Inclusive Agri-tech Hubs

Climate change, which is one of the worst reality the world is experiencing, keeps affecting everyone in almost all the parts of the globe. In Malawi, the effects of climate change cannot be overemphasized. Since 2015, the country has experienced cyclones and tropical winds that have affected and displaced many people across the country. This has affected the country’s food security plans as the country keeps being rated low on the global hunger index for the past 10 years. This highlights a huge need that the country has to address in order to mitigate and adapt to climate change. With Agriculture being  Malawi’s only reliable source of income, there is need to back up the agricultural sector which is mostly being affected as a result of climate change.  Unfortunately Malawi is one of the countries in the world that does not provide adequate technologies to young people for them to pursue a career in agriculture despite young people comprising of over 60% of the total Malawian population. Generally, because of such unstructured systems and lack of technology in agriculture, many young people are denied access to get actively involved in agriculture, let alone climate change adaptation plans. Neglecting youth involvement in agriculture will continue to create gaps in managing and responding to climate change adaptation thereby causing many recurrent challenges that will keep affecting the young people themselves, their communities and the global world.

The inclusive Agri-tech hubs provide young people with opportunities to practically learn about sustainable agriculture and climate adaptation. The hubs which are community based youth academies are situated in rural and peri-urban  communities where young people have access to attend structured experiential learning in Agri-tech for sustainable impact. These hubs will be linked to available technology hubs and agriculture clubs that will be established in primary schools where teacher matrons and patrons will form extracurricular clubs to enhance learning. The hubs are furnished with the necessary equipment and technology to allow the learners to learn, practice and innovate in sustainable agriculture and climate change adaptation. The hubs engage teachers and parents to support the young people so they are provided with basic resources to practice and innovate even in their homes and communities. In this way learning is intensified as the young people are being conditioned to practice what they learn as they grow thereby creating a generation that is dynamic and responsive to sustainable agriculture and climate change adaptation. With innovative and effective climate adaptation measures being nurtured from childhood, the world will experience sustainable solutions to the climate change  challenge which will also create many more opportunities including provision of job opportunities for the young people in Malawi and beyond.

The solution targets young people  between the ages of 5 and 17 so that they are equipped with relevant and updated skills and technology in sustainable agriculture and climate change adaptation. This will help the young people to master skills that will help them diversify into agriculture as a way of creating job opportunities as they pursue their career trajectories while responding to climate change issues.  At the moment, agriculture is a taught subject in primary and secondary schools and Malawi has developed a Climate adaptation curriculum but there is no adequate provision of resources and technology that will allow the young people to learn practically. In addition, such courses are considered examinable and so the young learners will only aim at performing better in class rather than internalizing and practicing the taught skills to bring about long lasting positive changes for them and their communities. Furthermore, given the background of recurrent challenges of school dropouts in the country, it means only the learners that are in school are the ones with access to such taught skills. By establishing community inclusive Agri-Tech hubs, both in and out of school learners will have the privilege to learn and practice sustainable agriculture and develop climate change adaptation innovations along side learning the intersecting triple bottom line approaches of environmental, social and economic issues so that they holistically understand the concepts and be able to apply them in their every day life.

The enterprise is in the same community and is currently prototyping the idea by modifying the premises to allow the young people to come and learn about sustainable agriculture and climate adaptation. 80% of the team members  who possess a wide range of expertise in leadership, training, computer science , agriculture and disaster risk management come from the same area and are witnesses to the recurrent problems that the community is facing. This prototype hub has opened up to surrounding community schools which bring in learners to learn the basics in sustainable agriculture and climate change adaptation and the response is overwhelming. This means establishing more of these hubs will give access to more young people to learn and be motivated to do more in their communities. The parents and teachers have showed interest in the idea and have expressed willingness to support the young people to practice the skills they acquire from hub.

By being part of the Solve community, we hope to leverage on the learning and support we can get from peers. We are excited to exchange learning with the peers and explore the possibility of collaborating beyond the borders. We are looking forward to scale up our solution at international level and we are open to collaboration with interested partners. As our solution is just being prototyped, we are looking forward to leverage on the skills we will gain from the network of peers so that we can further perfect our solution as we scale it up.  We are excited about being part of a peer network so we can grow and meet with potential partners beyond Malawi and establish partnerships that will help us mobilize more resources towards scaling up. We hope by being part of the Solve Community we will also raise a profile for our country and be able to attract international partners to implement interventions that aim at promoting sustainable agriculture and climate change adaptation.

