Foro Global sobre Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición (Foro FSN)

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

 

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Dr. Ndubuisi Idejiora-Kalu

Food Bank Nigeria, International Law, Diplomacy and Economy Research Center (ILDERC), POLED Initiative for Educational Advancement
Nigeria

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am reacting to the discussion on the FAO Group on the participation of African Youth in Agriculture. Due to the very high unemployment rate in Africa, the job market does not seem lucrative again for African Youth. What is lucrative today for the African youth is independent empowerment and Agriculture provides a viable sector for enabling this.

The future of young African agripreneurs is very bright but for this to be possible, the FAO has to compel the public and private sectors in African states (as well as the international committee) to invest in the Agricultural sector and provide incentives that will help young African agripreneurs succeed in this sector. Much of these incentives should be in the form of soft loans that can help they embark on their agripreneurs projects. Legislation should also be made at state and regional level to allow and sustain this effort.. Without such a strategy, the agripreneurs plan for young Africans will fail just as the employment plan has continued to be a lame sector in African states.

The FAO mandate in the need to enable African youth participate in Agriculture as an alternative socio-economic empowerment methodology for African youth is in line with the expectancies of the African Union Commission Agenda 2063. Hence, the policy division of the African Youth Union Commission is interested in collaborating with the FAO and other organizations to making this strategy work for African youth. We look forward to such collaborations.

Thanking you again.

Best regards

 

Amb. Perry Ndubuisi Idejiora-Kalu

Head of Policy Division

African Youth Union Commission

A CASE FOR BUSINESS EDUCATION FOR YOUTH AGRIPRENEURS

AGRIBUSINESS

A combination of 2 words – Agriculture and Business

There's a need to ensure that Youth Agripreneurs have sound knowledge of the Technicalities of Agriculture Production

Equally important is the Development of Business Management Skills

WHY BUSINESS SKILLS?

Majority of Agribusiness failures are direct results of the failure of Business Skills and NOT Agriculture Skills

The Apathy of Banks to Agriculture is primarily based on their Lack of Faith in the Business Skills of the Agriprenuer.

We have invested in Agriculture Capacity Development for many years but we have not seen commensurate Growth in Production

Many Small Agriculture Loans are unpaid – further strengthening the Bankers’ apathy and Reluctance to finance New Agripreneurs

Capacity Building for Youth Agripreneurs must include Business School Curriculum

CURRENT SITUATION

Capacity Development has focused majorly on Production and Operational Topics to the Disadvantage of Business Management Skills

The result is that whilst the Youth have the Technical Know-how to run their Agribusinesses, they fail when it comes to Business Management Skills like Financial Planning & Budgeting, Marketing, Negotiation, Organizational Discipline, Sales, and Supply Chain Management etc.

This situation is not limited to Agribusinesses; we have seen global examples of Google etc. which would have failed if they had not brought in Business Managers to manage the Business side of things.

Since Young Entrepreneurs cannot afford to recruit Business Managers, it is very essential that all Capacity Development Initiatives directed at them have a Significant Amount of Business Management Curriculum.

ESSENTIAL BUSINESS SKILLS

Vital Business Management Skills Fundamental to the Success of ANY Business Irrespective of its Activity or Size include:

  1. Strategic Planning and Forecasting
  2. Human Resources Management
  3. Sales and Marketing
  4. Financial Management and Building BANKABLE Businesses
  5. Basic Accounting
  6. Operations and Supply Chain Management
  7. Enterprise Risks Management
  8. Self-Management and Leadership

EFFORTS SO FAR

I have spent a number of years working with the IITA Youth Agripreneurs in Ibadan, Nigeria.

IITA taught them the Production Processes, whilst we taught Business Management.

We have been able to translate them from Idealist Technocrats to Savvy Business People who understand how the Real Business World operates and how they should maneuver their businesses profitably.

They have learnt how to deal with HR issues and Improve Individual Productivity and Organizational Discipline.

