Better opportunities for youth to boost economic growth in the East Africa Region
FAO and EAC to address youth unemployment
January 30, 2017, Addis Ababa – FAO and East Africa Community (EAC) join hands in promoting urban and rural agriculture and agribusiness to improve youth employment in Africa.
The agreement, which took place in the margins of the 28th African Union Summit themed “Harnessing Africa’s Demographic Dividend by Investing in Youth”, was signed by Libérat Mfumukeko, Secretary General for EAC and Patrick Kormawa, Subregional Coordinator for Eastern Africa and Representative to the AU and UNECA. It will allow FAO and EAC to find a path for young people to secure decent work opportunities, as well as explore innovative e-business models in the agricultural sector.
Mfumukeko in his remarks highlighted the positive impact of the agreement by saying “the cooperation with FAO was long overdue, and the current support will go a long way in addressing pertinent issues in East Africa where agriculture is the way of life.”
Despite relatively high economic growth in the Partner States of the East African Community (EAC), youth unemployment remains a great concern for the region, as it slows down economies and causes social problems.
The two institutions have the tools to respond to unemployment in the EAC region. FAO has developed the expertise on youth, agriculture, livelihoods and migration. EAC, on its part, has prepared its Youth Policy, a corner stone for many emerging public and private initiatives.
Kormawa, in his address, emphasized the role of the partnership on youth “This Technical cooperation project (TCP) addresses one of the most pressing issues of job creation for youth in the sub region, we at FAO believe that youth employment in agriculture and agribusiness is a way of lifting a significant number of youth out of unemployment and poverty” he stated.
The agreement aims to enhance the capacity of the target countries and the EAC Secretariat to develop and implement youth-in-agriculture initiatives and to improve the East African youth’s access to information, resources and employment opportunities in the agricultural sector.
Key activities of the new intervention would include the development of a sub regional strategy and country action plans for promoting decent employment for youth in the agricultural sector; the elaboration of a framework for sustainable youth employment initiatives, the dissemination of best practices, business models and opportunities for youth, and the support to scaling e-business models in agriculture.