For two six-day periods, the Kopanong Hotel near Johannesburg was transformed into a platform for young leaders from across southern Africa: From 9 to 14 April, the second module of the fifth cohort of the Young Leaders Incubator Programme (YLIP) took place there – jointly organised by SACAU and the Andreas Hermes Academy. With this cohort’s graduation, YLIP has reached a special milestone: a total of 100 young people from the agricultural sector and associations across southern Africa have now completed the programme.
Anyone trying to put YLIP into words soon realises: it is not a traditional specialist seminar. It is personal development, entrepreneurial thinking and agricultural policy-making all rolled into one – dynamic, unexpected and entirely without PowerPoint. In Johannesburg, the second module focused on entrepreneurship, communication and the question of how to turn many individual talents into a powerful collective. A highlight was the visit by Dr Mathabo Tsepa, a member of the SACAU board and former High Commissioner of Lesotho to Canada, who took part in a live Q&A with Refilwe from Lesotho – the president of the Class of 2026 – on stakeholder engagement and diplomacy. In various simulation exercises, the participants took on the roles of competing producers and experienced first-hand how quality, price and negotiating skills determine success or failure in the market. Participants were also taught how to analyse the life cycles of their various products in order to derive an action strategy.
[Foto 2]
YLIP is not a traditional ‘9 to 5 seminar’; participants also work together in the evenings and learn about the different cultures of their fellow participants. The team of trainers led by Uli Ernst and Jan Pusdrowski shared German history, agriculture and wine they had pressed themselves on their own estate, whilst the participants from Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Lesotho and Madagascar introduced their home countries through music, traditional dress and culinary tastings. All of this resulted in more than just a packed programme: The 2026 cohort developed a shared vision – to establish a youth organisation within every national farmers’ association in the region, with a clear roadmap ranging from setting up initial structures to holding regular capacity-building workshops within a year. Under their self-chosen motto ‘United minds, innovative growth, shared success’, the participants left Johannesburg not only with new knowledge, but also with a shared mission.
[Foto 3]
Just how seriously the alumni take this is evident far beyond the seminar room – in the associations and businesses where they are putting their new skills to use. Four recent examples illustrate this:
- Thabita Kasongo (YLIP 2025) was honoured in Malawi at the 2026 National Youth Summit with the “2026 Youth Impact Award” in the Entrepreneurship & Economic Empowerment category.
- Bandile Marime (YLIP 2026) was elected to the executive committee of the Eswatini National Agricultural Union (ESNAU) and will take up the post of Director of Finance there in future.
- Mutinta Handoondo (YLIP 2026) is representing Zambia at the African Regional Agroecological Youth Summit in Uganda.
- Sibusiso Mncina (YLIP 2025) was runner-up in Eswatini for the PELUM Association’s Agroecology Entrepreneur Award.
Four different paths, one common thread: YLIP alumni are taking on responsibility – on the executive boards of their associations, as entrepreneurs, as the voice of their country on the international stage, and as recognised role models for other young people in the agricultural sector. With the number of graduates now standing at 100, this network continues to grow – and with it, the number of people actively shaping the future of agriculture in southern Africa.
