Empowering Malawi’s Growth: Youth Led Venture Earns World Bank Acclaim

Key Business Points

• Youth-led agribusiness cooperative Acades is being hailed as a model for transforming Malawi’s smallholder farming into a catalyst for job creation, export growth, and higher rural incomes, demonstrating the power of visionary leadership and coordinated youth innovation.
• The World Bank Group has launched a global initiative called AgriConnect to support agriculture by backing farmer cooperatives, de-risking private investment, and using digital technology to link smallholders to finance, inputs, and markets, which is already evident in Acades’ operations.
• Investing in agriculture through collective efforts, producing, aggregating, exporting, and supplying various agricultural products can help overcome major barriers facing the youth, as seen in Acades’ success, and the government is urged to support young people and women in commercial agriculture, with development partners investing in universities to ensure graduates are ready to start businesses.

The World Bank Group has recognized the potential of youth-led agribusiness cooperative Acades in transforming Malawi’s smallholder farming into a catalyst for economic growth. According to World Bank Group regional vice-president for Eastern and Southern Africa Ndiame Diop, Acades is a tangible example of what the country’s agricultural future should look like. The cooperative, built by five young graduates, has established a thriving soya beans enterprise that supplies both local and regional markets, demonstrating the impact of visionary leadership and coordinated youth innovation.

Diop emphasized that agriculture is essential for countries like Malawi, where a large share of the workforce depends on farming. He noted that without higher agricultural productivity, it is impossible to raise incomes and reduce poverty. The World Bank has launched AgriConnect, a global initiative designed to support agriculture in a different way by backing farmer cooperatives, de-risking private investment, and using digital technology to link smallholders to finance, inputs, and markets.

Acades chairperson Hastings Nhlane acknowledged the significant support received from the World Bank, which funded high-quality facilities through a matching grant, providing electricity and improved road access. These interventions have helped Acades overcome major barriers facing the youth. Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development Roza Mbilizi emphasized the government’s ambition to place young people and women at the heart of commercial agriculture, urging development partners to invest in universities to ensure graduates are ready to start businesses in fields such as mechanization, seed production, and value addition.

With Malawi’s population dominated by the youth and more than 70 percent of its workforce engaged in agriculture, according to the National Statistical Office, investing in agriculture through collective efforts can help overcome major barriers facing the youth. As Diop noted, Acades’ success represents the kind of transformation Malawi needs to tackle poverty on a large scale. The cooperative’s model can be replicated, and with the right support, zinthu zina zitatuza (these things will help us) to achieve economic growth and reduce poverty. Kufikira kwa ubwino (thinking positively) and kujitolea (committing) to agriculture can help Malawi’s youth create a brighter future for themselves and their communities.

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