Chronicle Editor
Mthabisi Tshuma, Online Reporter
MATABELELAND South’s Ms Sithabile Gandi-Ndlovu recently took part in the Southern Africa Youth in Climate Policy and Job Creation workshop held in Zambia where she representated Zimbabwe.
The event which took place last week saw youths drawn from other countries that include Zambia, Mozambique, Ghana and Malawi taking part in the regional convention.
Discussions during the three day programme included focus on Climate Policy and Youth Engagement, Building networks, platforms and job creation through climate action and Youth action and Common Position.
Ms Gandi-Ndlovu said she took part in the event due to the work they are doing with young people in Ndiweni Community in Bulilima district in Matabeleland South province through the A Life A Day (ALAD) Programme.
“The ALAD programme is an initiative that focuses on empowering and educating young people to make positive changes in their lives and communities. It is designed to provide youth with skills, knowledge and opportunities to improve their well-being and contribute to society. The programme offers a variety of activities and resources such as workshops, training sessions, mentorship, entrepreneurship and agribusiness development.
“Since just 10 months ago through partnership with National Foods and National Foods Stockfeeds Division they have capacitated over 1 500 young people in Matabeleland South and North to develop essential life skills, enhance their self-confidence, foster as sense of responsibility towards themselves and others and notably investing over $US30 000 in a biannual egg layer production pass on scheme, aimed at capacitating youth to start their small agri enterprises in egg layer production. ALAD Youth are also involved in running market gardens at community level and have started selling at community level,” said Ms Gandi-Ndlovu.
She said their vision is to help young people create jobs in the agriculture space and also encourage food security and agriprenuership at community level targeting young people hence their participation in the event.
“We were invited to learn and share best practices with young farmers, researchers, climate experts and like-minded young people who are concerned about Youth Entrepreneurship for the Future of Food and Agriculture in Africa. They heard about us from social media and that’s also where they reached out to us showing the power of social media and connectivity.
“I managed to present on the main challenges and opportunities in stakeholder management for youth in Zimbabwe. The challenges include limited access to resources such as funding, access to technology, and other support systems needed to efficiently engage stakeholders. Notably while youth have historical been excluded from decision making there has been an increase both by Government and NGOs alike in recognising the role of young people in tackling most of the ongoing global challenges,” she said.
Ms6 Gandi-Ndlovu said young people need to start tackling challenges for sustainable impact.
“There are a number of opportunities that include representation of youth in strategic decision making process. Social media has been an effective tool for youth to have their voices heard and there is a need to build networks with different stakeholders. This allows for opportunities for collaboration, mentorship, and support for youth initiatives through programmes such as Eagles Nest by Zimtrade that ensures young entrepreneurs are export ready through training and best practices for youth and many more initiatives.
“As young people we need to read and research more, we need to increase the capacity of youth in agriculture and ensure we are responding to climate change so we can safe guard the future. We need to build effective networks as youth and be proactive in knowledge transfer,” she said.
“The takeaways of the event include; Importance of youth involvement, recognising the role of youth in addressing climate change and creating green jobs with the food system; Youth engagement is essential for driving innovation and sustainable practices; Policy Advocacy, understanding the impact of policies and Advocating for policies that support renewable energy, sustainable agriculture and other green initiatives. This is essential for creating a more environmentally and economically viable food system; Skills Training and Capacity Building; Collaboration and Networking and sharing knowledge; and Innovation and Entrepreneurship where we need to encourage more young people to explore innovative solutions and entrepreneurship opportunities that support sustainability in the food system,” said Ms Gandi-Ndlovu.
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Online Reporter