Youth in agriculture village.

The Youth in Agriculture (YIA) village, to be set up at this year’s Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show, will focus on entrepreneurship among young farmers.The village, themed ‘My Dream: Agripreneurship’, is an added feature at this year’s show, which will be held on the Denbigh Showgrounds in May Pen, Clarendon, from July 30 to August 1. An initiative of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, the Youth in Agriculture Programme (YAP) is being spearheaded by the Jamaica 4-H Clubs to increase young people’s involvement in agriculture. According to executive director of the Jamaica 4-H Clubs, Dr Ronald Blake, the entrepreneurship focus came out of the 4-H Clubs’ observation of the high level of unemployment among youth in the country.He noted that there will be competitions to reinforce the theme, with persons between 17 and 25 years of age from high schools, tertiary institutions and the community taking part. Blake said in addition to visits to the booths, the young people will compete in designing products that will enhance the agricultural sector, through technology. The competitions include creating a mobile app, business plan/model, jingles, budding and grafting, cattle judging, a social media agri-promotion, and an agri-processing/nutraceutical contest. “These competitions will stimulate the youngsters’ minds, encourage them to create businesses from their yields, which is very important to the transformation of the agricultural industry in Jamaica,” Dr. Blake explained. He said that in addition to the business opportunities, the village will provide information that will encourage youth to pursue vocational studies in agriculture. continue