While the industry has long been told it is not attractive enough to lure youth, the perception is changing.

Ipeleng Kwadi Seboni, national convenor of Youth in Agriculture and Rural Development, told Farmer’s Weekly that she had seen a noticeable uptick in youngsters entering the sector: “Over the last year especially we have seen an increase in farmers registering with our organisation. When you attend farmer’s days and expos, the amount of youth is noticeable.”

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Up-to-date statistics on youth involvement in agriculture is lacking. According to Statistics South Africa’s (SSA) 2022 Census, the majority of farmers are between the ages of 35 to 59 and make up just over 1,2 million out of a total of 2,4 million farmers.

The next largest age group are those 60 years and older, at 918 331. Some 313 453 farmers are aged between 15 and 34. SSA defines farmers as those who derive most of their income from farming activities. This, therefore, includes the nearly two million who are classified as subsistence farmers.

Attracting new players

Seboni said that the work the Department of Agriculture and the private sector was doing to introduce the many career possibilities to youth was going a long way to attract new players to the sector.

“Bursaries offered for agricultural qualifications by the department are encouraging more matrics to study agriculture. Expos like Nampo do a lot to create excitement around the industry and show youngsters how much potential there is in pursuing agriculture.”

Jenny More, director of AgriRecruit, which helps connect graduates with agricultural businesses requiring interns, said that the company was inundated with applications from youth. “There is no shortage of interest from youth and students who have an agricultural qualification.”

She, however, noted that many school children take agriculture as a subject, because it is comparatively easy.

“It’s a natural progression for them to study agriculture, but often they just see it as a stepping stone to get into the job market. We’ve, therefore, made our selection criteria a lot stricter to ensure that only those that are truly passionate about agriculture, and see a long-term future in the industry, enter the programme.”

While this has reduced the number of annual applications from thousands to around 500, More notes that this is still significant considering that AgriRecruit only works in the avocado and macadamia industries, a small sector within agriculture.

Many career opportunities

Demand from the industry for younger employees is constant. More said that many agricultural companies needed middle management candidates. These positions were not limited to agronomy but included a broad range of jobs on farms and processing facilities, requiring a diverse range of skills.

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Emphasising the many career opportunities within agriculture, and the need to ensure youth see them, More related how one intern wanted to leave the industry after working on a farm, since he rather wanted to pursue a mechanical engineering route: “We placed him at a macadamia processing facility and he has been happy ever since.”

Seboni said that the benefit of the growing number of youth in agriculture was the solutions-driven, collaborative mindset they brought.

“The youth have nailed the skills to build relationships across sectors to bring technology, research and government together. They come armed with solutions and are likely to have a better chance at overcoming the many challenges this sector faces.”