They have become Prudent Managers of Financial Resources and understand HOW TO Achieve Financial Success.

WAY FORWARD

Upgrade the Quality of Business Education in Capacity Development Initiatives.

Introduce Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship Education at Secondary and Tertiary School Levels.

Encourage Banks and Fund Providers to get “Agriculture Literacy” - in order to understand the Industry better and consequently be able to Structure Agriculture Loans well.

THANK YOU

I am glad for having the privilege to express myself on this forum.

In my country Nigeria, farmers, particularly youth, find it difficult to engage in agriculture due to financial weaknesses. It is believed that farming is no longer a tradition, but rather a business. For any business to ignite, one has to ensure that money is adequately setup for the business. In Nigeria most of our youth are well capacitated with agricultural skills but unfortunately money is becoming a barrier. Most of our youth received series of trainings on how to run their agricultural businesses, but they lack financial cover for the business. I'm saying this based on experience as an extension agent. Currently in Nigeria, there is an ongoing project called "TRIMING PROJECT". This project is aiming at building the capacity of the farmers particularly youth and women in order to change their mindset and increase productivity. This project employs 'Farmer field and business school (FFBS)' extension strategy to train farmers and address their problems in a participatory web. I'm one of the FFBS facilitators, and we are in the second year but this project gained audience and many farmers became experts in agricultural production. Now that they became experts, they need financial support to take off. And make sure the support follows the appropriate channels to reach farmers. I am sure that if our FFBS Farmers obtained financial support, the next generation of millionaires in Nigeria will be farmers. We have the land, labor, management, but we lack finance which is the most fundamental factor of production as far as agribusiness is concerned.

 

English version below

L'un des principaux défis rencontrés par les jeunes africains à l’issue des initiatives de développement de capacités axées sur les jeunes dans le secteur agricole est le manque financement pour s'installer et développer leurs activités. Un autre problème est l'inexistence de centres d’incubation et de promotion d’entreprises agricoles pour les jeunes. 

Exemples d’initiatives actuelles visant à assurer la pérennité de renforcement des capacités pour les jeunes africains dans le domaine agricole au Togo.

Au Togo l'ONG Entreprises Territoires et Développement (ETD www.etd-ong.org) a mis en place un fonds de soutien au développement d’entreprises agroalimentaires appelé CIDEA et un centre d’incubation et de promotion d’entreprises pour les jeunes dans le domaine agroalimentaire.

- Promouvoir un fonds de soutien au développement d’entreprises agroalimentaires

Bien des entrepreneurs africains éprouvent des difficultés à financer le démarrage de leurs entreprises faute de fonds propres. Pour d’autres, pour accroître leurs fonds propres et développer leur entreprise, ils ont un mal fou à mobiliser du capital nouveau ; les financements des banques et des institutions de micro finance n’étant toujours pas adaptés au besoin de ces entreprises. Le développement d’un dispositif de financement du démarrage et du développement d’entreprises permettra aux jeunes entrepreneurs de disposer d’un capital initial nécessaire au démarrage de leur entreprise. Il leur facilitera l’accès à des financements additionnels des banques commerciales et institutions de microfinance. ETD en développant ce fonds appelé CIDEA (Capital Investissement pour le Développement d’Entreprises dans le secteur Agricole), apportera des appuis techniques aux entreprises soutenues en matière de sécurisation de leur approvisionnement, de développement de leurs marchés et de gestion d’entreprises.

- Mettre en place un centre d’incubation et de promotion d’entreprises pour les jeunes

La question de l’emploi surtout pour les jeunes est une préoccupation majeure des politiques et des gouvernants : elle s’est dégradée ces dernières années. Le chômage des jeunes reste l’un des problèmes majeurs de nos sociétés. Bien des jeunes ont envie d’entreprendre mais n’ont pas de structure adaptée pour les accompagner. La mise en place d’un centre d’incubation favorisera l’éclosion d’entreprises dans un premier temps dans le secteur agricole puis dans d’autres secteurs présentant un potentiel d’emplois et de richesse.

