Dedza farmer urges youths to embrace agriculture
Dedza-based farmer and recipient of the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) Innovations Award, Keledonia Nkhonyo, has advised youths to embrace agriculture as an employment avenue.
She gave the advice on Saturday after landing at Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) in Lilongwe.
Nkhonyo was returning from a three-week tour of China where she went as part of her award.
She bemoaned the tendency among Malawians, particularly those with higher education, to take agriculture as a profession for the illiterate.
“Many people refuse to engage in agriculture. They leave their villages for white collar jobs in urban areas, but there is money in agriculture,” said Nkhonyo.
She urged the youth to seriously consider embracing agriculture as a noble profession rather than ‘wasting their time and energy in the cities’.
Nkhonyo said her trip to China has taught her a number of lessons, including the need to embrace new farming techniques to beat adverse effects of climate change.
MBC public relations officer Thembile Malinki said farmers are critical to the success of any economy; hence, the decision by MBC management to award innovative farmers to encourage others to embrace and actively participate in farming.
Meanwhile, MBC has disclosed that it is working on logistics to send Nkhonyo on another learning trip to Egypt.
