09 Feb 2023

It is critical to engage youth in agriculture in order to  strengthen food supply, feed communities and provide gainful employment opportunities.

University of Botswana chancellor, Ms Tebelelo Seretse, said, through agriculture and related enterprises, livelihoods of unemployed youth could be improved. 

She was speaking at the awarding of certificates to youth who attended the Business Botswana round table training at the Institute of Health Sciences in Serowe on Wednesday. .

She said some young people had left uncultivated fields for many years while some most graduates preferred certain jobs.

Ms Seretse, however, stated that the creative industry and agriculture could produce the next billionaires, therefore it was crucial that they get involved and heed President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi’s Reset Agenda that calls for mindset change. 

Mindset change, she said, would create value chains and ultimately wealth for those prepared to transform. 

She said government’s efforts to reduce Botswana’s high import bill needed robust young people to tap into various sectors to export goods and services. 

She said government was a readily available market that they could supply.

The youth were also urged to nurture their talents and work on achieving better on a daily basis. 

She encouraged them to be ambitious and look beyond their environment.

Ms Seretse said circumstances should not be seen as a stumbling blocks to achieving one’s dreams.

“Your mindset can be your greatest enemy. You can be the very same person who sabotages yourself because you have no life philosophy. You need to define the structure of your life and work on your daily habits,” she said.

The UB Chancellor also encouraged the youth to be disciplined and stop posting negativity and insults on social media.

One of the coordinators of the Serowe Business Roundtable, Mr Botshelo Nthaga, indicated that part of their mandate was to promote and maintain stakeholder engagement towards youth empowerment.

“The project’s main objective seeks to enhance employment and self-employment opportunities for young people through access to skills development’’, he said.

Mr Nthaga stated that promoting decent work opportunities for young people required coordinated policies, strong institutions and innovative solutions. 

The acting paramount chief of Bangwato, Kosi Serogola Seretse said they were concerned about youth employment which had led youth to indulge in drug abuse and crime.

He said youth were future leaders who needed to be guided accordingly. ends