English translation 

One of the biggest challenges faced by the youth in Africa after going through youth-specific capacity development initiatives in agriculture is the lack of funding to set up and develop their activities. Another problem is the lack of support and promotion centers for agricultural enterprises for the young.

Examples of present initiatives aiming at ensuring continuance of youth-specific capacity development initiatives for young Africans in the agricultural sector in Togo.

In Togo, the NGO Entreprises Territoires et Développement (ETD www.etd-ong.org) [Enterprise, land and development] has introduced a support fund for the development of agro-food enterprises called CIDEA and a  business incubation and promotion centre for young people in the agri-food sector.

- To promote funds for supporting the development of agri-food businesses

Many African businessmen experience difficulties in funding the launching of their businesses for lack of their own capital. For some, in order to increase their own funds and develop their businesses, it is very difficult to mobilize additional capital; banks and micro finance institutions’ funding is not always adapted to the needs of these businesses. The development of a funding arrangement for the launching and development of businesses would allow the young entrepreneurs to have at their disposal the necessary starting capital for launching their enterprises. It would facilitate access to additional funding from commercial banks and micro finance institutions.

ETD, while developing these funds called CIDEA (Capital Investissement pour le Développement d´Entreprises dans le secteur Agricole, [Investment capital for the development of business in the agricultural sector]) will also contribute with technical inputs to the supported businesses in terms of ensuring their supplies, developing their markets and business management.

- Implement a business incubation and promotion centre for the youth.

The question of employment, in particular for the young, is a principal concern of policies and governments: it has become worse in recent years. Youth unemployment continues to be a major problem in our societies.  Many of the young want to go into business but there is no structure adapted to support them. The implementation of a development center will encourage the blossoming of businesses initially in the agricultural sector and later in other sectors offering potential employment and wealth.

Thank you very, much and am happy to be part this great forum.

One of the biggest challenge that the youth in our country are facing when it comes to Agriculture Enterprenueship, is lack of finance to start their business. They are intrested in Agriculture Business the youths will be involving them selfs in Various Training and capacity building and they will equiped on Agriculture business. But to start it is always a big problem for them because of financial issues.

The youth needs financial support from the either Government body or NGOs or any other body to help them to start their own business.

English version below

Quels sont les principaux défis rencontrés par les jeunes africains à l’issue des initiatives de développement de capacités axées sur les jeunes dans le secteur agricole?

A l'issue des initiatives du renforcement des capacités, les principaux défis reposent principalement sur trois plans en notre sens: le défi de l'initiative, le défi de l'engagement et le défis de la continuité.

Le défi de l'initiative

En effet, on constate que nombreux sont les jeunes qui veulent entreprendre dans l'agriculture mais commence par la recherche des financements avant de se lancer. Cette démarche n'est pas conseillée pour au moins deux raisons. La première réside dans le fait du découragement. En effet, après deux ou trois rejets du business plan par les banques ou microfinances, ils se lassent. Quelle institution voudrait donner des fonds à une personne n'ayant aucune expérience ni dans le domaine agricole, ni dans les affaires? La deuxième raison tient dans le faite que le jeune doit déjà expérimenter la culture dans laquelle il voudrait s'investir. Ce qui lui permettra de gagner une première expérience, comprendre les cycles de la culture, les saisons, les contraintes les risques etc. L'initiative en question suppose donc d'accumuler un capital expérience après le renforcement des capacités. A cet effet, ils peuvent entre autre faire des séjour dans des plantations pour apporter leur forces de travail et leur industrie. Attention, ces séjours doivent être ciblés au regard de leur idée d'entrepreneuriat.

