The role of the youth in meeting the sustainable development goals by 2030 has received unprecedented attention at global, regional, national and community level across the United Nations organizations, the African Union, Southern African Development Community and countries such as Malawi.
The Sustainable Development Goals are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. They address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate, environmental degradation, prosperity, and peace and justice.
The Sustainable Development Goals interconnect and to leave no one behind, it is important that we achieve each Goal and target by 2030. There has been an increased awareness that the Sustainable Development Goals will not be achieved if some pockets of the youth are left behind.
Although Malawi is experiencing a youth bulge, it is unlikely that the country will reap the demographic dividends. The situation is more precarious for an investment in the youth in the agriculture sector which is the country’s economic bedrock.
The youth population can be a double-edged sword; it can be the country’s strategic advantage to the socioeconomic development however, it can also be a threat to the political economy of the country’s peace building processes if there aren’t age appropriate and culturally acceptable positive youth development spaces to nurture the human capital. Mazizi Agritourism Farm recognizes that rising youth unemployment is one of the most significant problems facing economies and societies in today’s world.
Malawi’s youth bulge can be an engine for growth as international companies look to set up operations where they can access low wage labour. On top of that, an increase in the number of young people working would boost demand and investment in the country. But to transform young people into an engine of growth requires improving skills access to employment.
Many governments and organizations have risen to meet that challenge through policies and programs designed to remove common barriers to financial Literacy. But as the number of actors in this space grows, and resources to address these challenges remain scarce, it is essential to ensure that investments are targeted toward the most effective policies and programs
Mazizi Agritourism Farm is a duly registered entity pursuant to and in accordance with the provisions of the Malawi Government Business Registration Act (No. 12 of 2012) and was entered under the number MBRS1038361 in the Malawi Business Registration Database.
Today, Malawi has the largest population of youth in its history; accounting for over 40 percent of the population is 10-29 years of age out of total population of 17.3 million people. This youth “bulge” in its population presents Malawi with opportunities to secure its future competitiveness by effectively investing in the skills and education of the present generation.
The Government of Malawi has implemented policies to support technical, entrepreneurial and vocational skills development for the youth through the establishment of institutions such as Technical Education Vocational & Entrepreneurship Training, Youth Enterprise Development Enterprise Fund, and, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Institute. These development programs aim to advance a system that has the potential to improve skills for both the formal and informal sectors of the economy through creating a high-quality, sustainable, demand-driven, and equitable training system.
However, evaluations of programmes of these institutions have shown that they have had no impact on overall labour market outcomes (African Development Bank, 2014). The shortcoming is largely due to inadequate comprehensive curriculum. None of these institutions focuses on transforming the subsistence nature of agriculture to make it a key source of gainful employment to the youthful job seekers let alone integrating agriculture in the tourism industry.
It is against this background that Mazizi Agritourism Farm focuses on the nexus between agriculture, tourism, financial literacy, child and youth development in Chikwawa district in Malawi.
The reach of the project will extend beyond the farm, targeting children and youth with training in Child Social and Financial Literacy, environmental protection and developing a cultural appreciation for the coexistence of the cultural heritage of the Mang’anja and the Sena tribes found in the Great Rift Valley of Malawi’s Shire Valley.
Mazizi Agritourism farm established a Youth Club with a membership of 28 participants composed of 19 boys and 9 girls. The youths have so far been trained in social enterprises. They have also been trained in the propagation of tree seedlings. So far. 200 indigenous trees have been planted. More trees will be planted each season during the national tree planting campaign. This initiative compliments the Malawi National Cultural Policy and the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy III that seeks to empower individuals to act as catalysts for change within their own communities.
Mazizi Agritourism farm offers prospects for a high-impact program for teens in Chikwawa district in Malawi though its work may not be called Child Social and Financial Education. It is accepted that investing in Child Social and Financial Education with a Gender Lens will impact children and youth profoundly.
