The Eswatini Water Agricultural and Development Enterprise (ESWADE) is making significant strides with Smallholder Agricultural Productivity Enhancement and Marketing Project (SAPEMP), yet a lack of consistent interest from the nation’s youth has been cited as a critical challenge.
While the 8-year project aims to reach 19,600 farmers by engaging 3,000 participants annually, SAPEMP Knowledge Management and Communications Officer Nokulinda Mazibuko has revealed that the reality on the ground is challenging as the farmers the project is trying to reach are not just not tech-savvy while some are completely illiterate.
During essential training sessions, Mazibuko notes that some participants struggle with even the most basic requirements, such as filling in an attendance register.
This makes the transition to a market-oriented business model nearly impossible without outside help.
For a project that relies on precise data and formal contracts, this level of illiteracy is a major hurdle for the older generation who currently hold the land.
This is where the youth are supposed to save the day.
The project is heavily integrated with the Agriculture Integrated Information System (AIIS), a digital hub meant to link farmers to markets and real-time data.
The youth are the only ones with the skills to navigate this digital landscape. They are needed to act as the translators for the older farmers, helping them register on the system, track their yields, and access the e-commerce tools required to sell their crops.
Without the younger generation’s tech skills, the E851 million investment risks stalling at the rural gate.
Despite the youth possessing the digital literacy and tech-savviness needed for modern climate-smart agriculture, there is a marked reluctance to engage in the physical, manual labor that farming currently requires.
This creates a missed opportunity for the market-led innovation the project envisions.
According to Mazibuko, even when young people do sign up, retention is a major issue.
Many fail to see the project through to the end of a cycle, often appearing only sporadically for manual tasks rather than committing to the full agricultural season.
“We are seeing that the youth are not always willing to do the hard labor associated with farming,” the Communications Officer explained.
“They might come once in a while, but they rarely stay for the duration of the period.”
To combat this, ESWADE is currently exploring new incentive structures specifically designed to retain younger participants.
The goal is to bridge the gap between traditional hard labor and the high-tech future of Eswatini’s agricultural sector, ensuring that the 7,500 projected jobs are filled by a generation capable of driving long-term food security.