Call for Youth to venture into farming

Young people by virtue of their age are strong, energetic and able to work hard on farms for better productivity.

 In fact, in order for the country to attain food self-sufficiency, youth’s participation in agriculture is crucial.

We wish to take this opportunity to reiterate that the youths, especially those who come from the rural areas, leaving only the older people there, should go back.

Your parents need you to support them as they get old day by day, and in order to have their blessing helping them on the farm is  one way out.

We firmly believe that if the country is to attain food self-sufficiency, the youth the land.

However, the authorities must support these youth individually and collectively as groups to maximise the benefits of their labour on the farm.

It is sad to note that one reason why the country’s agricultural production has reduced drastically, in recent years, is because of not only poor rains, but also the fact that most of the able-bodied men and women have turned their backs on farming.

They prefer staying in the urban areas or traveling to Europe through illegal migration, to going back to the land.

To most of them, farming is a hopeless vocation, forgetting that farming is the source of food and wealth.

We, therefore, implore all the young people of this country to take farming seriously, and call on youth groups to also partake in agriculture, considering that food prices have, in recent times, increased beyond the reach of the common man.

In the same vein, we ask the government to give agriculture a maximum priority by reviving the old mixed farming centres, and to assist poor farmers with farm tools and fertiliser irrespective of the location.

It is, therefore, imperative that we invest heavily in agriculture, and thus give it the required attention.

Every now and then, concerns are being raised about the escalating prices of essential commodities; so doing more farming could be a way out.