Youth in pole position to dominate farming – Standard Bank 

By Maria Kandjungu
STANDARD Bank’s Business Banking  Manager of Agric Business Central,  Piet Bergh says that young prospective  farmers are perfectly capable of penetrating  the agricultural sector.  According to Bergh, students, especially  those who wish to venture into the agricultural  sector, are currently perfectly poised to  lay the foundations to ensure they succeed  in that sector.  “The best way to see to this is to explore  various ecosystems of influential people  which will ensure that they are aptly prepared  by the time they graduate, have a job  and are ready to begin their agricultural exploits,”  Bergh said.  The Standard executive was addressing  students, prospective farmers and a few  stakeholders in the agricultural sector at the  Youth in Agriculture conference held recently  at the Namibia University of Science  and Technology (NUST).  The conference attended by various stakeholders,  including Presidential Advisor on  Youth, Daisry Mathias and the UN Representative  on the World Food Program, Bai  Mankay Sankoh, was held under the theme  ‘Agriculture and the Generation Problem;  Rural Youth, Employment and the future of  farming’.  It was aimed towards supporting and empowering  the youth as “the main productive  human resource of socio-economic development  and who can immensely contributeto the agricultural sector”.  Bergh stated that students are in the right position to  open bank account and register their companies while  studying because by doing this they are already building  their portfolio, stressing that one’s personal wealth  will determine their ability to sustain their venture and  endure in the future.  He added that most graduates want to venture into  agriculture directly after their tertiary studies without  a proper portfolio, which is supposed to put them at  an advantage of getting the financial assistance they  require.  “Students, you need to explore your ecosystem of  influential people to help you grow your business.  Standard Bank provides the right ecosystem for you  with its consultants who are willing to guide you and  products tailor-made for you,” he advised.  With standard Bank being the main sponsor of the  event, Bergh explained that the commercial bank is  aware of the importance of the agricultural sector in  addressing food security, adding supporting the livelihood  of the country’s people should therefore not be  overlooked as the sector supports above 70 percent of  the Namibian population and employs about a third of  the working force.  “Initiatives such as this conference are essential as  they aid in activating the youths’ untapped potentials.  This is essential for the agricultural sector as it has the  potential to be the largest employer.  “As such, Standard Bank has dedicated itself over the  years to support the agricultural sector development,  with the youth being the farmers of tomorrow, it is im