Overview

Leadership development is key to sustained improvements in agricultural production in developing countries particularly in the rural areas. However, the rural poor cannot, in isolation develop complete solutions to deal with the production, market access and technology challenges they face. Because this group of people are unaccustomed to having their views heard and acted on, this program proposes a way in which urban professionals who are concerned about rural development and food production can use their networks and expertise to develop technical and management capacity among rural farmers in order to generate entrepreneurial solutions to crippling food shortages. The program targets educated urban dwellers with close rural ties and seeks to create intellectual curiosity about this constant struggle with food insecurity. Whereas there is mutual respect as required by local customs, contact between these groups has previously been superficial i.e. limited to family occasions like weddings and funerals. It seeks to engage those who are motivated to participate in developing a solution to this problem to form networks of likeminded professionals to engage rural farmers and come up with workable solutions.