We provide a dynamic Agri-tech-inspired solution to Malawian young people who have less access to advanced learning in agriculture technology in the face of climate change. By providing young people with such an opportunity, we hope to explore working models that the young people will champion in their communities in order to respond to the climate change challenge. The Inclusive Agri-tech hub allows the young people to innovate and execute testable solutions which will be implemented in their communities. With agriculture being taught in schools as just an examinable course for in school learners, the solution provides an inclusive environment where all young people can learn, practice and innovate solutions in sustainable agriculture and climate change adaptation beyond any cultural, tribal, language or any other social barrier. The solution provides an open learning, which responds to the different contextual needs of global communities at large.

For the next one year we aim to

1. Register  at least 7500 learners from the 12 schools that surround us at the current hub
2. Train at least 240 teachers from the 12 schools that surround us in sustainable agriculture and climate adaptation course delivery on quarterly basis
3. Support the establishment of Agriculture clubs in 12 schools targeting 12,000 learners
4. Collaborate with MHub and other available technology hubs to leverage on the available resources and skills
5. Open three more hubs in T/A Likoswe to pilot the project
6.  Develop an open curriculum for the learners and for the teachers which can be easily adapted to different contexts across the globe

In the next five years, our vision is to  reach 5,000,000 young people from Malawi and beyond the region  with an opportunity to learn, practice and innovate solutions that promote sustainable agriculture and climate change adaptation in Malawi and beyond. This will also enable 200,000 teachers who will be trained as matrons and patrons to manage the school based inclusive clubs. This will be done

1.  By scaling up collaborations and partnerships with governments (and their line ministries of education, agriculture and disaster risk reduction); schools, private institutions, non-profit organisations and other international organisations which work at promoting interventions in education and climate change mitigation.
2. Profiling the workable solutions that the young people will come up with on different media platforms  at local, regional and international level
3. Advocating for allocation of resources towards youth involvement in sustainable agriculture and climate change adaptation at local, regional and international level
4. Lobbying for in-kind contributions from every willing individual and institution to establish more inclusive hubs

For the solution, progress will be measured based on:

1. Number of  fully furnished inclusive Agri-tech hubs available
2. Number of young people/learners who will actively participate in the hubs
3. Number of testable solutions  in sustainable agriculture and climate change adaptation developed by the young people/learners that will be implemented in their communities
4. Number of households which will be food secure as a result of the interventions under this program
5. Number of primary schools with inclusive agriculture hubs for learners
6. Proportion of young people/learners who will pursue a career in profitable Agriculture
7. Proportion of households which practice sustainable agricultural methods acquired through this program by the young people/learners
8. Proportion of functional community structures in support of sustainable agriculture and climate change adaptation 
9. Extent of resilience to climate change shocks among the people in the targeted communities
10. Number of out of school young people who will get readmitted back in school as a result of participating in the inclusive hubs at community level

As climate change takes toll of the world’s ecosystem, many communities keep experiencing its harsh effects some of which lead into food insecurity. With many Malawian communities failing to withstand the shocks that come along with the effects of climate change, young people are not considered to take part in activities aimed at mitigating such effects. This is exacerbated by lack of adequate infrastructure and resources to enable the young people learn and practice skills in sustainable agriculture in the face of climate change. As a result  many young people do not show interest to participate in such interventions let alone pursue a career in sustainable agriculture and climate change adaptation.

With Inclusive Agri-Tech hubs, in and out of school young people will be given a platform to learn, practice and innovate solutions which will be implemented in their communities with the aim of addressing challenges in sustainable agriculture and climate adaptation in their communities.  The established hubs, which will be linked to Agriculture clubs in the primary schools, will strengthen capacity of teacher matrons and patrons with advanced skills to be able to deliver practical sessions to learners in schools to compliment the Agri-Tech hubs. The hubs will collaborate with government line ministries, existing technology hubs and other private and non -profit organisations for monetary or in kind support. To enhance visibility and further collaboration, the workable solutions created by the young people will be profiled in different media platforms so as to gain traction and more support from local and international institutions and individuals.

With the involvement of young people in  experiential learning about sustainable agriculture and climate change adaptation and with the involvement of other stakeholders to support such efforts, there will be a strengthened capacity of young people/ learners who will come up with solutions to solve challenges in sustainable agriculture and climate change adaptation. There will also be strengthened collaboration among different actors in promotion of inclusive learning for young people in the fields of sustainable agriculture and climate change adaptation and there will  also be enhanced application of technology in sustainable agriculture and climate adaptation for sustainable impact.

