The Brussels Development Briefing no. 49 on “Youth in agribusiness: shaping the future of agriculture” took place on 18th of May 2017 from 09:00 to 13:00, at the ACP Secretariat in Brussels, Belgium. This Briefing was co-organised by CTA, the ACP Secretariat, European Commission (DG DEVCO), Concord, PAFO and AgriCord.

**Webstream: Click here to watch the event live **

**View the coverage on Twitter: @BruBriefings **

Almost 88% of the world’s 1.2 billion youth live in developing countries. Globally, young people account for approximately 24% of the working poor and this dynamic is particularly pronounced in Africa, where over 70% of youth subsist on US$2 per day or less. Although the world’s youth population is expected to grow, employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for young women and men remain limited – particularly for those living in economically stagnant rural areas of developing countries. Projections indicate that 60% of the world’s labour force growth between 2010 and 2050 will be in Africa which has the youngest population in the world, with 200 million aged between 15 and 24 (doubling by 2045 according to the AFDB).

In Africa, agriculture, is still in most cases the sector which can absorb large numbers of new job seekers and offer meaningful work with public and private benefits. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the transition into agriculture begins early.  The vast majority of teenagers who work are working in agriculture. At age 15, of the 60% of those who are working, almost 90% are working in agriculture. The share working outside agriculture increases steadily with age, largely because young people who leave school at higher grades enter other sectors. In rural areas, where limited educational opportunities prevent youths from staying in school for very long, agriculture employs more than 90% of 15- and 16-year-olds, and about 80% of young people ages 24 and older remain in agriculture (although some who report agriculture as their primary activity also have a non-farm activity as well). Women who work are more likely to work in agriculture than men—and unlike men their probability of working in agriculture does not decrease much with age. One reason why so many women remain in agriculture is that they leave school sooner, so employment opportunities are set much earlier for females than for males.

The creation of employment opportunities for young people is among the major development challenges of our time. Changing the vision of youth towards agriculture must happen. In this context, youth-related policies and programmes should seek to identify specific, priority interventions that add value. Policy makers should see the value of investing in empowering youth to strengthen and sustain the foundation for agricultural transformation. Creating more and better jobs, in particular for the growing young rural labour force, should be an explicit objective in agriculture and rural development programmes and youth focused policies and investments in agriculture and rural development should be a priority. Boosting incentives to improve the quality of education will also be key to produce a skilled workforce. We need to increase the understanding of the specific needs of young people, improving the capacity of youth to profitably engage in activities along the agricultural value chain and improve access to markets and finance. As youth are often marginalised in these processes, platforms and mechanisms for their engagement need to be put into place to enable them to fully participate in the policy dialogue, make their voice heard and give recognition to their status.

NEW! on the subject of Youth in Agribusiness

***

Background Note and Programme

Highlights

Photos

Biodata of the speakers 

Resources

Programme

8h00-9h00 Registration
9h00-9h20 Introduction of the Briefing: Isolina Boto, Manager, CTA Brussels Office [video]

Introductory remarks: Viwanou Gnassounou, Assistant-Secretary-General, ACP Secretariat [video]; Leonard Mizzi, Head of Unit Rural Development, Food Security, Nutrition, Europeaid, European Commission [video]; Estelle Gallot, Expert, AgriCord [video]; Fatma Ben Rejeb, CEO, Panafrican Farmer’s Organisation (PAFO) [video]; Michael Hailu, Director, CTA [video]

9h20-11h00 Panel 1: Employment creation for youth in the agricultural sector
This panel will bring various perspectives on youth employment from research, policy and practice and define key actions to be taken to support youth in agribusiness.
Panellists:
– Experiences of youth going into agriculture: main drivers of success
Betty Wampfler, Deputy Director, IRC / Supagro, France [presentation|video]
– Promoting innovation and entrepreneurship through incubation
Peter Kuria Githinji, Director Business Development and Partnerships, African Agribusiness Incubators Network (AAIN), Ghana [presentation|video]
– Improving financial inclusion of Youth through ICTs
Gerald Otim, Founder and Chief operating officer, Ensibuuko, Uganda [presentation|video]

Panel 1 – Debate  [video]

11h00-11h15 Coffee break

11h00-13h00 Panel 2: Young farmers and entrepreneurs: successes and opportunities ahead
This panel will share concrete successes across ACP countries from young entrepreneurs working in the agribusiness sector and will discuss the drivers of success and their replicability and upscaling.
Panellists:
– Youth Participation in agro-processing in Malawi
Maness Ngoma Nkhata, Lakeshore Agro-Processing Enterprise (LAPE), Malawi [presentation|video]
– E-commerce opportunities for farmers
Bertrand Foffe, Founder, Jangolo Farm, Cameroon [presentation|video]
– Improved agricultural information access through ICTs
Patrick Sakyi, Expert mobile commerce business, Farmerline, Ghana [presentation|video]

Panel 2 – Debate [video]

Conclusion
Leonard Mizzi Head of Unit Rural Development, Food Security, Nutrition, Europeaid, European Commission [video]; Michael Hailu, Director, CTA [video]

3 thoughts on “Brussels Briefing 49: “Youth in agribusiness: shaping the future of agriculture”

  1. Hi, good to know about that and maybe how could I start up this program in my private sector? I wish if you provide me a guide to follow so that I can start up in my country.

    thank you

    very interesting to me

    thanks

    Marau

    1. Hi Marau,

      Thank you for your message and your interest in starting up an agribusiness in your country.

      CTA has just published “An ICT Agripreneurship Guide – A Path to Success for Young ACP Entrepreneurs“. This is a guidebook designed for young people interested in developing e-agriculture businesses in African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. You can download it here.
      There are also other resources and articles available on the CTA website about young agripreneurs, which can be found at this link: http://www.cta.int/en/news/agripreneurs.html
      Stay tuned to this Briefing and the Brussels Briefings in general, in order to receive the latest news and updates on key issues and developments related to agriculture policy in the context of ACP-EU cooperation.

      Good luck with your agribusiness start-up, and please comment again to let us know of its progress.

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