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- Malawi is looking to send 100 000 young people to be farm workers in Israel as part of a planned agreement with the Israeli government.
- As the Israel-Gaza conflict rages on, Africans are filling some of the gaps left in the agricultural sector as 30 000 workers are "missing" from Israeli farms.
- Kenya has already sent 1 500 workers to Israel.
- For more financial news, go to the News24 Business front page.
Thousands of farm workers from African countries are heading to Israel to fill gaps left in its agricultural sector amid the Israeli-Gaza war.
According to the Israeli government, 30 000 and 40 000 workers are "missing from its farms", including Palestinians who can no longer travel to Israel during the war and foreign migrant workers leaving the country.
Malawi and Kenya have already sent workers, who are set to earn a fixed monthly salary of R28 920 ($1 500), according to reports in the Israeli media.
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Earlier this month, during his State of the Nation address, Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera said the country would seek to send 100 000 of its young workers as part of a planned agreement with the Israeli government.
"(What) is most exciting is that we are now on course to sign a government-to-government initiative and agreement with Israel, aimed at exporting 100 000 young people to go and work there, which will translate to $6 million in remittances," Chakwera said.
As part of the agreement, the African country has already received over R13 million ($700 000), according to Finance Minister Simplex Chithyola Banda.
AFP reports that Malawi already sent 400 workers in December last year and will send 5 000 workers in the next few months.
Meanwhile, 1 500 Kenyan workers are already in Israel, according to Business Insider.
The Malawi government has sent a delegation to visit Israel and report on the working conditions for its farm workers.
Speaking at a Parliamentary sitting on 15 February, MP Joyce Chitsulo said the delegation was concerned about whether workers would be operating in safe conditions but had been assured by the Israeli government that their safety would be prioritised.
"We had the opportunity to visit and were assured of the security. There was war in other parts of the country, but Malawian workers were safe. We wanted to make sure that the youth working in Israel would be safe," she said.
Other MPs welcomed the report during the sitting. MP Baba Malondera commended the delegation, saying that the initiative would lead to economic opportunities for the country.
"They have given us a true picture of what is on the ground. When the news of jobs in Israel was broken, members [of parliament] had become ove-zealous and insinuated that young men travelling to Israel would be put in the war zone to fight.
"We have not seen the truth, and out of those who have travelled, we have made $700 000 dollars as a country [...] Our leadership saw opportunities in agriculture, tourism and the hospitality sector," he said during the sitting.
