Salima, 22 April 2025 – The National Youth Council of Malawi (NYCOM) is currently participating in the Q1 review meeting for the Youth Entrepreneurship for the Future of Food and Agriculture (YEFFA) project in Salima. This meeting serves as a platform for implementing partners to reflect on progress and map the way forward.
During the review, NYCOM presented strong achievements from the first quarter of 2025, showcasing meaningful impact across several districts.
Under the AGRA-supported YEFFA initiative:
- 255 youth leaders (146 males, 109 females) from Mchinji, Nkhotakota, Ntcheu, Zomba, Ntchisi, Dowa, and Kasungu were successfully trained in life skills, entrepreneurial thinking, mindset change, and advocacy.
- These youth leaders cascaded their knowledge, reaching an impressive 6,394 farmers and community members (2,670 males, 3,724 females) with practical, empowering training.
- 220 youth with disabilities (108 males, 112 females) were actively engaged—a major step forward in inclusive youth development.
These results reflect NYCOM’s commitment to equipping young people with tools to thrive in Malawi’s agricultural sector and lead change in their communities.
Looking ahead, NYCOM is set to scale its impact by extending activities to remaining project districts—Mangochi, Machinga, Balaka, Lilongwe, Salima, and Dedza—ensuring more youth are reached with transformative training and support.
Speaking during the meeting, Program Officer Felix Chiyenda acknowledged that while financial delays affected some timelines, the foundation laid in Q1 has positioned the project for greater reach and effectiveness in the coming months.
Four priority actions were identified to further strengthen project delivery:
- Deepen the inclusion of persons with disabilities in project activities.
- Finalize and roll out safeguarding guidelines for youth engagement.
- Fast-track implementation to meet upcoming targets.
- Enhance partnerships with district agriculture offices for stronger local-level impact.
As YEFFA continues to unfold, it remains a vital initiative at a time when Malawi’s youth face systemic barriers in agriculture. Through strategic training, mindset transformation, and inclusive outreach, YEFFA is shaping a new generation of confident, capable, and empowered youth leaders across Malawi.
YEFFA comes at a critical time for Malawi. In a country where agriculture is the backbone of the economy and employs a significant portion of the workforce—particularly youth in rural areas—young people often face major challenges. According to the World Bank (2023), these include limited awareness of opportunities, lack of technical skills, restricted access to land and financing, and difficulties entering markets.
YEFFA is specifically designed to address these challenges. The project equips young Malawians with the skills, resources, and market connections they need to succeed in the agricultural sector.
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