Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

Consultation

Sustaining the Impact of Capacity Development Initiatives for African Youth in Agriculture

Africa is a youthful continent, with youth – defined by the African Union as every person between the age of 15 and 35 – currently constituting 35 percent of its population. By 2050, this number is expected to double, reaching over 830 million meaning that 29 percent of the total world youth population will reside in Africa.

The increase in youth population will result in a rising number of people of working age, which could exacerbate youth unemployment on the continent. However, at the same time it will give Africa an opportunity to increase agricultural development. Engaging youth in agriculture and retaining them in the sector is a strategy that could both contribute to increasing agricultural productivity and addressing youth unemployment.

Although agriculture is the mainstay of most African economies, the number of youth engaged in the sector as either wage earners or entrepreneurs is very low. Young people, and in particular female youth, lack access to finance, land, markets, technologies and practical skills, and have limited interest in agriculture. This, coupled with lack of decent jobs in both rural and urban areas, is among the factors forcing youth to migrate to urban areas and abroad to seek employment mostly in sectors other than agriculture. According to ILO (2016), about 38 percent of youth between 15 and 29 years old in sub-Sahara Africa are willing to move permanently to another country.

African governments, NGOs and international organizations, including FAO, are increasingly implementing youth-specific capacity development (CD) initiatives in support of youth involvement in agriculture. Most initiatives combine agriculture and entrepreneurship as one of the strategies to attract youth (graduates and non-graduates; rural, urban and/or peri-urban, young women, etc.) to agriculture and address rural-urban-abroad migration and Africa’s growing youth unemployment.

What should be the nature of post-capacity development support to these youth in order to retain them in agriculture, and to ensure the sustainability and long-term impact of youth-specific CD initiatives?

This online discussion aims at opening an exchange of ideas, good practices and lessons learned on how to sustain the impact of interventions that develop capacities and engage youth in agriculture.

Specifically, we invite you to share your views on how best to support African youth in agriculture after they have gone through youth-specific capacity development initiatives. You may contribute by responding to any of the following questions:

  1. What are the biggest challenges youth in Africa face after going through youth-specific capacity development initiatives in agriculture?
  2. What are the examples of existing post-capacity development sustainability initiatives for youth in agriculture in Africa? What works and what does not? Are there any success stories and good practices that can be shared?
  3. What post-capacity development support do the youth need? What can the youth do to support each other in developing their skills and capacities?
  4. What enabling environment is needed to ensure sustainability of youth in agriculture capacity development initiatives?
  5. Is there a role for modern technologies, including Information and Communication Technologies, in sustaining capacity development initiatives?

Please do not hesitate to share your experiences and knowledge on this topic.

Outcomes will help identify new capacity development needs and improve interventions; success stories shared by participants will be used for communication products. The discussion will also support the development of a network of young agripreneurs connected to FAO platforms.

We look forward to your contributions and to support African youth entering or already engaged in agriculture.

Justin Chisenga

Facilitator of the discussion

 

This activity is now closed. Please contact [email protected] for any further information.

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French translation is available below 

Thanks once more to all of you for contributing to the consultations.

I have noted the responses to my questions, in my last post, by Oladade Adesola (Nigeria) , Atsu Sename (Togo) , Philip Ifejika (Nigeria) , and Musa Usman Musa (Nigeria).

I have taken note of: 

  • additional contributions on challenges faced by youth in agriculture;
  • a few more examples (Cameroon , Burkina Faso and Ghana ) highlighting how post-capacity development sustainability are being addressed; and 
  • the reminder to participants on this discussion that youth is a heterogeneous group and they cannot all be put in the same basket.  Therefore, distinct categories of youth may require different strategies to address their capacity development needs and post-CD support.

In this post, I focus on contributions on question 3 on post-capacity development support to youth.  

The overall view is that if the major challenges (lack of or inadequate access to finance to setup and develop their agribusinesses, lack of access to land, lack of access to markets, poor prices for agricultural produce, lack of access to appropriate information, etc.) the youth in agriculture face are addressed, it would equally address most post-CD issues and thus contribute to making the young African agripreneurs to succeed in their endeavours. 

