Welcoming YPARD South Africa Representative: Tshiamo Dichabe

We are delighted to welcome the new YPARD South Africa representative, Tshiamo Dichabe.

Tshiamo has expertise in business strategy conceptualization, new venture creation and project/programme implementation. He holds a B.Com Marketing degree from the University of Pretoria in South Africa, majoring in Marketing Management, Business Management and Project Management. He is currently enrolled at the University of South Africa (UNISA) to complete a B.Com (Honours) degree in Business Management. He received further Entrepreneurship Development training at Lincoln University – Missouri (USA).

The innovative approach by the YPARD movement to create networks for young professionals and entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector ignited the interest for Tshiamo to form part of and support this exciting initiative. His ambitious interest in food security and the sustainability of youth development programmes in the agri-business sector has propelled him to assume the role of the YPARD representative in South Africa. Tshiamo has ten years’ experience of working with young people in leadership and entrepreneurship development programmes, and he believes this will add significant value to the YPARD South Africa Community.

As the Co-Founder and Managing Director of the Commercial Agricultural Youth Chamber (CAYC), Tshiamo has always shared the same mandate as YPARD; to create a platform to increase youth participation and support youth professionalism and entrepreneurship in the agribusiness sector. His experience as a Youth Development Practitioner spurns from various policies, programmes and projects he previously worked on, including but not limited to the National Youth Enterprise Strategy (YES), the Gauteng Agro-processing Strategy and the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA)’s Integrated Youth Development Strategy. He was also an indispensable actor in the Youth Entrepreneurship Campaign (YEC) and the Presidential Youth Working Group (2015).

In 2015, Tshiamo was highly involved in the Country Compact for Southern African Development Community (SADC) to review inputs and provide alignment for youth involvement in the NEPAD Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP). In the same year, he was invited by His Excellency President J.G. Zuma (Republic of South Africa) to form part of the Presidential Youth Working Group to ensure that the National Youth Employment Accord is correctly implemented across all spheres of Government in South Africa. In 2016, Tshiamo was selected and invited to the USA by President B. Obama (USA) to be a Mandela Washington Fellow under the prestigious Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI).

Tshiamo is the Co-founder, Executive Director and Board Member of a number of investment companies and NPOs in Sub-Sahara Africa, including Dichabe Investment Group – which is into diversified investments; the Commercial Agriculture Youth Chamber – CAYC (Sec 21 NPO – Agriyouth Development); Afrika Youth Leadership Academy (Sec 21 NPO – Youth Leadership Development); Tsisimo (Pty) Ltd (Business Consulting, Biodiesel Production; and Alternative Energy Supply), AgroSolutions (Pty) Ltd (Hydroponics Production).

Tshiamo is determined to continue the good work of Obert Mathivha, the former representative for YPARD South Africa. He plans to launch the localized quarterly agri-youth workshops to create a platform for young people interested in agri-business and to expand the local YPARD movement network in the South African townships and rural areas. During his tenure of office, he hopes to champion youth in agriculture development programmes and ensure stakeholder buy-in through an inclusive approach such as focus groups, workshops and exhibitions.

It is Tshiamo’s dream to see every municipality in South Africa have an agri-youth incubation hub that will support young academics, entrepreneurs and professionals in the agribusiness sector.

When asked why he is passionate about South Africa’s youth who engage in agriculture he said,  "I strongly believe that the youth of South Africa have a great potential through active citizenry initiatives and sustainable agricultural practices, to ensure #foodsecurity in our lifetime and reduce malnutrition as aligned to the UN SDGs 2 #zerohunger.”

We express our profound gratitude to Obert for his hard work done with the country chapter.

Welcome on board, Tshiamo Dichabe.

If you are from or based in South Africa and want to get involved in YPARD South Africa activities, please contact Tshiamo at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Photo credit: Tshiamo Dichabe