It is often said that the youth are the leaders of tomorrow, but if Malawi is to achieve its dream of becoming an inclusively wealthy and self-reliant nation by 2063, then the youth must be the leaders of today, particularly in agriculture and food systems.
Malawi 2063, our long-term development blueprint, is inherently youth centric. It spans 43 years, meaning that by the time it matures, most of those who crafted it will have long retired.
The task of operationalising that vision therefore rests on the shoulders of the youth, the generation that will shape, live and sustain it.
President Peter Mutharika’s new government has begun with more walk than talk on youth leadership, evident in the latest appointments in Cabinet portfolios and government institutions.
When we talk about inclusive wealth creation, inclusivity must go beyond rhetoric. It cannot end at policy design, strategy documents or input distribution.
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It must be visible in practice, in who is an agripreneur, who owns agribusinesses and who drives innovation across the value chain.
One of the four Fs in the current government’s priorities, food security, already provides space for youth leadership given their demographic edge in Malawi’s population.
However, if we are truly committed to agricultural transformation, we must start by profiling the youth engaged in the sector.
Who are they? What are they doing in crop production, livestock farming, agro processing or technology development? Such profiling is strategic.
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It helps us identify where young people are active, where gaps exist and what capacities and resources they need to thrive.
Many young Malawians are passionate about agriculture, and many have contributed decisively to Malawi’s food systems transformation.
Yet few can access the financing required to put their ideas into action. Banks and financiers often perceive them as high-risk borrowers, inexperienced and untested. This mindset must change.
We must de-risk youth access to finance by creating innovative financing mechanisms, technical support structures and guarantees that make financial institutions more comfortable lending to young entrepreneurs.
When a young person presents a viable idea in irrigation, seed processing, livestock diversification or agro processing, that idea should not die in a notebook.
It should be supported, financed and scaled. This depends on how well our policy and programme institutions function and on deliberate efforts to ensure accountability for public resources.
To make that possible, Malawi must understand the financial and technical landscape in which young people operate. How easy is it for them to access credit?
What training, mentorship and other forms of capacity building exist to help them manage their ventures sustainably? And just as important, do viable markets exist to absorb their produce? What about creating markets innovatively as motivation and incentive?
Too often young farmers grow perishables like tomatoes or vegetables only for their hard-earned produce to rot due to a lack of cold storage, processing industries or reliable transport networks. The issue is not lack of effort but lack of infrastructure, value addition and market linkages.
Our National Agriculture Policy already identifies these issues, but we must translate policy into practice. Youth-led projects should be backed by networks of support from access to finance, technology and mentorship to partnerships with processors and markets.
Platforms like the Africa Food Systems Forum and others in the Sadc region are critical because they allow Malawi to sell its national agenda, connect with financiers and build partnerships to bridge these gaps.
We need strategic partnerships not only for funding but for technology transfer, innovation and policy alignment.
Foundations such as the Gates Foundation and institutions such as Agra already support transformative agriculture programmes across Africa.
Malawi must position itself to benefit from such collaborations, and the youth should be the torch bearers in these spaces.
Transformation, however, requires more than funding. It demands governance and coordination. Even the best-designed programmes will fail if institutions do not work together.
We must strengthen coordination among ministries, research institutions, farmers, financiers, the private sector and innovators. Everyone has a role and it must be clear who does what, when, where and how progress is tracked.
Alongside youth, gender inclusion remains critical. Women are the backbone of Malawi’s agriculture, with over 70 percent tilling fields and managing families, yet their returns are often meagre compared to their labour.
True transformation must ensure that women and youth benefit equitably from investments and innovation.
Strategically, Malawi must prioritise key value chains rather than spreading resources thin. We cannot do everything at once.
Let us identify high-potential value chains. Studies have indicated high returns to investment for crops such as groundnuts, sorghum, sesame and macadamia.
By concentrating on select value chains and testing them through various farming models, we can measure impact, refine our approach and scale success nationally.
This evidence-based, practical approach combining financing, partnerships and implementation will enable government and cooperatives to build sustainable youth-driven agricultural enterprises.
Andrew Jamali, PhD, is the acting Director of Knowledge and Learning at the National Planning Commission.