In addition to the above, the following are indicated in the contributions as areas (not in any order or priority) on which post-CD support to youth in agriculture should also focus:

  • organizing the youth into groups (i.e. cooperatives, youth networks, etc) to facilitate provision of support to them. This would also make it easier for the youth to access resources; 
  • facilitating knowledge sharing and peer learning among the youth;
  • monitoring the impact of CD programmes by following up on the youth, hearing their stories (feedback) and improving the programmes, based on the feedback;
  • helping the youth to map business opportunities and linking them to the opportunities;
  • organizing competitions for youth in agriculture to motivate them and to ensure visibility of their initiatives and potentially attract other youth to agriculture;
  • providing mentoring services and involve the youth in other CD programmes (i.e. study tours to successful agricultural enterprises/farms) that would enable the them to acquire additional knowledge.

To help themselves, the youth should:

  • be willing to collaborate with each other, share good practices, successful case studies, etc,
  • establish communities of practice/peer learning platforms;
  • initiate public discussions where they could express their concerns and ask for help that they need, including access to land for lease, etc. 
  • lobby policy makers to formulate policies that would facilitate their participation in the agricultural sector and access to resources; 

The following two points also came up very clearly in the contributions, that it may be time to:

  • start training youth that are selected through a competitive process. This, would in a way, ensure that only youth that have a strong interest in agriculture and more likely to stay in the sector, benefit from capacity development programmes; 
  • avoid one off training initiatives as these are not enough to turn youth into farmers or agripreneurs. Develop integrated CD programmes that also include post-CD activities/support.

More contributions, especially on how youth can help themselves, are welcome.

For those of you that are yet to contribute on the question of the enabling environment, as you prepare your contributions, think about the broad enabling conditions that, in your view, would increase the likelihood of success and impact of the capacity development initiatives targeting youth in agriculture.

Regards,

Justin

***

Encore tous mes remerciements à tous pour vos contributions.

J’ai pris note des réponses apportées par Oladade Adesola (Nigéria), Atsu Sename (Togo), Philip Ifejika (Nigéria) et Musa Usman Musa (Nigéria) aux questions que j’ai posées dans mon dernier message.

Voici ce dont j’ai pris note :

- des contributions supplémentaires sur les défis auxquels sont confrontés les jeunes en agriculture ;

- plusieurs autres exemples  (Cameroun, Burkina Faso et Ghana) qui illustrent la façon d’aborder la durabilité  après le développement des capacités ; et  

- le rappel aux participants à cette discussion que les jeunes forment un groupe hétérogène et qu'ils ne peuvent pas tous être mis dans le même panier.  Des catégories distinctes de jeunes peuvent donc avoir besoin de stratégies différentes pour répondre à leurs besoins de renforcement des capacités et de soutien postérieur.

Dans ce message, je me concentre sur les contributions apportées à la question 3 sur le soutien des jeunes dans la phase postérieure au renforcement des capacités. 

L’opinion générale est qu’en abordant les principaux défis rencontrés par les jeunes dans le secteur agricole (manque ou inadéquation de l'accès au financement pour créer et développer leurs entreprises agricoles, manque d'accès à la terre, manque d'accès aux marchés, prix médiocres pour les produits agricoles, manque d'accès à une information appropriée, etc.), les problèmes qui se posent dans la foulée du renforcement des capacités  seraient pour la plupart résolus, contribuant ainsi au succès des jeunes entrepreneurs agricoles africains.

En outre, les contributions ci-après mentionnent (sans ordre préétabli ni priorité) dans les domaines suivants qui pourraient faire l’objet d’une attention prioritaire dans le soutien accordé aux jeunes dans la phase postérieure au renforcement des capacités :

- organiser les jeunes en groupes (comme les coopératives, les réseaux de jeunes, etc.) pour faciliter la prestation d'un soutien aux jeunes. Cela faciliterait également leur accès aux ressources;

- faciliter l’échange de connaissances et l'apprentissage par les pairs chez les jeunes;

- surveiller l’impact des programmes de renforcement des capacités en suivant les jeunes, en les écoutant  (retour d’information) et en améliorant les programmes  sur la base de ce feedback ;

- aider les jeunes à dresser un bilan des possibilités d’affaires et les contacter en conséquence ;

- organiser des concours pour les jeunes en agriculture afin de les motiver et d'assurer la visibilité de leurs initiatives et éventuellement attirer d'autres jeunes vers l'agriculture ;

- offrir des services d’encadrement et faire participer les jeunes à d'autres programmes de renforcement des capacités (par exemple, des voyages d'études dans des entreprises agricoles ou des exploitations agricoles prospères) qui leur permettraient d'acquérir des connaissances supplémentaires.

