Young farmers in Malawi’s Ntchisi district are using a seed-based loan scheme to build businesses, finance education and reduce dependence on traditional lenders, offering a new model for tackling rural youth unemployment and poverty.

The initiative, known as PUSHA, is supported by the Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM) and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). Instead of cash loans, participants receive high-quality soya bean seeds, allowing them to enter commercial farming without the collateral or credit history typically required by banks.

For 25-year-old Kondwani Dayimoni, the programme has changed the course of his future.

Faced with limited job opportunities and unable to access formal finance, Dayimoni was close to abandoning his studies. Today, income generated from a one-and-a-half-acre soya bean plot is helping fund his plans to enrol at Domasi Teachers College.

The programme is designed to address one of the biggest barriers facing rural youth in agriculture — access to capital.

By providing loans in the form of seeds rather than cash, the initiative reduces the risk of funds being diverted to urgent household expenses while helping young farmers build productive businesses.

The model is also creating opportunities for young women, who often face even greater difficulties accessing finance.

Farmer Triphina Maliko used the scheme to expand her farming activities and later invested profits from her harvest into a mobile money business, creating an additional source of income.

“Farming has helped me become independent, and I want to encourage other young people, especially girls, to join,” Maliko said.

“We should not take agriculture as a playground or something backward. This is serious business. We can actually benefit a lot from it and stop depending on parents.”

In addition to financing, the programme also addresses another major challenge for smallholder farmers — market access.

The initiative works through local cooperatives such as the Tazindikira Cooperative, which purchases soya beans from participating farmers using government-set minimum prices and verified weighing systems.

The cooperative model helps protect farmers from exploitation by informal middlemen who often buy produce at low prices immediately after harvest.

“We help farmers access markets so they do not struggle to sell their produce after harvest,” said Alfonso Kachapira Banda from the cooperative’s marketing department.

“This makes it easier for farmers to sell their produce, benefiting both the farmer and the cooperative.”

According to Tazindikira Cooperative chairperson Violet Kamwaza, working collectively also helps farmers share knowledge, strengthen accountability and improve bargaining power.

Agricultural officials say the programme demonstrates how targeted support for youth could strengthen Malawi’s broader agricultural economy.

Masautso Bamusi Phiri, an agriculture extension methodologist officer in Ntchisi, said youth-focused agricultural financing should become part of wider national development strategies.

“Young people are an important component in achieving growth in agriculture,” he said.

As Malawi continues to face economic pressures, rising unemployment and climate-related agricultural challenges, the Ntchisi initiative is increasingly being viewed as a practical example of how agriculture can create employment, support entrepreneurship and improve rural livelihoods when young farmers are given access to structured support systems.