Deputy Minister Bernice Swarts’ Green Start-Up Initiative is a program that aims to help young entrepreneurs and future leaders. It focuses on creating emerging business leaders, addressing environmental issues, and generating a proficient future workforce. This initiative has been implemented for over two decades and targets diverse youth demographics. It concentrates on capacity building and experiential learning for young people, while also supporting Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises. Through these initiatives, the DFFE has created temporary jobs for the youth and provided them with essential skills to tackle environmental challenges, transforming them into dynamic job creators.
Promoting Youth Entrepreneurship: What is Deputy Minister Swarts’ Green Start-Up Initiative?
Deputy Minister Bernice Swarts’ Green Start-Up Initiative is a program aimed at empowering and uplifting our younger generation of entrepreneurs and future leaders. It focuses on cultivating emerging business leaders, generating a proficient future workforce, and addressing environmental issues. This initiative has been implemented by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment for over two decades and has led to numerous young individuals securing employment in both the public and private sectors. The initiative targets diverse youth demographics and concentrates on capacity building and experiential learning for young people, while also supporting Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises.
The Arrival of Ingenuity
As the auditorium on 17 High Street, Melrose Arch, Johannesburg thrived with activity, Deputy Minister Bernice Swarts delivered a riveting address. The distinguished audience was made up of ambitious young entrepreneurs, corporate delegates, and respected guests. The Step Up 2 a Green Start-Up National Youth Entrepreneurship Awards, an initiative dedicated to empowering and uplifting our younger generation of entrepreneurs and future leaders, was the event of the day.
Deputy Minister Swarts stressed the importance of sustained entrepreneurial zeal in her initial remarks, recognizing that our impatient youth, craving for opportunities, play a pivotal role in the nation’s economic success. She highlighted the essentiality of amplifying efforts to back their aspirations and applaud their accomplishments. Drawing from the award’s decade of existence, Swarts provided profound insights and reflections, emphasizing the virtues of commitment, tenacity, and steadfastness.
The Proliferation of Initiative
The Department of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment (DFFE), where Deputy Minister Swarts serves, has implemented numerous initiatives to cultivate our country’s emerging business leaders and generate a proficient future workforce. For instance, they have offered practical training to jobless graduates and young people through their internship and learnership programs that have spanned over two decades. This initiative, widely backed by the public sector, has led to numerous young individuals securing employment in both the public and private sectors, demonstrating the initiative’s effectiveness.
Swarts stressed the significance of stimulating interest and influencing career paths in her speech. The pursuit of developing human capital is further advanced through strategic partnerships with Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges, community, Education and Training colleges, universities, and South African National Parks. This not only delivers environmental education to schools nationwide but also presents exposure and experiential learning opportunities for the youth.
Strengthening the Youth
Notably, the DFFE’s Youth in Employment and Development (YED) Programme—an initiative of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP)—targets diverse youth demographics. It addresses the needs of young women, disabled youth, jobless youth, out-of-school youth, rural youth, at-risk youth, youth-led households, and youth in conflict with the law. This initiative, implemented in conjunction with various stakeholders, concentrates on capacity building and experiential learning for young people while addressing environmental issues.
The Department extends its support by collaborating with the Department of Small Business Development with an aim to guarantee responsible business practices by Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs), entrepreneurs, and start-ups. Since 2020, the DFFE has been raising awareness about green enterprise development and offering support to SMMEs.
Minister Swarts emphasized the need to comprehend the challenges the youth face, not through our own lenses, but through ongoing dialogues, proactive engagement, and collective problem-solving. The high youth unemployment rate, she said, clearly signals that more action is necessary.
The Results and the Future
The DFFE’s initiatives have indeed hit their targets by creating temporary jobs for the youth and providing them with the essential skills to tackle environmental challenges. Swarts concluded her address by commending the young achievers recognized for their entrepreneurial talents and potential, wishing them success in their future endeavors.
The Green Start-Up initiative is more than a refreshing and progressive approach to job creation. It lights the way for the youth, transforming them from job seekers to dynamic job creators. It stands as a testament to the value of perseverance, the significance of lifelong learning, and the effect of entrepreneurial potential on the nation’s future.
With such initiatives, the outlook for entrepreneurship is optimistic, and the young leaders are undoubtedly ready to contribute to South Africa’s growth narrative, creating a more affluent and sustainable nation.
1. What is Deputy Minister Swarts’ Green Start-Up Initiative?
Deputy Minister Bernice Swarts’ Green Start-Up Initiative is a program aimed at empowering and uplifting our younger generation of entrepreneurs and future leaders. It focuses on cultivating emerging business leaders, generating a proficient future workforce, and addressing environmental issues.
2. How long has this initiative been implemented?
This initiative has been implemented by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment for over two decades.
3. Who does this initiative target?
The initiative targets diverse youth demographics.
4. What does this initiative concentrate on?
The initiative concentrates on capacity building and experiential learning for young people, while also supporting Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises.
5. What is the DFFE’s Youth in Employment and Development (YED) Programme?
The DFFE’s Youth in Employment and Development (YED) Programme is an initiative of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) that targets diverse youth demographics. It addresses the needs of young women, disabled youth, jobless youth, out-of-school youth, rural youth, at-risk youth, youth-led households, and youth in conflict with the law.
6. What has been the impact of the initiative on the youth?
The DFFE’s initiatives have created temporary jobs for the youth and provided them with the essential skills to tackle environmental challenges, transforming them into dynamic job creators.