Pour se prendre eux-mêmes en charge, les jeunes devraient :

- être disposés à collaborer, échanger  les bonnes pratiques, les études de cas réussies, etc.

- établir des communautés de pratique/des plateformes d'apprentissage par les pairs;

- lancer  des discussions publiques où ils pourraient faire part de leurs préoccupations et demander de l'aide si nécessaire, y compris l'accès à des terres à louer, etc.

- faire pression sur les décideurs pour qu'ils formulent des politiques propres à faciliter leur participation au secteur agricole et leur permettre d’accéder aux ressources;

Les deux points ci-après ont également été très clairement mentionnés dans les contributions, à savoir qu'il serait temps de:

- commencer à former les jeunes qui sont sélectionnés par voie de concours. Ainsi, seuls les jeunes qui s'intéressent de près à l'agriculture et qui sont plus susceptibles de rester dans le secteur bénéficieraient des programmes de renforcement des capacités;

- éviter les initiatives ponctuelles de formation, insuffisantes pour transformer les jeunes en agriculteurs ou en entrepreneurs agricoles.

-  mettre au point des programmes intégrés de renforcement des capacités incluant également des activités et un soutien dans la phase postérieure à ce renforcement.

D'autres contributions, en particulier sur la façon dont les jeunes peuvent s'aider eux-mêmes, sont les bienvenues.

Pour ceux d'entre vous qui n'ont pas encore apporté leur contribution sur la question de l'environnement favorable, au moment de formuler vos commentaires, réfléchissez aux conditions générales propices qui, à votre avis, augmenteraient les chances de succès et l'impact des initiatives de renforcement des capacités ciblant les jeunes en agriculture.

Cordialement,

Justin

1: What are the biggest challenges youth in Africa are facing after going through youth-specific capacity development initiatives in Agriculture?

This particular Forum is very much interesting. After giving out my preamble on Youths and Agriculture from the Gambia Situation i also want to take the opportunity to answer the above questions as applied to the Gambian situation as far as youths and agriculture is concerned.

Recently in the Gambia the Government, through a technical assistance from the European Union have started training youths on various life skills trainings and one of them is on Agriculture. In the Gambia 80% of the population are Farmers and the best way to empower youths is through farming because it is already a traditional way of life. Unfortunately the likely challenges that is going to face the youths after training them on Agriculture is sustainability. If youths are trained and they are not given enough capital, that is madern farming tools, money and access to wide markets theri skills will not be able to benefit them and that is one of the biggest challenges facing African Youths engaged in Agriculture.

2: What are the examples of existing post -capacity development sustainability and initiatives for youth in Agriculture in Africa. What work and what dose not work? Are there any success stories and good practices that can be shared.

Back to the Gambia, West Africa, there are existing post -capacity development sustainability initiatives for youth  in Agriculture. One of them is the training of young Entertreneurs on Good Agricultural and Good Hygienic Practices by the Food Safety and Quality Authority of The Gambia an Initiatives that came up to ensure that youths are empowered. One divdiden that this training has yielded is that most of the youths trained are now engaged in small scale enterpreneurship such as Fish Processing, the Selling of fish from the coastal region to the inland where fish is scarce. Most of the youths have also embarked on poultry Farming and most are now engaged on a year round cassave cultivation using available resources to produce abundant cassava.

What dose not work in this initiatives right now is now is the possibility to export in the nearest future because these trained youths still need more capacity building and extra resources for them to be able to follow the Food Safety Management System that may eventually accord them the opportunity to be audited independently and certifiec internationally to meet requirements.

The success stories are that these youths in Agriculture have now committed themselves, using their meger resources to start doing business.

3 What post capacity development support do the youth need? What can the youth do to support each other in developing their skills and capacity?

The post-capacity development support that youths in Africa doing Agriculture need are capacity building and capital to sustain the initiatives given to them. For example if youths are trained in  ground nut production, they need to be trained extenively on Good Agricultural Practices. They also need mechanised Agriculture and in that youths need to be provided with modern machinery to enable them produce more and build wider markets. Most importantly youthjs need training.