With strengthened capacity among young people; strengthened collaborations among different actors and enhanced application of technology in sustainable agriculture and climate adaptation the solution will  promote sustainable agriculture and build resilience of communities to  climate change effects.

We explore technological solutions to advance sustainable agriculture and climate change adaptation mechanisms as we allow the young people to be innovative and come up with their own solutions. Our teacher- parent platforms which will be mostly digital will enhance the collaboration and advance technology in rural and peri-urban Malawi.  The solution leverages on the presence of other technology hubs so that the young people are given an opportunity to be dynamic and develop as many solutions as they can using advanced technology.

The solution is being led by a female who is also a founder of Tac-Maz Sustainable Ventures. Thokozani brings in a diverse of work experience as a development practitioner in the field of education, climate change adaptation, livelihoods and gender equality. While in secondary school, Thokozani did not perform well in her Science subjects including agriculture because she had limited access to practical learning as there were inadequate resources and support structures at that time so she resonates with the challenges that the young learners are currently experiencing.

With Tac-Maz sustainable ventures which has provided job opportunities to 16 individuals from the same community, the solution is being implemented by team members who understand and have experienced the harsh reality of climate change in their community and how young people are not supported enough to get actively involved in the activities that will help adapt or mitigate the effects of climate change in a sustainable way.

Furthermore, the solution is deliberately targeting both in and out of school young people so that can all have access to the experiential learning. It has  prioritized young people with disabilities and the current hub is being modified to allow participation of those with physical challenges. For instance there are ramps being constructed, visual boards and there have been preliminary engagements with Disability organisations to support with relevant skills like brail translation.

All in all, as one of the enterprise's principle is mainstreaming of gender transformative approaches that touch base on human rights based approaches, gender equality and equity and safeguarding; the enterprise policies will be effected. At the same time, the curriculum to be developed will include issues of diversity, equity, equality, safeguarding and all so that the young people are also nurtured to consider these issues as they grow as well as for the teachers to keep promoting these issues in their schools and community.

Currently Tac-Maz Sustainable Ventures is engaged in sustainable horticultural and livestock production and service delivery. It serves around 5 local markets  in Chiradzulu district and 3 big companies in Blantyre district. On average, the enterprise generates revenue of 6000$ in a month through selling of the livestock and agricultural products and services. The enterprise also provides services to small holder farmers with skills in sustainable agriculture on a fair subscription fee. Furthermore, the enterprise supports women farmers with skills in sustainable agriculture, linking them to access funding and better markets of which the enterprise is one of their main buyers.  Through World Connect and CISANET the enterprise has been able to provide the women farmers with  farm inputs, establishment of a cooperative and construction of a cooperative building , all of which add up to  14000$. As part of supporting the ecosystem, with the support of the women and the community members, the need to support young people/learners with skills in sustainable agriculture was identified. This is the reason, why the enterprise is prototyping the Inclusive Agri-tech hubs to allow the young people to participate actively in sustainable agriculture and climate change adaptation. Like the enterprise has partnered with World Connect, Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture in the women support program, it has already started collaborating with the same institutions and is further engaging other interested institutions so that the program is fully supported beyond the capacity of the enterprise.

For this solution, the enterprise will continue to operate as a hub as it is currently refurbishing the hub with the needed equipment and resources. To implement the solution as planned, there is need to collaborate with other institutions which include the government particularly with the department of education, agriculture and disaster risk reduction so that the clubs become institutionalized and functional throughout Malawian schools.  We have already started engaging other private and non-profit agencies like MHUB to support with either monetary or in-kind contributions towards establishment of the other hubs which can either be available rooms in schools and communities or construction of new hubs altogether.  To enhance commitment for the learners in these hubs, they will be expected to pay a fair amount as a commitment fee that will be agreed upon at community level and will have to be paid as a community contribution to allow those young people who are less privileged to participate. That fee will be used for hub maintenances. But currently there is no commitment fee being paid.

Through our social service we managed to raise up to $14000 from World Connect and Civil Society Agriculture Network (CISANET) that has helped the women farmers from the same community with provision of farm inputs and construction of a cooperative building.  We also received in-kind support from Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture to support us and the women in sustainable agriculture. We also managed to generate funds from Flame Tree Initiative and SEED through competitive processes and recently we have been recognized as a runner up for the Climate Adaptation awards.  Currently, we have also been awarded (not yet received) a sum of 12,500$ to support one its projects from Malawi Agriculture and Industry Corporation (MAIIC). We are confident that the traction we have built through our enterprise will help raise our profile and call in more collaborators to partner with us from Malawi and beyond in order to implement our scalable solution more easily.