Young people benefit from free rural entrepreneurship training. The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, through the PROGRES program (Program for Strengthening Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Supporting Economic Integration of Rural Youth), recently organized training for 150 young people. This is free training in productive entrepreneurship. Access to financing and the use of innovations and technologies in the agricultural sector constitute the other modules provided to beneficiaries. The objective is to ensure professional integration of the new generation of young people, especially in rural areas, in agricultural value chains, by providing them with the necessary means to become key actors in development. By way of illustration, these 150 learners were supported in structuring their projects, from creation to development of productive activities.

Adapted Financing

Moreover, thanks to the knowledge acquired, they will be better able to defend their projects to obtain adapted financing. The integration of technological innovations will allow them, furthermore, to adopt modern agricultural practices, thus contributing to the professionalization of these future rural entrepreneurs and to the improvement of productivity yields. Other training sessions will be planned by the supervising ministry in different regions to encourage more young people to venture into rural entrepreneurship. This ministerial department relies on its network of structures dedicated to vocational training, such as CAPFA, EFTA and CFFAMMA, to facilitate the professional integration of young people in the agricultural sector through this skills enhancement.

21,200 Rural Enterprises

This initiative will also generate new jobs, particularly by training agricultural engineers and technicians. The ultimate objective is to develop the agricultural economy while reducing Madagascar's dependence on imported food products. Regarding the PROGRES program, funded by IFAD (International Fund for Agricultural Development), it aims to reduce rural poverty and strengthen food security and sovereignty in Madagascar, by stimulating the local economy and resilience to climate change. At the end of this project, 21,200 rural enterprises will be created or strengthened, while generating 50,000 direct jobs in the agricultural sector through the training and support of 75,000 young people.