UIF programme helps to upskill aspiring farmers in Msunduzi
A Pietermaritzburg-based agricultural skills institute says the Department of Labour’s Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) labour activation programme (Lap) has propelled it to upskill aspiring farmers in Msunduzi.
Nkululeko Ngidi, a poultry manager at Fuze Institute, spoke to The Witness at the launch of 49 innovative labour activation programmes in Durban yesterday.
The programmes, which are part of a national initiative set to create over 700000 jobs, was launched by KwaZulu-Natal Premier Nomusa Dube-Ncube, together with Minister of Employment and Labour Thulas Nxesi.
The collaboration between the Department of Employment and Labour and the KZN government was expected to significantly address unemployment in the province.
The UIF programme seeks to have young people, countrywide, trained, reskilled and placed in jobs or assisted to start their own businesses.
According to Ngidi, Fuze Institute provided training to young people in vegetable, poultry, sheep and cattle farming.
“We walk the journey with them from giving them the skill to assisting with linking them up with the market in order to have their products sold.
“We also monitor and evaluate their progress,” he said.
Ngidi said UIF funded about 80% of its programmes.
“It doesn’t end with funding, they also come back to check on our progress and the progress of our students.”
Thousands of young unemployed people flocked to the Durban Exhibition Centre yesterday with the hopes of being enrolled into one of the 49 projects that include farming, maritime and renewable energy.
The programmes will be implemented in various districts of KZN such as eThekwini, Ugu, as well as Harry Gwala.
“We are excited that this programme responds to the key priorities and needs of the province, as was outlined in the State of the Province Address.
“Importantly, we want to ensure that this programme also absorbs unemployed graduates.
“We will deliberately link the Lap with many provincial government programmes, such as Sthesha WayaWaya, Operation Vula Fund, Radical Agrarian Social-Economic Transformation (Raset) and many others, to ensure that there is access to market for the skills, services and products that are realised through this programme,” said Dube-Ncube.
According to Nxesi, the programme remained a crucial programme for mitigating job losses and fostering economic growth in South Africa.
He said having a special skill was crucial to survive in the labour market in South Africa.
“You may have a degree and still struggle to find employment if you don’t possess a special skill.
“That is why we believe that young people should be skilled not only to secure employment but become entrepreneurs as well.”