By Abbas Nazil
Agriculture is gaining momentum among young people as a promising and rewarding career path, marking a shift from the long-standing perception that the sector lacks appeal to the youth.
According to Ipeleng Kwadi Seboni, national convenor of Youth in Agriculture and Rural Development, there has been a noticeable surge in youth participation in the sector.
“Over the last year especially, we have seen an increase in farmers registering with our organisation.
When you attend farmer’s days and expos, the amount of youth is noticeable,” she told Farmer’s Weekly.
Although up-to-date and detailed statistics on youth participation in agriculture remain limited, data from Statistics South Africa’s 2022 Census shows that most farmers—defined as those earning their primary income from farming—are between the ages of 35 and 59, representing just over 1.2 million of the total 2.4 million farmers.
Farmers aged 60 and older make up the next largest group at over 918,000, while those aged 15 to 34 account for about 313,000.
These figures include both commercial and subsistence farmers.
Despite the relatively small share of young farmers, several initiatives are making the sector more appealing.
Seboni credits both the Department of Agriculture and private sector players with making strategic efforts to expose the youth to agriculture’s full range of possibilities.
Government bursaries for agricultural studies and high-energy expos like Nampo are encouraging more matriculants to consider the field.
These efforts, she says, are beginning to shift perceptions and draw a new generation into agriculture.
Jenny More, director of AgriRecruit, which links agricultural graduates with relevant internships, confirmed the rising interest.
Her organization receives a high number of applications from youth pursuing careers in agriculture.
However, she noted that a portion of this interest comes from students who view agriculture as a relatively easy subject, rather than a passionate career choice.
In response, AgriRecruit has made its selection process more rigorous to ensure that only genuinely committed applicants move forward.
This stricter process has reduced the number of applicants from thousands to about 500 annually, but More sees this as a positive development. Given that AgriRecruit operates in a niche area—avocado and macadamia production—this number still indicates strong interest.
Moreover, the demand for younger employees is growing steadily, particularly for middle-management roles that span a broad range of technical, logistical, and operational functions on farms and in processing facilities.
Highlighting the importance of exposing youth to the sector’s diversity, More shared an example of an intern who initially wanted to leave agriculture for mechanical engineering.
After being placed in a macadamia processing facility where his mechanical skills were utilized, he chose to remain in the industry.
Seboni emphasized the value that youth bring to agriculture, describing them as collaborative and solutions-driven.
“The youth have nailed the skills to build relationships across sectors to bring technology, research and government together.
They come armed with solutions and are likely to have a better chance at overcoming the many challenges this sector faces,” she said.
As agriculture modernizes and diversifies, the involvement of younger generations could prove pivotal to the sector’s long-term sustainability and innovation.
- The increasing interest and growing support infrastructure may well herald a new era where agriculture becomes a vibrant, youth-powered pillar of national development.
