Newly inaugurated LUANAR Professor, Kennedy Machira, says Malawi must deliberately invest in its youthful population to turn demographic growth into economic development.
He was speaking at Bunda Campus during his inaugural lecture.
Machira warned that Malawi’s large youth population risks worsening poverty if young people remain unemployed and dependent on their families.
He urged the youth to take advantage of innovation, national internship programmes, and agricultural and industrial labour exports to gain practical experience and boost the country’s production.
Machira, whose research focuses on fertility, poverty and socio-economic development, said his work should help shape programmes that create jobs and improve human welfare.
Meanwhile, Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) Country Director, Eluphy Banda Nyirenda, said government, private sector and development institutions should utilise research by local professors to better design development programmes.
By Yamikani Makanga
