Глобальный форум по продовольственной безопасности и питанию (Форум FSN)

English version 

Dear All,

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the consultation so far. 

Your contributions last week touched on almost all the questions under discussion. However, Question 1 got more contributions than the others. I therefore, encourage you all to revisit the questions on which you have not yet contributed and to further share your ideas, experiences and good practices.

In this post, I quickly look at what has been contributed on Question 1. I will look at Questions 2 and 3 later in the week.

The contributions revealed that there is general agreement that many capacity development (CD) initiatives targeting the African youth are not yielding sustainable impact due to several challenges the youth face after participating in the initiatives. Many of you mentioned the following “usual suspects” as being the biggest challenges: lack of or inadequate access to finance to setup and develop agribusinesses, lack of access to land, lack of access to markets, and poor prices for agricultural products.

Some of you also indicated the youth’s lack of preliminary knowledge of agriculture, inadequate business management skills, project management skills and knowledge of the markets as factors also contributing to the youth failing in their ventures after CD initiatives.

The nature or duration of some CD interventions targeting the youth is also raised as an issue as many are of them are of short duration to enable the youth to gain the required knowledge and skills. Lack of agricultural and business management skills is said to also contribute to financial institutions’ reluctance to finance youth agripreneurs.

Lack of interest and motivation to sustain the interest in agriculture was also raised as a challenge. Some youth who are being asked to go into agriculture/agribusiness lack interest for the sector and therefore get out very easily, especially when they fail to access finance for their ventures, even when they have taken part in appropriate CD initiatives.

The contributions also identified challenges such as lack of easy access to institutions (especially relevant government agencies) in the agriculture space that could help the youth in their agribusiness ventures, absence of platforms or associations to support the youth after the CD initiatives, absence of mentorship programmes, and inadequate opportunities for youth to put into practice the knowledge gained during the CD initiatives.

Taking the above challenges into account, my question is: are capacity development interventions targeting the youth in agriculture being designed with exit and sustainability strategies in mind?

Regards,

Justin

French version 

Chers tous,

Merci à tous ceux et celles qui ont contribué à la consultation jusqu'à présent.

La semaine dernière, vous avez abordé presque toutes les questions soumises à discussion. La question 1 a toutefois reçu plus de contributions que les autres. C’est pourquoi je vous invite tous à réexaminer les questions sur lesquelles vous ne vous êtes pas encore prononcés, et à échanger davantage vos idées, expérience et bonnes pratiques.

Dans ce post, je vais brièvement passer en revue les contributions apportées à la question 1. Je passerai aux questions 2 et 3 plus tard dans la semaine.

Les contributions font apparaître un consensus général sur le fait que de nombreuses initiatives de renforcement des capacités ciblées sur les jeunes africains n’ont pas d’impact durable en raison des nombreux défis auxquels les jeunes sont confrontés après avoir participé à ces initiatives. Beaucoup d’entre vous ont évoqué les « suspects habituels » comme étant les plus problématiques : le manque ou le caractère inadéquat de l’accès au financement pour créer et développer des agro-entreprises, le manque d’accès à la terre, le manque d’accès aux marchés et les bas prix des produits agricoles.

Certains d’entre vous ont également indiqué que les jeunes manquent de connaissances préliminaires en matière d’agriculture, que leurs compétences en gestion d’entreprises sont insuffisantes, de même que les compétences en gestion de projet et la connaissance des marchés, facteurs qui contribuent à l’échec des jeunes dans les entreprises à l’issue des initiatives de renforcement des capacités.

La nature ou la durée de certaines interventions de renforcement des capacités axées sur les jeunes est également remise en question ; en effet, beaucoup sont de trop courte durée pour permettre à ceux-ci d’acquérir les connaissances et les compétences requises. Le manque de compétences en gestion agricole et commerciale est également évoqué comme argument qui explique la réticence des institutions financières à financer les jeunes entrepreneurs agricoles.

