The truth about youth and agriculture

While it’s important to attract young people to agriculture, they should also be made to understand that farming is a tough business requiring dedication, and one that will not yield immediate success.

As a young farmer myself, I am always interested to know what agricultural organisations and businesses are doing to promote youth participation in the sector. To help me stay informed about the latest developments, I attend major agricultural conferences. Year after year, the low number of young delegates attending these events surprises me.

The truth is that farming is challenging, and it’s really not for the faint-hearted. In addition, many young people who grow up in poor rural areas do not have the opportunity to witness examples of thriving and financially independent farmers who can inspire them to pursue careers in the sector.

However, in the process of trying to attract young people to farming, we must ensure they are given the full picture of what a career in this competitive industry entails.

They need to know, for example, that starting a farm is very much like starting any other type of business, because it has to be run according to sound business principles. It’s also important to note that no farmer can achieve success overnight.

THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT

It is impossible to leave government out of the discussion on how to attract more young people to agriculture. We’ve seen a number of agriculture ministers come and go since 1994, but not much has been done by government to promote youth in agriculture. In fact, politicians always talk about the potential that agriculture has to solve the unemployment crisis in our country, but this is often where it stops – at mere talk.

Compared with other government departments, agriculture receives a very small percentage of the national budget, even though politicians continue to advocate the importance of agriculture. How can we begin to increase participation when government itself clearly prioritises other sectors over agriculture?

Over the past 10 years, a vast number of venture capital firms and investment houses have sprung up in an effort to bring direct investment to sectors that will contribute towards the upliftment of our economy. However, agriculture has always been deemed the least favourable industry to invest in due to the high risk associated with it.

In addition, banks also look to finance businesses that have a steady track record; they are less inclined to finance start-ups without some form of collateral.

THE WAY AHEAD

So, if we want to get the youth involved in agriculture, how can we best support them up to the point where their businesses are bankable?

I believe the most important form of support is technical. Farming requires a significant amount of planning, including the assessment of potential risks and how best to mitigate them. Young farmers need to learn from and be supported by those who are more experienced in the industry.

But there also needs to be some form of incentive that will attract mentors wanting to offer this type of support, because support needs to come from the private sector; government extension officers are simply not up to the task.

YOUNG PEOPLE WHO GROW UP IN POOR RURAL AREAS SELDOM SEE EXAMPLES OF THRIVING FARMERS TO INSPIRE THEM

This said, I have also found that too many young people today want instant gratification and success, and so are not interested in farming, which offers neither of these.

But we have an unemployment crisis in South Africa, especially among the youth, and agriculture can definitely make a contribution towards alleviating this. It’s therefore imperative that those in the sector who are in a position to make a contribution be allowed and encouraged to do so.

As a first step, more support should be given to those young people who have already made significant strides in farming so that they can grow their operations.