The gaps in the ecosystem are numerous; no individual thought leader, academic or program model can excel in this sector. We recognize that Child Social and Financial Literacy as well as Emotional Learning is often the fiber of many activity-based programs: Personal Understanding and Explorations, Rights and Responsibilities, Savings and Spending, Planning and Budgeting, and Social Enterprise.
Partnerships are essential for a successful socioeconomic development of Malawi. Mazizi Agritourism farm recognizes the role of networking, collaborating and co-locating of activities with stakeholders and the communities in its shadows.
In a tale of North-South and South -South Dialogue Global partnerships, Mazizi Agritourism Farm recognizes that the partnership has the potential to meet the Sustainable Development Goals: end poverty, inequality and mitigate climate change in Chikwawa district.
It is undeniable that the Sustainable Development Goals are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. They address the global challenges we face, including those related to poverty, inequality, climate, environmental degradation, prosperity, and peace and justice. The Goals interconnect and to leave no one behind, it is important that we achieve each Goal and target by 2030.
Youth empowerment has, in recent years, gained recognition in many African countries as an important component of the human development agenda. The interest in this sector is also shifting toward ensuring that youths are not perceived as a homogenous group, but instead, as diverse individuals with varied interests and needs that change according to the environments and contexts in which they are born and live.
Therefore, Mazizi Agritourism farm explores partnership with organizations to provide the most required capacity strengthening including technical and financial support and accompaniment to tackle the attendant challenges in youth empowerment in the pillars of financial literacy, food security and cultural heritage.
Our main driving force is the passion we have in creating exquisite yet fun and memorable client experiences. There are interconnecting and compelling reasons for exploring partnerships for the greater investment in the Mazizi Agritourism Farm.
Exploring Partnerships
Partnerships therefore focuses on filling in these gaps to create and co-create empowered opportunities for the youth with the Gender lens. The Mazizi Agritourism Farm explore partnerships in the following areas:
Mentoring and Coaching of Trainers in:
Child Social and Financial Education
Financial Literacy
Early Childhood and Positive Youth Development
Junior Farmer Field Schools
Human Resource Development - Connect with others around the world through Volunteer Program in the foundational skills and practice in the following areas:
o Programming Quality: Technical Support in financial literacy, livelihoods, resiliency to climate change and safeguarding and protection of cultural heritage
o Operational Research, Agricultural Extension on farm demonstration,
o Strategic growth in Agritourism and Positive Youth Development Programs
o Resource mobilization including joint project proposal development
Meanwhile, the following project description is at the design stage. We welcome any in-kind or in cash support.
Goal: Improving livelihoods of people in Group Village Headman Tizola in Chikwawa district in Malawi.
Strategic Objective 1: Improved livelihood capacities of vulnerable households by December 31, 2025.
Strategic Objective 2: Vulnerable communities have protected and enhanced resiliency to climate change by December 31, 2025.
Strategic Objective 3: To promote the safeguarding and protection of the Mang’anja and the Sena cultural heritage by December 31, 2025.
Taylor J. (2018) in Agritourism South Africa Newsletter emphasizes that agritourism presents an economic diversification strategy for Agriculture and a vehicle to promote rural development. She further states that agritourism offers benefits for the production of food and employment, preserving local culture and protecting environmental assets.
This family social enterprise farm aims at leaving a legacy of learning and shared resources while making a sustainable difference to society while training and mentoring new and developing farmers, enabling them to run their own profitable and sustainable farming businesses.
Mazizi Agritourism Farm will be used for your corporate on farm demonstration, a laboratory for training in agronomic practices that merits a centralized garden, a perfect model of land husbandry and for experimentation of crops, weeding regimes and cover crops whereas young farmers’ fields outreach the communities to reinforce best practice.
Contact us
Program Manager, Mazizi Agritourism Farm
P.O. Box 60, Chikwawa, Malawi
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: +265 999 987 701
Facebook: Mazizi Agritourism Farm
Skype: mazizifarm
