Director-General visits youth-owned farm in Eswatini

Mbabane - FAO Director-General QU Dongyu today visited a farm owned by a group of young farmers in the Kingdom of Eswatini who are producing beans and maize and adding value through processing. The enterprise, called Smiling Through Farming, also provides produce under the joint FAO-World Food Programme (WFP) Home Grown School Feeding project, which supports schools to provide nutritious meals to students, and procures commodities from local smallholder farmers.

During the visit, the Director-General spoke with the young agripreneurs, including Nkosephayo Manyatsi, a 27-year old farmer and trained food scientist.   

The Director-General said he was pleased to meet youth who are passionate about contributing to the global call for the need to transform agrifood systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life. He also provided guidance on how the farmers could further develop their protein-rich bean jam and other products to reach new markets, including tapping in to e-commerce.

Under the Home Grown School Feeding programme, FAO provided technical support and training to the smallholder farmers, as well as agricultural inputs, while WFP purchased the produce and provided it to the participating schools thereby facilitating a market link.  

During the Director-General’s two-day visit to Eswatini, he also met His Majesty King Mswati III after a national celebration to mark the first harvest of the marula fruit and other produce. The Director-General reaffirmed FAO’s commitment to further strengthen cooperation with Eswatini to help transform the country's agrifood system.