What the youths need to support each other is to form netwroks. Net working always make things easy and in that they will be able to share ideas easily.

4: What enabling environment is needed to ensure sustainability of youth in Agriculture capacity development initiatives.

The enabling environment that youths need to ensure sustainability of youth in Agriculture capacity development initiatives is empowerment. Youths need to be fully empowered in all aspects.

5: Is there a role in Modern Technologies, including information and Communication Technologies in sustaining capacity development initiatives.

Yes Information and Communication is also the easiest and quickest way for youths to learn and share information on Modern Agricultural Technologies. Youths can share information through e-learning courses.

 

The translation in English is available below  

4. What enabling environment is needed to ensure sustainability of youth in agriculture capacity development initiatives?

J'aborderai la question de l'environnement sur deux angles : premièrement je dirai que les jeunes ont besoin d'une garantie de la part des Etats auprès des banques, des IMF et une garantie quant à l'accès à la terre, et deuxièmement  il faut que les Etats créent des cadres juridiques financiers spécifiques à l'investissement des jeunes dans l'agriculture.

Aujourd'hui les banques et les institutions de micro finance hésitent à financer les jeunes dans l'agriculture parce qu'elles n'ont pas confiance en la capacité de remboursement des jeunes vue les conséquences du changement climatique sur la productivité agricole. Si les Etats se portent garants des crédits de jeunes agripreuneurs auprès des banques, les  jeunes s'investiront aisément parce qu'ils savent que en cas de catastrophe naturelle ou d'inondation ou de ravage de criquets, etc. ils ne seront pas poursuivis par les banques. Aussi, qui parle d'agriculture parle de la terre, or la terre appartient à des collectivités familiales (au Togo). Ce qui fait que un jeune qui veut se lancer dans la production agricole a peur d'investir dans le structurant, car le jour où le propriétaire de sa parcelle décide de la lui retirer il perd tout.

Les entreprises portées par les jeunes dans le domaine agricole devraient bénéficier d'un système d'impôt spécifique qui ne soit pas trop lourd pour eux. Au Togo, les jeunes qui se lancent dans l'entrepeunariat agricole sont souvent confrontés aux difficultés de payement des impôts. Ce qui n'encourage par d'autres jeunes à se lancer dans les mêmes projets.

***

4. What enabling environment is needed to ensure sustainability of youth in agriculture capacity development initiatives?

I will answer the question regarding the environment from two angles: firstly, I would say that young people need a guarantee by the State for the banks and IMFs (micro finance institutions) and a guarantee in respect of access to land, and secondly, States should create legislative financial frameworks specifically for the investments of the young in agriculture.

Today the banks and the micro finance institutions are reluctant to fund young people in agriculture because they do not have confidence in the capacity of the young people to repay given the consequences of climate change for agricultural productivity. If the States act as guarantors to the banks for credits given to young entrepreneurs, these will invest with confidence because they know that in case of natural catastrophe, flooding or destruction by locusts, etc. they will not be pursued by the banks. Also, whoever talks about agriculture talks about land, for it belongs to family groups (in Togo). This makes a young person wanting to begin in agricultural production fearful of investing in the infrastructure, because the moment the owner decides to have his land back, he loses everything.

The businesses mounted by young people in the agricultural sector should benefit from a specific tax system that is not too burdensome for them. In Togo, young people that start an agricultural business often face difficulties paying taxes. This discourages other young from beginning similar projects.

 

 

Philip Ifejika

National Institute for Freshwater Fisheries Research
Nigeria

Dear  Justin,

For clarification on SIWES programme for undergraduate student, our role is limited with the training while lecturers from the school come for monitoring. At the end of the training, students return to their schools. To best of my knowledge, Institute don't provide post SIWES support.

However, on personal relationship with some students we provide mentorship. For instance, in July this year, a student from Bayelsa State contacted me on water quality kits while another female student from Makurdi sought my advise on taking up job to manage a fish farm.

Another case is a male student that I linked to an aquaprieneur to manage a modern fish farm in Anambra State due to our relationship after SIWES. Also, I am aware of some that asked for fingerlings, fish processing, management practices. 

