The youth in Zimbabwe have become the driving force behind the recent upswing in agriculture in the country. The country is set to harvest over 2.8 million tons of maize in 2021, triple the 2020 harvest, and making it the highest output in 20 years and one of the highest in Africa.

The anticipated 2021 bumper harvest should finally ensure food surplus in Zimbabwe. Just a year ago, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) doled out $86.9 million to boost food security in the country. The youths have since taken advantage of the aid and gone into farming.

However, about 57 per cent of Zimbabwean women between ages 20 and 31 and 47 per cent of men in the same age bracket are growing fruits such as mangoes, involved in rearing livestock such as the prolific breeders Boer goats, and cultivating tobacco, corn and so on.

Meanwhile, President Emerson Mnangagwa who took over the reins of government in November 2017 has adopted policies to attract the young and educated to farming. As part of his policies, at the same time, he intends luring back many white farmers who had relocated to Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom following the seizure of their land about two decades ago.

The president pledged to provide 99-year land leases to white farmers and guarantee the security of those willing to return home. The returning white farmers are expected to partner with their black counterparts, including young black farmers. This will lead to a healthy exchange of capital, skills and machinery.

The government’s pro-farming mind-set is anchored on a programme called ‘Pfumvudza’, which means ‘Master Farmers’ Revolution’. The government through the programme, provides financing and subsidies to young farmers.

However, Researcher Eddy Maseya, describes Pfumvudza as a climate-proof concept that leverages “conservation farming techniques to make the most of small pieces of land.”

“We are seeing a pro-youth farmer’s mind-set in government, which sends positive signals. The youths are saying, hey we are jobless but there is money in growing potatoes and flowers”, says Gift Mawacha, an agricultural historian in East Zimbabwe, the country´s most fertile farm belt.

Moreover, Itai Sedze, 29, a sociologist who is now engaging in maize farming, observed that the youths go into the University to chase non existing jobs. She therefore, advised the youth to venture into agriculture to reduce the unemployment rate.

“My generation trained as accountants and social workers. Universities in Zimbabwe graduate thousands of students annually, but there is only a handful of civil service or corporate jobs for the unemployed. The youths should join me to start farming.”
Itai Sedze

However, Pfumvudza, is backed by the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO). According to the Future Agricultures Consortium, an alliance of research organisations seeking to improve agriculture in Africa, Pfumvudza consists of “minimum soil disturbance or tillage; having permanent soil cover by using organic mulch and using crop rotations and intercropping cover crops with main crops.”

As Africa is struggling to feed its fast growing population, Zimbabwe’s Pfumvudza is a timely intervention just as its Ghanaian counterpart’s ‘planting for food and job’ programme.