Restless Development, Oak Foundation boost youth in agribusiness

RESTLESS Development Zimbabwe, with support from the Oak Foundation, has rolled out a two-day capacity-building workshop in Harare aimed at equipping young agricultural entrepreneurs with critical financial literacy and business management skills.

The initiative, titled “Business Development for Young Enterprises,” seeks to transform youth-led farming initiatives from subsistence projects into structured, commercially viable ventures.

Speaking at the event, Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development representative Albert Mutasa urged young farmers to prioritise professional organization and planning from the onset.

“We don’t want to see a situation where we have disorganized youth in farming; your order starts from proposal development and ideation,” Mutasa said.

The training has drawn participants from across the country, including rural farming hubs. Shadreck Chingombe, a Ministry of Agriculture agronomist based in Nyanga, confirmed that a delegation of 11 young farmers from his district is attending the session to sharpen their operational skills.

“This is a business development training, and we believe these youths will learn a lot,” Chingombe said. “We have youth doing various projects, and they need to learn a lot of technicalities apart from financial support.”

Participants expressed optimism that the workshop would address key operational hurdles, particularly market access and strategic expansion.

Junior Manhuwe, a poultry farmer from Harare South, highlighted the need for practical commercial strategy.

“We are expecting to learn a lot of things during this workshop. Like myself, I do chickens, and I want to learn more on how I can penetrate the market,” Manhuwe said.

Echoing similar sentiments, Emmanuel Nyaundi, a young farmer from Nyamaropa Ward 9 in Nyanga, commended the organizers for delivering targeted capacity building.

“I am in farming as a business, and Restless Development is empowering us with different skills, especially on how to market our business. We are getting business ideas from this workshop, and we wish Restless Development can continue to support us,” Nyaundi said.

The workshop comes as development partners and government bodies step up efforts to promote youth inclusion in agribusiness, positioning agriculture as a viable driver of employment and economic growth in Zimbabwe.