Expand your horizons with international internships in the USA, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

Future Farmers offers internships abroad to outstanding apprentices, enhancing their farming skills in advanced, mechanised settings. The programme, funded as a repayable loan, creates a self-sustaining cycle for future participants by reinvesting repayments into new internships.

The majority of our international placements currently are in the United States, as visa requirements around the globe are constantly changing, we have to shift our attention to where South Africans are most readily accepted. People who complete international internships are at a significant advantage when they return to South Africa and employment in more senior positions is common.

To qualify for an international internship the following are advantageous:

• A tertiary agricultural qualification.
• Strong reference letters.
• A minimum of two years of work experience (or five years if no qualification is held by the applicant).
• A passport.
• Police clearance certificate.
• Valid driver’s license.

An international intern enters into a formal loan agreement with Future Farmers, and this loan is funded primarily by the Saville Foundation among others. The intern is expected to repay the loan over the 12 months that they are abroad, and most manage to do this within the first six months. Additionally, an option for self-funding internships is available.

A word from Mike O’Keeffe – Program Manager Ohio State University Intern Program

"We have some excellent students from your program who are great ambassadors for Future Farmers and for South Africa. If you're a stakeholder, we want you to know that we have an excellent structure for the students coming up here, they are put into safe places, the learn a lot, they grow up, they learn a lot of life experiences, and we really appreciate the support you give to Future Farmers in making dreams come true for young people. They earn good money when they are up here in their experience and they can pay back their stipend quickly, and we hope to get many more future students from the Future Farmers. For the students: please apply! We need more of you who are focussed and want to learn some life skills up here in the States! Thank you, we look forward to getting more Future Farmers from South Africa".

Interns experience farming on a whole new level, particularly as international farms operate using far less labour than South African farms and are often more mechanised.

They return to South Africa confident, versatile people who have learned new skills, and understand farming and relationships with employers and colleagues with a fresh perspective.

As with our local apprenticeships, our international interns have monthly contact with the International Programme manager. They touch base on how their work is going, how they are acclimatising and adapting to the foreign culture they are living in and are requested to send back pictures and videos of their work and social environments that can be used in Future Farmers communications work.

Through our International Programme, we have sent over 165 people over to the USA, Europe, Australia and New Zealand to spend a year working on large-scale farms.  Of particular note is the fact that we've helped many people who would never have been accepted into South African institutions of tertiary agricultural studies due to the barriers of their educational and financial backgrounds. For us, this is a huge success as our programme is an example of how true transformation can take place, allowing young people to develop to their fullest potential and become more employable in South Africa.