Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

Re: Youth – feeding the future. Addressing the challenges faced by rural youth aged 15 to 17 in preparing for and accessing decent work

Dear Jacqueline, the Moderator

There is one approach that provides inbuilt answer to the interesting rather ‘digging out’ questions that you set

  • Youth under 18 accessing financial services, joining producer associations and participating in national youths and agricultural programmes?
  • How youth under 18 benefit from policy, programme design or implementation?

The answer could be embedded in the third inquiry you made on education and vocational training and you was searching for cases? How about this

Typical Case

Education and agricultural vocational training used to go hand-in-hand in young farmers club (YFC) program that was famous and effective in Nigeria from colonial era to post independence years spanning up to the 80s when the YFC started disappearing in primary and secondary schools. YFC is collaboration between ministry of education (curriculum management and garden site) and ministry of agriculture (agriculture policy and expertise input) is typical case where policy and programme design deeply rooted. But policy, design and implementation in today’s dispensation all need to be redesigned to accommodate contemporary social and economic changes in society.

The new changes will bring in students of tertiary institutes (universities, poly-techniques, colleges) to prepare the youth towards accessing financial services, join or form producer associations and participate in national agricultural programmes. Thus, in tertiary institutes there is need to have Students Agribusiness Club (SAC) to complement members of the YFC that are on the rise in the education system.

The Required Changes

  1. New policy together with incentives, grants, development fund to revive YFC in primary and secondary schools in Nigeria
  2. In tertiary institutes there is need to float and or strengthen Student Agribusiness Club (SAC)
  3. Programme design for YFC and SAC should focus on vertical and horizontal development of commodity value chains in the country in full coordination with NYAA
  4. National Young Farmers Association (NYFA) to be headed exclusively by members of the SAC that were democratically elected from the bottom-up youth organizational structures in the states
See the attachments: