Balaka youth reap from agriculture

If you were to ask Chipiliro Baluwa, aged 27, about agriculture, he would tell you: Farming is not just an activity for the tired and retired. The youth have to be into it. It just doesn’t come out of the blues for him.

That kind of knowledge has established him as one of the motorcycle taxi operators in Balaka. Growing cotton, soya beans, pigeon peas and maize, his life changed last year when he bought a motorbike to beef up his profits. “We were trained to appreciate that agriculture is more than tilling the soils and harvesting.

I invested in agriculture, and here I am, from selling groundnuts, people today know me as a kabaza operator from the proceeds of farming,” says the 27-year-old. He owes it all to a connection with the National Smallholder Association of Malawi (Nasfam), who bought his 27 bags of groundnuts. “I can say more.

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I have learned to take farming as an enterprise. I just have to calculate my marginal returns and here I am, forging ahead,” he says from a pigeon pea garden in T/A Nsamala’s area in Balaka. “I have a certificate from that training.

The plan is that I should grow my business further and venture into agro-dealership,” he said. Balaka district youth network chairperson Paul Naphwiyo attributes the wholesome farmer that Baluwa has become as a result of the various organisations implementing the Youth Entrepreneurship for the Future of Agriculture (YEFFA) project, which is funded by Agra. He observed that while the National Youth Council of Malawi (NYCOM) trains the youth in soft skills in agriculture and business, Rumark offers training in agro-dealership while Nasfam provides the market.

“We have a network of 14 youth clubs in over 50 group village heads within the district. They learn business management and proper farming methods. They have to know there is more than just growing maize, pigeon peas and groundnuts.

I wish the government would open more loans for the youth to grow even more,” said Naphwiyo. As part of the project, NYCOM trained 45 youth leaders (21 females and 24 males) in Balaka from T/As Mpoto, Nsamala, Nkaya, Chakanza, Phimbi, Mgomwa, Mbera, Sawali, Makwinja, Kapalamula, Kalembo, Amidu, Chimatilo and Balaka Town. According to Naphwiyo, the training targetted youths who are holders of the Malawi Schools Certificate of Education and have smartphones.

“They need to record data and show commitment to train others,” he added. One beneficiary, 27 year-old Happy Austin who grows groundnuts in Kapalamula Village, said keeping records has helped him calculate marginal returns. “I am now able to calculate profits by analysing what I put into farming and what I get after selling,” he said.

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