Philip

 

The enabling environment needed in order to ensure sustainability of youth in agriculture capacity development initiatives especially in Africa are as follows:

  1. Provision of capital for implementing innovations: Youth need enough capital in order to implement the agribusiness. Therefore, African governments, NGOs and international organizations, including FAO, should provide substantial capital either in form of credit or grants to youth in order to ensure sustainability of youth in agriculture.
  2. Access to land for agribusiness: Youth in Africa need land for proper implementation of their business. Example youth that are train for broiler production they need permanent and suitable land where they can settle and continue their production.
  3. Provision for infrastructure: Infrastructure necessary to transport agricultural produce for example, livestock, livestock products, vegetables etc from remote rural communities, where production is concentrated, to urban markets where is lacking. Roads are necessary for easier conveyance of farm produce to market for sustainability. Also storage facilities should be provided especially for perishable products such as milk, vegetables and so on. Furthermore processing centers should be provided in many villages so that agricultural produce can be processed.
  4. Provision for cooperative society:  Provision for cooperative society in many communities and for different types of agribusiness is necessary for making agricultural production easier for accessing loan, grants, markets and so on in order to ensure sustainability of youth in agriculture.
  5. Provision of marketing channels and market information: Youth in agriculture should have access to market information. The market information would have been an important driving force for increased production and sustainability.
  6. Power supply provision is very important for processing and preservation of farm produce especially in Nigerian villages and cities in order to ensure sustainability of youth in agriculture.

Most capacity development organized for youths in Africa have limited exposures to practical intervention, and field exposures to case studies,or learning routes to acquire on training contacts with practical challanges

The first huddle to break is for  youths to show keen interest in practicing animal or crop farming as a sustainable livelihood,also at the same time societal perspective and image of a youth engaged in farming need to change,because positive image and perception of the society on any profession is a booster to the professional or enterpreuneral ego to embrace such jobs as ways of living

In most Africa society agriculture is perceived as a second class jobs to white collar jobs which makes most youths to want to prefer them than getting engaged in practical agriculture

How can we create more interest in our youths to embrace agriculture a as a way of life and business.?and how will the society change her notion and perception of a youth farmer?

In Africa one of the symbol of societal respect and recognition is in the value that your profession have earned you in the face ofvthe society.This value in our society is determined by the affluence of wealth that such profession may present to the society and the community where the youths are engaged in their vocation

How may CD initiatives help to add value to a youth farmer post his training.?most CD initiatives are theoretically biased,with little exposures to practical aspects of the farming operations and familiarity with on the training risks identification and management.Most trainings are organised by privatevconsultants or NGO,which are only slated for few days quite inadequate to cover the operational procedures of such farming enterprises 

I did made suggestion in my contribution onvthevtopic Youths Feeding the Future,that an holistic CD for youths in agriculture must integrate practical training or mentorship,and this can be achieved through meaningful collaboration with existing integrated agricultural enterprises to accept to mentor our youths on short time attachments for practical exposureswhile Government or NGO anchoring such CD should place the youths on stipend allowances during the short period of attachments

Some tears back in Nigeria way back in the sixties,the Government of the .west and .Eastern Nigeria established the farm settlement strategic all designed to motivate youths into practical farming with convenience and ego,because the youths are settled in farm communities with decent accommodation and regular availability of farm inputs and social amenities

Such youths were assigned farm land and ..Animal stock of choice and housing facilities to raise them in the farm settlements 

This initiative go on with on the farm training and visit by extension officers This program me recorded great success and dignity to participants as their products have access to regular market that ensure their wealth creation that boost their public image

The positive out one of the initiative was the emergence of the first tier of successful livestock and especially poultry farmers in the south and Eastern parts of Nigeria,

However the major constraint that faced this laudable programme was instability in government and government policy such that the program me was not sustainable in most centres ,anothe critical challanges that plagued the initiative was lack is sustainable marked that lacked value addition that could attract more revenue to the participating youths

Recent development by some emerging learning routes NOT  tends to blend theory with practice,by moving participants along learning routes to see,hear and participate in agricultural proj2and challanges along the routes,a good example of such initiative is PROCASUR learning routes in South East ,..West and Central Africa.This initiative is highly commendable,and could serve as a .Train Of Trainers TOT for partivipating NGO,who in turn could group local participants in their regions