Le défi de l'engagement

Les cycles des cultures ont généralement des durées importantes avant la production; 3 mois, 6 mois, 9 mois parfois des années. Or, ce n'est que l'engagement qui peut autoriser tout succès dans ce contexte. Quoique capacité, un jeune sans engagement réel ne produira rien. La mobilisation de l'engagement est également importante dans un contexte de manque d'infrastructure de transports, d'enclavement, d'éloignement des bassins de production avec les débouchés (à l'origine de la carence de financement et de la montée du gaspillage postproduction ou post récolte).

Le défi de la continuité

En effet, après un cycle de production, l'engagement peut connaitre un coup tant la mobilisation des ressources a été importante pour un résultat parfois mitigé. Or la continuité ici est le relais de l'engagement. En effet, les différentes expérience capitalisées peuvent aider l'entrepreneur agricole à parfaire sa connaissance du secteur et a obtenir de meilleure résultat, à se faire un carnet d'adresse etc. c'est dès cet instant que la recherche de financement peut facilement aboutir. La notion d'existant participant en grande partie à la continuité. L'intégration de la notion de coaching par les grandes plantations dans lesquels ils ont passés des séjours d'apprentissage.

Il s'agit là des valeurs dont doit s'armer l'entrepreneur agricole à l'issue du renforcement des capacités qui doit lui-même non pas être théorique mais pratique, touchant tous les domaine possible, mais davantage en étroite ligne avec la culture d'intérêt du futur entrepreneur agricole. Comme on dit, pas d'intérêt pas d'action.

English translation 

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

On the subject of youth-specific capacity development initiatives, the main challenges rest on three levels, as we see it: initiative, commitment and perseverance

The initiative challenge

In practice, one can see that the number of young people willing to go into business in agriculture is high, but they begin with the search for funds before starting. This approach is not recommended for at least two reasons. The first is the fact of becoming discouraged. Indeed, after two or three rejections of a business plan by the banks or microfinance institutions, the young get fed up. Which institution would accept to give funds to a person without any experience neither in the agricultural sector or business? The second reason relates to the fact that the young ought to try out the kind of cultivation in which he/she would like to invest. This would allow him/her to have a first experience, understand the crop cycles, the seasons, the restrictions, the risks, etc. The initiative in question therefore assumes the accumulation of a wealth of experience after the development of capacities. In this respect, they could, among other things, spend time in plantations to contribute their practical work and their industriousness. Careful, these work experiences should be tailored to their business projects.

The commitment challenge

The crop cycles generally have significant intervals before production: 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, sometimes years. Indeed, it is only commitment that can bring any success in this context. Even though a young person has received training, if they do not have real commitment they will not produce anything. Building commitment is also important in a context of lack of transport infrastructure, of isolation, of the remoteness of the production regions from markets (the cause of lack of funds and the amount of waste post production or after the harvest).

The perseverance challenge

Indeed, following a production cycle, commitment can experience a setback given that the mobilization of resources has been such an effort for a sometimes indifferent result. Yet, perseverance here is the connection with commitment. Actually, the different experiences gained can help the agricultural entrepreneur to refine their knowledge of the sector and get a better result, to build up  their contacts, etc. it is from this circumstance that the search for funding could easily come good. The notion of real participation is due mainly to perseverance. The integration of what has been learned from the coaching by big plantations in which they have spent their apprenticeship.

This is  about the values with which the agricultural entrepreneur needs to arm himself when he finishes the development of its capacities which should itself not be theoretical but practical, covering all possible areas, but preferably in direct line with the crops of concern to the future agricultural entrepreneur. As we say, if there is not interest, there will be no action.

Training and capacity development is an essential ingredient in the engagement of youth in Agribusiness. However, More attention is needed on mindset change, re-orientation, and provision of neccesary resources ( start-up Capital or starter pack).

The propensity of fund diversion is high if raw cash is given to young people to start their business. It is better to provide starter pack in the of machineries, equipment and running cost.

