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)
Г-н Gerwin Jansen