Universities in Africa have roles to playing CD interventions for youths in their regions,as such youths could be mobilized to use university research farm for training while students are on holidays

Our NGO Livestock infustry Foundation For Africa here in Nigeria,be live that youths can be mentored through exposure to knowledge capitalised field trials and case stufies that are held in lien by the  NGO.These resources by lifango www.lifango.org could be electronically accessed  to educate poultry farmers in management of critical chalkanges to their poultry projects

Cooperative association bybyouths after CD interventions to practice livestovk mixed portfolio suvh as Cattle fattening with egg production,or pig fattening with egg production ,and even fish fattening with egg production have evolved from lifango as viable portfolio that can fastlytransitba youth from poverty to posterity. 

A comprehensive ten chapter book authored by the founder of LIFA Dr .Stephen Adejoro has Been adopted for publication Lambert publishers of .Germany and translated into many languages 

The book is currently been marketed by Lambert and hopevtobuse accrued royalty to fund further activities of Lifango

In conclusion Funtiobal CD must be balanced theoretically and practically and must include a follow up to assist participants to have access to one digit loan able fund as well as creating collaboration with integrated agriculturalvgoing concerns and universities to practically mentor the youths before they move ahead to practice their choice of agriculture 

Dr ..Stephen Adejoro is the founder of Livest6 Industry Foundation For Africa  and a contract Head of Research to Zartech Limited Nigeria

 

 

Mr. Kafui Agbe

Young Professionals for Agricultural Development
Ghana

What are the examples of existing post-capacity development sustainability initiatives for youth in agriculture in Africa? What works and what does not? Are there any success stories and good practices that can be shared?

There are keys factors that will lead to the sustainability of capacity development initiatives. These include space (office or land) for youth to exibit the skills and knowlegde acquired, finance to implement innovative ideas and business mentoring. A good example is the Kosmos Innovation Centre(KIC) AgriTech Challenge in Ghana where youth were trained in business modules, team building and other relevant soft skils to establish and manage thier business in the agricultural technological space. Team formed by youth were tasked to come put with ideas to solve real agricultural problems to compete for two winners price of $100,000.00. Each winner is given $50,000.00, an office space to operate from, mentors to guide them and other supports needed for establishement. Winners from the KIC AgriTech Challenge since its inception in 2016 include TrotroTractor Ltd, Ghalani, AgriInnova, and QualiTrace. Trotro Tractor Ltd (www.trotrotractor.com) for instance is a powerful platform created to link farmers to tractor operators therby solving mechanization problems of farmers. This solution in mechanization is made possible because of a solid system put in place KIC and MEST for post capacity development sustainability. 

There is also the need to create interaction platforms between the trainers, trainees and other relevant stakeholder to support the enterprises established by the youth. Follow ups are key element of success. Follow ups makes youth more responsibility in their businesses. 

What works is a capaicity building with all things provided thus a whole package capacity building with funds, networks, space (land), mentorship and right business environment. For instance a business environment that registration of businessess take a long time, interest rates on loans very high, market barriers etc will not lead to post capacity development to be sustained.  

Translation in English below 

3. What can the youth do to support each other in developing their skills and capacities?

Je pense que la mise en place de mécanismes de discussion et de partage des connaissances en groupe serait d'un véritable atout pour les jeunes de s'entraider. Ces échanges leur permettraient de se partager les difficultés et les leçons.

5. Is there a role for modern technologies, including Information and Communication Technologies, in sustaining capacity development initiatives?

Les jeunes pourront se servir des téléphones mobiles ou des réseaux sociaux tels que whatsapp ou facebook pour lancer des initiatives d'entraide.

***

3. What can the youth do to support each other in developing their skills and capacities?

I believe that the establishment of mechanisms for discussion and sharing of knowledge in groups will be a real way forward for young people to support each other. These exchanges would allow them to share the difficulties and the lessons learnt.

5. Is there a role for modern technologies, including Information and Communication Technologies, in sustaining capacity development initiatives?

Young people could use the mobile phones or social networks such as whatsapp or facebook to launch mutual support initiatives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

English translation below

Bonjour

Je réponds aux questions du facilitateur:

To: Atsu Sename (TOGO); Ololade Adesola, Musa Usman Musa and Philip Ifejika (NIGERIA); James Aucha and Hillary Maket (KENYA) – what are they lessons, if any, that have you learned from your post-capacity development initiatives that you could further share on this Forum?

