AgriSETA says it hit 85% of its targets as farm bursaries go unclaimed
The agricultural skills agency says its doors are open to unemployed young South Africans, but the sector still struggles to pull them in.
AgriSETA says it met between 85% and 95% of its performance targets over the past five years, and its chief executive, Fanny Phetla, is now pushing scarce agricultural skills at young South Africans who cannot find work.
The agency runs skills development and training programmes across South African agriculture, working with agricultural colleges, TVET colleges and government departments. Its services are open to all young people in the country, Phetla said, and the pathway runs through accredited training providers listed on the agency’s website.
“The youth are encouraged to visit our website and to look out for accredited training providers,” he said. “There is a comprehensive list on our website and young people can apply for bursaries via TVETs and agricultural colleges for AgriSETA-funded programmes, all done via the department of agriculture bursaries scheme.”
Young people already in work can approach their employers about AgriSETA-funded bursaries, learnerships and work-integrated learning.
The skills the sector actually needs
Phetla named irrigation, soil management, climate-smart farming, food processing, storage management and digital farming practices as the scarce skills where young people should focus. Drones, sensors, business management, marketing, finance and export standards also matter, he said.
That list is where the agency’s argument meets the South African labour market. Agriculture is one of the few sectors that employs people at every level, from farm work to PhD research, and it sits at the centre of the country’s food security problem. Phetla put it plainly: “The agricultural sector is central to livelihoods, economic development and food security, with skills development playing an important role in strengthening the sector.”
AgriSETA also provides career guidance to school learners from grades 8 to 12, including visually and hearing-impaired students, and uses WhatsApp booklets and online podcasts to reach young people where they already are.
Why the seats stay empty
Attracting young people to agriculture remains the agency’s hardest problem. It is not a funding problem alone. Farming carries a reputation among many South African school leavers as low-paid, seasonal and physically punishing, and the sector competes for the same young people that banks, mines, retail chains and the public service are chasing.
Phetla’s answer is to combine classroom learning with practical experience on farms, in agribusinesses, cooperatives and food-processing companies. “By creating pathways into decent agricultural work, young people with a passion for agriculture, who would like to make it a career, can choose from many professions covering low-level skills to PhDs,” he said.
He also wants business incubators for youth-owned enterprises and smallholder and emerging farmers, offering mentoring, shared tools, legal assistance, accounting and access to markets.
“Business incubators can provide mentoring, shared tools, legal assistance, accounting and access to markets,” he said. “Young people will then become job creators, rather than being job-seekers.”
What the agency says it heard from the sector
Recent engagement with agricultural stakeholders pointed to three gaps: stronger collaboration, better access to qualifications, and more assessment centres. Phetla said AgriSETA is committed to improving access to assessment centres across the provinces and making learning materials available on its website.
Stakeholder input will inform programme planning and future interventions, with a focus on employment, entrepreneurship and participation in the agricultural value chain, he said. Emerging farmers will be supported through skills development, capacity building and partnerships.
“Our message is one of partnership and continued collaboration for greater impact,” Phetla said. “We encourage employers, levy payers, SDFs, accredited training providers, institutions of higher learning, youth and communities to continue engaging with AgriSETA, making use of relevant skills development opportunities.”
The Mail & Guardian reported Phetla’s remarks on 17 September 2026. The facts in this account come from that report.
What a young reader should do with this
If you are between school-leaving age and your late twenties and you have no work, the practical route Phetla describes is this. Go to the AgriSETA website and find the accredited training providers in your province. Apply for a bursary through a TVET college or an agricultural college under the department of agriculture bursaries scheme. If you already have a job, ask your employer about AgriSETA-funded learnerships and work-integrated learning.
The agency says it will keep strengthening partnerships and responding to what the sector tells it. Whether the target numbers hold at the top end of that 85% to 95% range will be visible in the next round of reporting against its service level agreement with the department of higher education and training.
Source: Mail & Guardian, AgriSETA targets agricultural skills to tackle youth unemployment and food insecurity, 17 September 2026.
