Rwanda youth urged to venture into agribusiness

Rwandan youths have been urged to embrace Agri-business as a source of livelihood in order to curb idleness brought about by joblessness.

Most young people in Rwanda especially fresh graduates find it hard to secure jobs in public offices due to the level of work experience hence leaving them unemployed and idle.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Rwanda minister of agriculture and animal resources, Dr. Geraldine Mukeshimana called on youths to venture into agribusiness which has become a lucrative business for young people in the developed countries.

She told reporters on the sidelines of Rwanda youth in Agribusiness forum held in the country's capital, Kigali.

"Agriculture in the 21st century had developed greatly with methods such as green house farming which the youth would flourish in if only they embraced it. Youth are potential 'change agents' who can significantly contribute to agricultural transformation," Mukeshimana said.

She noted that the government is making agriculture an attractive business opportunity for young entrepreneurs.

The meeting aimed at launching a youth agriculture platform that will encourage them to engage in agri-business hence creation of jobs, poverty alleviation and fast tracking rural transformation.

Many youths hardly venture into agri- business as a form of employment since it entails manual work and unpredictable climatic conditions making it a risky undertaking.

Rwanda has been in the fore front in urging the youth to engage in agri- business by rolling out various programmes that encourage them to adopt modern agriculture business.

More than 130 youth-based organisations across the country are engaged in different agriculture related ventures, according to the ministry of agriculture.

The number of establishments selling agro-products almost doubled from 25,613 in 2011, to 50,480 in 2014.

Each year about 300,000 Rwandan youth aged between 16 and 30 years seek to enter into the country's productive labour force.

In Rwanda, 13.5 percent of college graduates remain unemployed.

Jerome Majyambere, an expert in agribusiness said that agri-business will enable unemployed youths to become self reliant, create more jobs and positively contribute to the country's economic development.

"The government should engage financial institutions to finance young people with creative agri-business ideas so that they can invest in income generating projects and create more employment," he noted.

Majyambere said that the problem preventing the youth from fully embracing agriculture is the mentality they have towards farming which has prevented them from venturing into agribusiness. Endit