Les principales leçons tirées sont les suivantes: 

  • un travail de sensibilisation est encore nécessaire pour faire participer les jeunes filles à l'entrepreunariat agricole. En effet, nous avons remarqué que les jeunes filles au Togo ne s'impliquent pas dans la production agricole. Elles sont plus tournées vers la commercialisation.
  • il est important de nouer un partenariat avec une institution de micro-finance ou une banque avant de lancer la formation des jeunes pour pouvoir tenir compte des exigences de ces institutions lors de la formation. Ce partenariat permettrait aux jeunes d'échapper aux difficultés qu'ils rencontrent dans les formalités de demande de crédit. 
  • la création par l'Etat d'un fonds d'appui à l'entreprenariat agricole est nécessaire pour booster l'activité des jeunes et renforcer l'attractivié du secteur agricole.
  • l'innovation agricole au niveau de la jeunesse mérite d'être soutenue par la promotion d'un fonds d'investissement qui opère spécifiquement en faveur des jeunes entrepreuneurs agricoles.

To: Atsu Sename (TOGO),  Ololade Adesola and Philip Ifejika (NIGERIA) - what specific support is provided to the youth after they have gone through the CD initiatives that you have highlighted?

Après les renforcements des capacités,

  • nous mettons les jeunes en relation avec les banques d'affaires et les institutions de micro finance pour remplire les formalités d'obtention de crédit sur la base d'un fonds dédié accordé par un bailleur. 
  • nous faisons un suivi-accompagnement des jeunes pour la mise en oeuvre de leurs plans d'affaires sur les trois premières années. 

***

Hello

I am answering the facilitator's questions:

To: Atsu Sename (TOGO); Ololade Adesola, Musa Usman Musa and Philip Ifejika (NIGERIA); James Aucha and Hillary Maket (KENYA) – what are they lessons, if any, that have you learned from your post-capacity development initiatives that you could further share on this Forum?

The main lessons learned are the following:

  • work on spreading awareness is still necessary to encourage young women to participate in the agricultural business. Indeed, we have noted that Togolese young women do not get involved in agricultural production. They are more involved in marketing.
  • it is important to foster a partnership with a micro finance institution or a bank before beginning the training of the young in order to be able to take into account the demands of these institutions after the training. This partnership will allow the young to avoid the difficulties that they face when they are requesting a credit.
  • the setting up by the State of a fund in support of the agricultural business is needed to boost the activity of young people and reinforce the attractiveness of the agricultural sector.
  • agricultural innovation by the young deserves to be supported by the promotion of an investment fund which operates specifically in favor of the young agricultural entrepreneurs.

To: Atsu Sename (TOGO),  Ololade Adesola and Philip Ifejika (NIGERIA) - what specific support is provided to the youth after they have gone through the CD initiatives that you have highlighted?

After the CD initiatives:

  • we introduce the young people to the commercial banks and micro finance institutions to complete the formalities of securing credit on the basis of a dedicated fund backed by a guarantor.
  • we follow up the young people during the implementation of their business plans during the first three years.

 

First of all, I would like to thank FAO and partners for taking this initiative to organise this e-discussion which touches the critical component of post-capacity development support. As a youth, I have myself been involved in some capacity development initiatives that have improved my skills and enabled me to see opportunities, grab them and make a change. I am very glad to be one of the subject matter experts and would like to respond to the questions of the debate based on my experience.

What are the biggest challenges youth in Africa face after going through youth-specific capacity development initiatives in agriculture?

I think the biggest challenge in post capacity development initiatives for youth is the reality on the ground and also lack of follow-up from the initiator/organiser of the training. For example, suppose the young participants have been trained on packaging, branding and marketing, then coming back home, the person realizes that the materials that they need for packaging is not easily available at an affordable price where they are based. Or online marketing is challenging because of the poor Internet connection, which is still a big challenge in many African countries. And of course, access to finance is another issue. These are just few examples, but there are so many examples on training v/s reality gap. Moreover, when a training is organised, its viability and long-term impact should be thought of by the organiser. Then, there is the issue of follow-up from the organisers. Once the youth go back home, if there is no follow-up in terms of communication or activity, it is rare that the youth will actually use the knowledge/skills gained from the training, unless the person has clearly had prior motivation and plans on how to use the knowledge gained from the training in his/her activity.

