Deputy Minister of Youth Patrick Michealson Leads UN Women Delegation on Visit to Masiaka Youth Farm
Sahid Bangura The Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs, Patrick Gibrilla Michealson, on Monday, June 2nd 2025, led a high-level delegation of the United Nations (UN) Women to the Masiaka Youth Farm to explore agricultural opportunities.
The visit was directed by the Minister of Youth Affairs, Ibrahim Sannoh, and included the Country Representative of UN Women and her team, focusing on assessing land availability for a potential agricultural partnership.
The Masiaka Youth Farm spans 250 hectares (approximately 617.76 acres) and is part of a larger initiative by the Ministry of Youth Affairs, which aims to establish a nationwide youth agricultural program covering 3,000 hectares (7,413.15 acres).
The agricultural program is poised to empower young people, particularly women, by transforming agriculture into a key sector for employment and economic development.
During the visit, stakeholders evaluated the farm’s capacity for sustainable development and discussed collaborative frameworks to enhance youth participation in agribusiness.
Deputy Minister Michealson stated, “This engagement reaffirms our commitment to using agriculture as a transformative tool for youth empowerment and national progress.” His remarks exemplified the Ministry’s dedication to forming strategic partnerships that can translate policy into tangible outcomes.
The UN Women delegation expressed strong support for the initiative, noting its alignment with their mission to promote gender equality and economic empowerment. They indicated a keen interest in backing youth-led agricultural ventures that could serve as scalable models for national impact.
Where is the farm? All I can be see from the photos is ‘brush’. This model of development – youth farm or soviet-style collective farming concept- is anathema to development, It is wasteful, inefficient, forced and unsustainable. Does this government believe that the pathway of solving youth unemployment is through farming? The nation urgently needs smart and better thinkers to run its affairs, not these mindless schmucks.