Tackling youth unemployment in the Free State

The lives of 30 young people in the under resourced Free State communities of Kroonstad and Bultfontein will soon be transformed, thanks to the generous support from Woolworths.Local NGO INMED South Africa, is one of the seven beneficiaries of Woolworths’ December ‘Take a moment to make a difference’ Christmas campaign.

INMED South Africa has been creating some incredible opportunities in innovative, climate-smart food production in vulnerable communities across the country. Last year, it launched the country’s first INMED Aquaponics® Social Enterprise (INMED ASE) in Vanderbijlpark, and this year will be leveraging the INMED ASE model to tackle youth unemployment by training the next-generation agri-entrepreneurs in South Africa. “INMED’s youth programme utlising climate-smart aquaponics aligns with our food security strategy to empower communities to grow more food to help us reach #zerohunger2030. The programme also offers critical youth development and employment in rural Free State communities,” says Zinzi Mgolodela, Woolworths Director of Corporate Affairs.

Building food security and sustainable livelihoods with aquaponics are key to INMED’s mission of helping vulnerable communities adapt to climate change and reduce poverty. “It is vital to our country’s food security that we develop the farmers of the future,” says Unathi Sihlahla, Director of INMED South Africa. “Many young South Africans are excluded from creating careers in agriculture due to the lack of access to resources, land and agricultural education. Aquaponics is an exciting, climate-adaptive technology that will have high appeal to the youth and empower them to play a significant role in developing social enterprises that alleviate poverty, enhance food security and provide dignified livelihoods.”

The young participants, who are primarily unemployed school-leavers, will learn the basics of seedling production, nursery management, climate-smart food gardening, aquaponics and food preservation. The training will be aligned to INMED’s AgriSETA accreditation for primary agriculture. Each participant will receive seeds, basic tools and shade netting, as well as sustained training and hands-on support, so that they can improve their household food security and sustainability long term.

INMED, which is no stranger to these communities, already runs a number of highly successful aquaponics programmes with a variety of farming cooperatives. INMED has been assisting these farmers, many with disabilities, to increase their capacity and achieve sustainable livelihoods for more than 10 years.

South African youth are getting more involved in agriculture compared to a decade ago and are increasingly learning how to grow their own crops and how to manage their livestock to ensure that there is sufficient food production – particularly in light of the food insecurity exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Through participation in the programme, courtesy of Woolworths, these young South Africans will take a personal journey towards greater self-reliance,” says Sihlahla. “They will learn the life skills of food production and gain understanding and insights into how we can be resilient in the face of climate events as we work together to lift ourselves, families and communities out of poverty,”