Agriculture is a profitable business rather than purely for family and community subsistence is an indicator of the different views and aspirations of the new generation of farmers.
While these may challenge more traditional ways of working, embracing them is key to revitalising agriculture in this country.
The challenge will be to keep the best of traditional systems and traditional knowledge, but move them into the 21st century, with all the opportunities that brings.
Farming systems need to be both more productive and more sustainable; this requires new ways of farming, and farmers who are capable of responding to new challenges, not least the changing demands of food markets.
To put it simply, while it is inevitable that some young people will decide to leave the rural areas, all countries need to find ways to encourage able and motivated young people to stay in rural areas, and if possible, to stay working in agriculture.
One way to motivate young people to stay in agriculture is to involve them in agricultural development projects.
If young people are to choose to work in agriculture they need to see it as both a financially rewarding sector, and as modern and challenging.
As such, motivating the youth to view agriculture as a career opportunity will require a multilevel intervention.
First, those within the school system must be targeted, second, those outside the school system must be lured and sensitised.
Entrepreneurship in agriculture is becoming increasingly important. It offers opportunities for becoming independent, generating revenue and creating a future that straightforward subsistence farming often struggles to provide.
When it works, agripreneurship can help re-brand agriculture as an attractive career, especially for youth. In the eyes of some young people, it is one thing ploughing fields to plant potatoes, but quite another being the head of a small business that produces potato snacks.
Becoming an agripreneur is not a career path to be undertaken lightly. Entrepreneurs have to be prepared to take calculated risks. They also need to be creative, innovative and resourceful, be ready to put in long hours of hard work, cope with stress, and weather the bleak periods as well as the good ones.
Good agricultural training is essential. But so too is training in business skills, marketing and ICTs. Agripreneurs need to know about costing and pricing, break-even analysis, production planning, marketing, book-keeping, contracts and financing. An agripreneur needs to have a clear idea of market forces. What do consumers really want, and what will they pay a premium for?
At the end of the day, it is also worth remembering that agripreneurs do not have to do it alone.
Establishing good networking and joining with others to form an effective value chain is the winning formula.
