Smart Farm Cities Africa introduces competitive internship program to UNIMA students

As a way of preparing the students for the industry after their tertiary education, the School of Law, Economics and Government recently hosted representatives from Smart Farm Cities Africa to discuss internship opportunities available at their organization. The event, held at Chikowi 1 Lecture Theatre on 28th March, 2024, attracted numerous students from various programs, particularly those in their final year.

Professor Happy Kayuni, the Executive Dean of the School of Law, Economics, and Government, welcomed and introduced the officials. Smart Farm Cities Africa, headquartered in Lilongwe, is a social impact start-up focused on fostering prosperous agricultural communities and creating job opportunities.

Mr. Mpho Laisi, the Development Manager at SFC, provided an overview of the firm, their ongoing projects, and the application process for their internship program, which can be done either through their website or by writing to the Human Resource Manager. He also revealed the competitiveness of the program, with only 10% of applicants being accepted into various positions spanning the areas of agriculture, hospitality, management, accounting, and marketing. He highlighted that a bachelor’s degree is the minimum requirement for participation. However, the applicants are not limited to their field of study as they can be enrolled in a different field. SFC believes that with the training they offer, anyone can be able to venture into a different field and perform.  

“We are doing a tour around universities in Malawi on leadership development and also introducing the SFC internship program to the students,” he said. “We invited a guest speaker, Mr Michael Van Grisven, a business development specialist and SFC consultant from the United States of America, to be part of the UNIMA tour to share with the students some insights gained from SFC's leadership development sessions.” 

“So coming here was a gesture to invite students to be leaders at every sphere of influence to achieve greatness, asking them to be part of one of Africa’s top internship programs”

During his presentation, Mr. Van Grisven urged students to cultivate leadership skills, offering tips on how to achieve this. He recommended the SFC internship program as an opportunity to acquire such skills. 

The students appreciated the initiative and looked forward to being part of the SFC, and making use of similar programs in the future as they prepare to leave the corridors of UNIMA.