What are the examples of existing post-capacity development sustainability initiatives for youth in agriculture in Africa? What works and what does not? Are there any success stories and good practices that can be shared?

For me, I was already into agriculture as a student, but it’s such a broad subject that you don’t really know in which segment of the value chain you should be in and what to do after your studies. I was lucky that I came across an essay competition organised by CTA on youth finding ICT solutions that can address agriculture challenges in their country. I wanted to participate and started to do some research and read on the use of ICTs in agriculture. I was really amazed to see how mobile phones were being used to share market or weather information to farmers, something that did not exist in Mauritius back in 2010. I got inspired and submitted an entry for the competition. It was shortlisted and the next step was a Web 2.0 and social media training for development. Following that, CTA launched a blog competition a year later and I won the first prize in the individual category. This opened many opportunities to me, including job opportunities. If I am working in the area of youth, agriculture and ICT today, it’s the result of this programme. My point here is that what made it work is that it was a series of activities that was linked to each other, and over time, I grabbed all opportunities that came to me. In addition, we were added to an online network (mailing list) which, after 7 years is still active. Today, this programme is no longer here in the same format, but there are still opportunities for youth through other programmes. Recently, what has also worked has been the introduction of incubation programmes that help youth in different aspects of their business and which takes place over a certain period of time. What certainly does not work is one-time activities with no communication or follow-up after the training.

What post-capacity development support do the youth need? What can the youth do to support each other in developing their skills and capacities?

In my experience, youth networks are very useful and many of these are very often online networks. Sometimes they are not directly agriculture related, but broadly on business/entrepreneurship. I would take a recent example, which is the YALI (Young African Leaders Initiative) Network. I left my job to start a business in 2015 and during that time, I came across the YALI Network and joined. On its online platform itself, they offer many online courses on various topics (environment, business, leadership etc). In addition, the members in the network are all across Africa and have the possibility to exchange with them. This year, I was selected for the Mandela Washington Fellowship, which is part of the YALI initiative and I was placed at the University of Iowa for 6 weeks, whereby we studied business and entrepreneurship. We were 25 fellows from 18 countries and most of us already had a business. Apart from the training itself, it was a great opportunity to learn from each other and share experiences. Even now after the programme, we are still in touch through our Whatsapp group and other communication channels. When we need a contact or information where the other fellows are, it’s easier and sometimes, we even collaborate with each other. What happens also is that when we come back to our countries, we have the possibility to become a mentor for some programmes and mentor other youth. In this way, we share our experiences and also create other leaders.

What enabling environment is needed to ensure sustainability of youth in agriculture capacity development initiatives?

  • Tailor capacity development programme based on the needs of the youth and their context.
  • Link with various institutions while designing the programme so that when it is completed, they can support the youth in terms of finance, technical skills etc.
  • Collaboration among institutions at national, regional, International levels is also needed to avoid conducting the same activities in isolation.

Is there a role for modern technologies, including Information and Communication Technologies, in sustaining capacity development initiatives?

Yes, certainly. Training programmes are often organised in another region/country than where the young person in based and it’s not always practical to meet physically on a regular basis. From the examples I have shared for the previous questions, online platforms have been very useful in sustaining capacity development initiatives. Online platforms can be in the form of mailing lists, Facebook groups, WhatsApp groups etc.

To sum up, the following are my recommendations on post-capacity development support:

  • Youth is a heterogeneous group. We cannot put all of them in the same basket – urban/rural youth, education level of the youth, their interest (production, processing, marketing, services etc.). Hence the youth group targeted must be properly identified.
  • Tailor training/capacity building programmes based on the needs of the identified youth.
  • Select the youth to be trained on a competitive basis. If they have to strive to get it, they will understand its value and make the most of it.
  • Seek feedback on the capacity development initiative and always improve the programme, based on the responses.
  • Follow up with the youth who have been trained and link them with partners and other opportunities.
  • Avoid one-time activities.
  • Encourage youth to get into networks. But too many networks with same activity is also exhaustive, and the youth lose interest. Hence, various institutions should work in collaboration.

 

I will stop here for now.

 

Thanks for reading!

Nawsheen