How it works
Through our intensive two-year program, young adults ages 18-28 are transformed into skilled agricultural professionals and community leaders. Operating five days a week, nine hours a day, the program combines:
- Technical training in agronomy, climate-smart practices, and modern farming techniques
- Business skills in project management, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship
- Leadership development in community mobilization and the facilitation of community organizations.
During their service, participants work directly in villages as farmer-trainers, promoters of climate-smart practices, and facilitators of cooperatives and savings groups. They bridge the gap between subsistence farmers and input suppliers, market actors, and extension services and also help monitor all year-round cultivation of high value crops.
In return, in addition to intensive skills training, the YSP participants receive a modest living stipend (approximately $40 a month) and a nutritious lunch.
In their second year, YSP participants begin transitioning to small-scale farming entrepreneurs, developing business plans for their own agricultural ventures. Upon graduation, each receives a grant and loan to launch their enterprise, with continued guidance from Tevel. Graduates pursue diverse pathways as input dealers, produce aggregators, nursery operators, or service providers, while continuing to serve their communities as mobilizers and para-extension officers.
Participants in Tevel’s first YSP cohort have established agricultural cooperatives and poultry projects.
Tevel has recently launched our second cohort with 33 participants.