Changing The Image Of Agriculture For The Youth

Changing The Image Of Agriculture For The Youth

- Hamlet Hlomendlini

How do you get the world’s youth interested in agriculture? In light of a fast-growing population and resultant increase in demand for food, that is a question many people around the world are asking.

For a start, I wonder whether this is the right question to ask, or if it should be phrased differently. In its current form, it communicates the incorrect message that young people are simply not interested in agriculture.

In an attempt to correct this erroneous impression, agricultural economist Wandile Sihlobo made a particularly noteworthy point last year when he said: “It is a fallacy that young people in South Africa are not interested in agriculture.” I couldn’t agree with him more.