
This trend has brought back the glamour in agriculture which had faded away.
One such shining example is Mr Fungai Makoni, of Chitora Farm in Headlands, in Makoni District, who was allocated a 300-hectare farm in 2012, and through perseverance, hardworking, coupled with astute planning and hands-on management, did not only become an entrepreneur – but an agripreneurs.
He is proof that agriculture can be a gold mine for young people, contributing to producing enough quantity of nutritious food for the fast growing population using new modern farming technologies.
Mr Makoni quit his job as the chief executive officer of a luxury transport company to till the land, and stumbled on gold.
He now operates at least four highly utilised and mechanised farms around Rusape.
Talk of state-of-the-art farm equipment and machinery.
He is an example of highly educated young farmers investing heavily in both crop and livestock – leveraging on new technology, research and development as well as highly efficient irrigation.
Mr Makoni does cereal, tobacco and oil seed production, coupled with Boran cattle and Boer goat breeding.
He has mastered the practicalities of livestock production, and is well acquainted with the characteristics of his animals, their feed requirements, breeding habits and common illnesses.
He now flies by a helicopter to monitor his growing empire – thus practicing agriculture in a modern way that speaks to the aspirations as young citizens in the digital era.
Mr Makoni has demonstrated that the use of various modern farming tools like smart sensors that can read everything – from plant health, crop water needs to nutrient level in the soil, as well as precisely navigated machinery and environment-friendly farming practices that can be integrated and tracked in modern farm management software – help modern farmers to manage their operations much easier.
Now, the image of the farmer as an aged poor raggedy man is far from reality – isn’t it?
Mr Shepard Nyika, of Nyazura, said youths are the foremost social capital that requires priority investment, adding that food security can only be fully achieved when youths are mobilised, incentivised, energised and equipped for transformation.
Mr Nyika hailed Government’s thrust to integrate youths into sustainable development processes – a crucial step towards achieving Vision 2030 – which advocates for the laying of a foundation for a middle income economy supported by agriculture, and other sectors like mining and tourism.
“Vision 2030 underscores the need to include the younger generation as critical agents of change, and provide them with a nurturing environment for the full realisation of their capabilities as they contribute to the country’s economic prosperity,” he said.
Mr Dakarai Mapuranga emphasised on the need to tap the resourcefulness and dynamism of youths to improve the economy, food security, farm incomes, create employment along the food value chain, and empower poor and marginalised groups, including women.
“Agriculture is not a quick win, so some youths are attracted generally to quick wins which might be possible in gold and diamond mining or stock market.
“The future of agriculture will be more tech-driven, and we are already beginning to see the use of new technologies like drones and man-less tractors. There will be a new era and more opportunities for youths in agriculture. There are few youths venturing into agriculture the world over– meaning the few that are producing should be highly efficient and productive.
“Incentives for youths like Government subsidising training and affordable payment plans for farm equipment can help get more youths into farming. Technology like satellite monitoring of crop for moisture and disease can increase youths’ interest in farming because it will be less manual, and allow them to do other tasks, while leveraging on technology for supervision and monitoring,” he said.
