- Almost half of world’s population in 2050 will be African youth.
- However, unemployment, food insecurity remain a challenge to African youth.
- Political will and financing are the keys to African youth agribusiness development.
As projections continue to show that the youth in Africa will make up half of the entire world in the two and a half decades (25yrs) alone, one wonders what will be the economic health of this half of the world? According to an Oxford Business Group report on agriculture as a business, experts review African youth as both a problem and a solution to global development, now and the not so distant future as well.
Already, youth in Africa suffer from under education or a total lack thereof, they are unemployed, malnourished and they are dependent; if the trend continues, then by 2050, then this distraught condition of today’s African youth will be the sad and dangerous reality of almost half of the world’s population.
“Young Africans are projected to number more than 830 million by 2050, representing over 45 percent of the estimated 1.8bn global youth population,” projects the report.
The report warns that; “this demographic shift underscores the challenge of expanding economic opportunities amid rapid urbanization, limited employment in the formal sector and food availability, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
So what to do? How do we save the world from this impending doom? The answer to this multimillion dollar question so to speak, is not complex at all, at least not at face value, it is not. Two worlds sum up the solution, youth and agriculture, simple enough, right?
So it would seem, until you add two other nouns, politics and finance, then things get overly complicated, almost impossible and dooms day looms at hand.
“As the primary employer in Africa, the agriculture sector presents a key opportunity to harness the dynamism and entrepreneurial drive of this demographic to stimulate inclusive economic transformation and promote food security,” the report authors suggest.
However, the authors are also quick to admit, “…challenges remain in order to harness the dividend of youth in Africa, to accelerate programs in agriculture, including enacting of friendly policies (politics) access to training, capacity-building and mentorship (finance).
Agricultural intervention programmes for youth in Africa
In recognition of this dilemma, and the importance of youth engagement in catalyzing Africa’s agri-space, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) have launched several agricultural intervention programmes targeting youth in Africa.
Africa youth programmes are meant to, among other things, maximize youth inclusion. In this regards, you have the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) which has established a growing network of agri-business centres across West Africa.
These agri-business centers are meant to empower youth trainees in agri-business and entrepreneurship through mentorship, capacity building and capital access.
On the East Coast; “Several African countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya have enacted youth-friendly agriculture policies and have experienced increased youth activity in diverse roles across Africa’s agrifood systems,” reads the report in part.
Back on the West Coast, as of 2022, IFAD has partnered with at least nine private-sector companies spread across nine Nigerian states with the aim of extending youth capacity building, training and mentoring services.
“These agri-business centres leverage experience across the agri-value chain to increase job opportunities for young Africans, and identify and upgrade facilities for agri-skill training and knowledge transfer, resulting in over 35,500 youth beneficiaries,” attests the UN.
In the same year, two major UN bodies, FAO and UN Industrial Development Organisation partnered with the African Union Commission to launch the Opportunities for Youth in Africa (OYA) programme. This programme is designed to leverage agribusiness and entrepreneurship development in an effort to create youth employment.
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Opportunities for Youth in Africa (OYA)
The UN reports that so far, OYA is operational across four pilot countries, these are Ghana, Kenya, Tunisia and Zambia, and has so far trained 30,000 youths in agri-business skills, supported 600 youth-led small businesses and built 60 public-private development and business partnerships.
“Through local incubator programmes in Kenya and Zambia, OYA has nurtured more than 270 agribusinesses,” announces the UN report.
Through OYA, hundreds of young agricultural entrepreneurs in Kenya, Ghana and Zambia are acquiring essential skills in business development, as well as digital and financial literacy, both been key elements in the modern economic arena.
OYA has also conducted detailed country assessments and earmarked 17 priority value chains to be developed in the pilot countries. Key target areas include expanding investment in innovative practices such as micro-irrigation solution.
The programme works hand in hand with the private sector to enhance the impact of Africa’s young and enterprising population across its agri-food systems.
In collaboration with local stakeholders such as government agencies, research institutions and international partners, OYA is spearheading the development of various initiatives aimed at harnessing the potential of Africa’s very fast growing youth population.
Innovative solutions are needed to maximize the efficiency of old answers like recognising the importance of rural extension and advisory services. By empowering extension officers, supporters can help build resilient agrifood systems with Africa’s youth as powerful agents of change.
Innovative digital solutions, for example, can effectively help diffuse the needed information and services to reach target groups timely and cost effectively and in a language they understand.
“By adopting the Train the Trainer approach, the youth are encouraged to be enterprising and collectivistic in terms of leveraging their education and experience to build stronger and knowledge-based farming communities,” the report reads.
Then you have organisations like OCP Africa which in 2019 established an innovative approach to agro-development in Africa. OCP set up a series farmer hubs made up of farmer houses allowing the farmers easy access to inputs and agricultural services.
“These agriculture promoters have been pivotal in maximising the impact of OCP Africa’s Agribooster programme in reaching more than 1m farmers between its launch in 2017 and 2022,” attests the report.
In an interview with the press, Mehdi Filali, vice-president of farmer solutions at OCP Africa explained that; “Key to encouraging youth participation in Africa’s agri-food systems is deepening Africa’s adoption of agri-tech solutions proliferating in more developed agri-food systems, which would help dispel the perception of agriculture in Africa as the domain of subsistence and low-mechanised farming.”
