By Dr Hanis Hazwani Ahmad

Agroprenuer is defined as an entrepreneur who uses agriculture to build a business.

The future for the food and agricultural business will be more crucial over the next 10 to 20 years as Malaysia transitions further towards a service-dominant economy, making young engagement in the sector with a contemporary technological twist more likely than ever.

A platform should be created to change youth perception of the agricultural sector as a sustainable industry. The youth may see agriculture as unpopular, not glamorous and yielding low profit. This may hinder them from joining a start-up in the agriculture industry.

Youth agroprenuers could use technology and innovation to increase income through production productivity and product quality. In developing countries, youth agroprenuers already have very attractive careers due to the growth of advanced technology.

For example, the use of drones for rice cultivation in Malaysia and the use of the Internet of Things (IoT) to check soil conditions. This technology might help to encourage the youth, especially from the B40 group, to get involved in the agriculture industry.

Grant for agropreneurs

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security provides a grant to encourage youths to become agroprenuers through Geran Agroprenuer Muda (GAM) or Young Agropreneur Grant.

This grant from the government assists young agroprenuers to minimise financial costs in running a business. This grant is given in kind to the maximum value of RM20,000 per individual for the Food Industry and Agricultural Basics project and a maximum start-up value of RM30,000 per individual for upstream agricultural projects such as crops, livestock and fisheries. This grant does not have to be repaid.

Besides that, the Scale-up Young Agropreneur Grant is an expansion assistance programme from the government to recipients of the Young Agropreneur Grant who implement upstream agricultural projects and is given in the form of goods with a maximum value of up to RM50,000 per individual to finance the acquisition of the latest agrotechnology, mechanisation and automation. The results and impact of grant giving are targeted to provide economic benefits to grant recipients and businesses for the long term.

Tackling unemployment

Many young Malaysians are unemployed. This has gotten worse after the COVID-19 outbreak. Many people have lost their existing jobs and need a consistent monthly paycheck.

Unemployed youngsters are considered unhappier, more prone to suffer from various health conditions and encounter difficulty reintegrating into the work market. The impact of joblessness may be particularly severe for young people.

Increased youth entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector is a possible approach for integrating young people into the job market. It has the potential to help young people by expanding their human capital traits (self-reliance and skills development) and raising their level of happiness.

Providing societal benefits

On the other hand, it also offers societal benefits. As young agropreneurs, they have the potential to create jobs, enhance innovation, improve competition and respond to changing economic possibilities and trends.

A young individual starting a new agribusiness may provide a 'demonstration' or learning externalities by serving as a role model for other young people. This may be especially beneficial in impoverished communities since starting a new business, especially if it is successful, may signify that agropreneurship is a method for assisting disadvantaged individuals to break out of social discrimination.

Indeed, one of the reasons why agropreneurship for the young is so appealing is because it provides an indigenous answer to economic hardship.

Young agropreneurs who innovate have two advantages. First, because young people are typically aware of new technology and have the necessary knowledge, their ability and curiosity to develop might revolutionise farms. Second, advancements may open new business prospects for young people in the agriculture industry.

Furthermore, digital innovation is targeted at allowing digital innovations for job development and youth empowerment through access to knowledge, technology and markets. When combined with measures to overcome agricultural production issues, these opportunities might have a greater impact on improving lives.

-- BERNAMA

Dr Hanis Hazwani Ahmad is Senior Lecturer at the School of Economic, Finance and Banking (SEFB), Universiti Utara Malaysia​.