By Mo Senne
“If you have the means, resources, and capacity to change the world, then you must. It is your gift to society.” – Phindile Sithole.
In a world grappling with the twin challenges of youth unemployment and food insecurity, a new generation of leaders is emerging with innovative solutions. One such leader is Phindile Sithole, a PhD student at the Environmental Learning Research Centre (ELRC) at Rhodes University.
Her work is at the forefront of a groundbreaking initiative, demonstrating how a childhood passion for growing food (inspired by her grandmother) can be cultivated into a powerful, youth-led movement for change.
Sithole is a key member of the ELRC’s YOMA (UNICEF Youth Open MarketPlace) Youth-Led Innovation Team, where she is helping to drive and lead the “Co-Engaged Learn-to-Earn Pathways” for unemployed young people.
The core idea was to use digital means to create accessible learning-to-earning opportunities for youth, with Sithole’s contributions focusing on the Eastern Cape and the uMngeni Catchment areas.
Sithole took a leadership role in one of four key pathways, agro-ecology. Her work was to collaboratively map out learning pathways by supporting a team working with five youth groups from the Eastern Cape, ensuring the courses were relevant to their preferred practices and local context. This culminated in a full agro-ecology course with 10 micro-credentials.
What makes Sithole’s leadership particularly notable is her hands-on, adaptive approach. She taught herself to design online courses and how to create video materials, ensuring the content was engaging and accessible. The team also created a QR code “quick access tool” to simplify sign-ups for the free courses, addressing a key barrier to entry for many young people.
Once the courses were developed, she led the crucial pilot phase this year including participants from KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. This pilot was a learning experience, with success hinging on the young participants’ self-directed learning and the consistent support from the research team. Sithole meticulously managed the administrative processes, from ethical considerations to logistics and impact activities, and documented lessons learned to improve the courses.
The pilot highlighted key challenges, such as a disparity in digital literacy and poor network connectivity. Phindile and her team observed that while younger participants easily navigated the online platform, older participants struggled with basic tasks, underscoring the need for ongoing, accessible support. This recognition led to a suggestion for in-person check-ins for those struggling with the digital format.
Despite these hurdles, the project is already showing significant promise. As of early August 2025, just after the course went live, 49 youth had enrolled from five different provinces across South Africa, demonstrating the program’s national traction.
The courses have been met with positive feedback, and the digital training model is considered a unique and valuable contribution to the YOMA platform. The project’s success is not just in numbers but in the real-world stories of young people like Celiwe Mahlangu, who, inspired by her neighbour, used the course to transition from traditional farming to a more sustainable, chemical-free approach.
Sithole’s work extends beyond development and piloting. She has actively engaged in strengthening agro-ecology partnerships. She has presented the program at national and provincial forums, including the DSI/NRF Community of Practice Forum and the KSI Festival.
She is also working with Dr Wilma van Staden, and fellow students Angela Chappel, Maletje Mponwana, Athi Tabalaza and other colleagues in the YOMA project to roll out a training-of-trainers (ToT) program, ensuring the sustainability and scalability of the initiative.
Sithole says: “I know that I can’t change the whole world, but I can make a meaningful impact around me.”