There most be adequate follow up in terms of technical backstopping, coaching and mentoring by sucessful business owner, if possible those in there age bracket.  Youth to youth(Y2Y)  approach seems effective is  delivering youth work.

I will like to share my experience as a youth developement worker and also as a project manager.

There is a project am current managing tag "Engaging Youth in Agribsiness: Machanization". The overall objective is to training 100 youth in the space of years on the business of owning and maintaing fleet of smart tractor. 

After successful completion of the first year training we facilitate their  formation into cooperative.

After successful completion of the training, the price of the tractor increase due to forex couple unfriendly loan condition (e.g. High interest rate, equity contribution etc.).The trainees could not withstand the entire situation and hence resulted to some drop out and group protest.

Presently, I have been working extra hard to identify investors the will purchase the tractor while the trainees manage the business.

Hi Abebe Haile Gabriel and others, this is a great initiative and we'd love to join the conversation.

At BoP Innovation Center we're working on sereval integral approaches that aim to (1) improve food & nutrition security in Africa and (2) accelerate impactful entrepreneurship across the agro food value chain. 2Scale is one of "our" larger programs on this.

Personally, I'd like to discuss 2 intervention areas related to the questions posted by the moderator.

1. How might modern ICT innovations sustain capacity development initiatives for youth in Agriculture? We believe there's great potential for this. To give an example, in the Geopotato project we're supporting the development an accurate location-specific SMS alert system for potato diseases in Bangladesh. Are there other examples and do we know to what extend these technological innovations in the agro sector lead to a stronger interest and engagement of younger people in farming.

2. How might we "move" with the youth and create farming opportunities in urban areas? There's no doubt that the younger people will keep moving to cities. At BoPInc we're looking at smart urban farming solutions such as vertical farming and hydroponics that could lead to jobs for young entrepreneurs and at the same time address the increasing stress on food supplies in cities. 

Best,

Gerwin (Innovation Program Manager at BoP Innovation Center)

 

Dear Colleagues, 

We would like to invite you to an online discussion on post-capacity development interventions to support African youth entering or already engaged in agriculture. 

The aim of the discussion is to identify challenges and opportunities related to sustaining the impact of interventions (existing and future ones) aimed at developing capacities and engaging youth in agriculture. More specifically, the discussion will focus on existing good practices and lessons learned in this regard.

The discussion will also support the development of a network of young agripreneurs connected to FAO platforms and initiatives. 

The following are the questions for the discussion:

  • What are the biggest challenges youth in Africa face after going through youth-specific capacity development initiatives in agriculture? 
  • 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? 
  • What post-capacity development support do the youth need? What can the youth do to support each other in developing their skills and capacities?
  • What enabling environment is needed to ensure sustainability of youth in agriculture capacity development initiatives?
  • Is there a role for modern technologies, including Information and Communication Technologies, in sustaining capacity development initiatives?

Please find the full introduction to this consultation on the discussion webpage (http://www.fao.org/fsnforum/fr/africa/discussions/youth-in-agriculture), where you will also find additional information and resources.

The consultation is facilitated by Justin Chisenga, Capacity Development Officer at FAO Headquarters. He will be supported by the following subject experts: 

  • Nawsheen Hosenally, Co-Founder of Agribusiness TV, Burkina Faso
  • Msekiwa Matsimbe, YPARD Malawi Country Representative, Malawi
  • Eyawassou Baya, Training Programs Officer, The Songhai Centre, Benin
  • Tony Nsanganira, Coordinator: Youth Employment Programme, FAO/RAF, Ghana
  • Alex Ariho, Chief Executive Officer, African Agribusiness Incubators Network (AAIN), Ghana

The discussion page is available in English and French and your comments are welcome in either of the two languages. 

To send your input, you can: 

All comments received will be published on the discussion webpage. For any further information, please contact [email protected].

We look forward to your active participation.

Abebe Haile Gabriel 

Regional Programme Leader (RPL)

Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)/Regional Office for Africa