Le manque d’intérêt et de motivation pour conserver l’intérêt pour l’agriculture est également considéré comme un défi. Certains jeunes sont invités à se lancer dans l’agriculture ou l’agro-industrie, alors qu’ils ne portent aucun intérêt au secteur en question et en sortent donc très facilement, d’autant plus qu’ils n’ont pas accès au financement des entreprises, même s’ils ont participé à des initiatives appropriées de renforcement des capacités.

Les contributions ont également fait ressortir plusieurs défis, comme le manque d’accès simplifié aux institutions (en particulier les organismes gouvernementaux compétents) dans l’espace agricole qui pourraient aider les jeunes dans leurs entreprises agro-industrielles, l’absence de plates-formes ou d’associations pour soutenir les jeunes à l’issue des initiatives de renforcement des capacités, le manque de programmes d’encadrement et des opportunités qui ne favorisent pas la mise en pratique des connaissances acquises par les jeunes durant le processus de renforcement des capacités.

Au vu des défis mentionnés plus haut, ma question la suivante : les interventions de renforcement des capacités visant les jeunes en agriculture sont-elles conçues en prenant compte des stratégies de sortie et de durabilité ?

Cordialement

Justin

English translation below  

L’augmentation de la population de jeunes va entraîner une hausse du nombre de personnes en âge de travailler, ce qui risque d’exacerber le chômage des jeunes sur notre continent. ce Forum est un cadre idéal pour partager les points vues sur l'avenir de la jeunesse africaine.

Le changement climatique, le manque de soutien aux jeunes agriculteurs constituent 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. Exemples d’initiatives actuelles visant à assurer la pérennité de renforcement des capacités pour les jeunes africains dans le domaine agricole.

Les exemples d’initiatives actuelles visant à assurer la pérennité de renforcement des capacités pour les jeunes africains dans le domaine agricole que nous connaissons sont les contributions de l’organisations internationales à l'encadrement et à la formation des jeunes dans le domaine agricole. Au Tchad, nous avons la FAO, le GIZ et le COOPI qui contribuent aux initiatives visant à pérenniser l'agriculture. Mais beaucoup reste du coté de gouvernement du Tchad.Il faut reconnaitre que ces initiatives de ces organisations internationales cités ci-haut fonctionnent bien. Car les jeunes agriculteurs sont outillés des techniques modernes afin d'améliorer leur productivité. Quelques fois les jeunes agriculteurs sont abandonnés à leurs tristes sorts. L'exemple que nous avons vécu à la FERME PERSEVERENCE était l'achat des boutures de Manioc. La FAO par le biais de l'office Nationale pour le Développement Rurale(ONDR),secteur de la Grande Sido a commandé des boutures de Manioc avec la Ferme pour distribuer aux réfugiés Centrafricains installés à Maro. Au lieu que l'argent soit verser directement à la Ferme, elle a plutôt versé l'argent à l'ONDR n'a pas honoré l'engagement. Les initiatives réussies que nous aimons bien pratiques à partager les exemples de la FAO au côté des jeunes agriculteurs. J’ai bénéficié de deux formations de FAO et qui m'ont aider à plus produire le manioc.

Le jeunes ont besoins des soutiens financiers, des formations en agriculture, et aux changement climatiques. Initions les jeunes à la création des groupements et des associations pour s'entraider.

L'environnement favorable pour assurer la garantie et la permanence des jeunes dans les initiatives de renforcement des capacités dans le secteur agricole est l'amélioration des conditions de vie des agriculteurs en leurs octroyant des credits,des semences de qualités répondant aux changements climatiques. Il faut moderniser l'agriculture.

Le medias jouent un rôle très important dans le secteur agricole. A cet effet, il faut faire des campagnes de vulgarisations des produits agricoles, sensibiliser les agriculteurs aux nouvelles techniques agricoles.

English translation 

The increase in the population of the youth will lead to a rise in the number of people of working age, with the danger of exacerbating youth unemployment on our continent. This forum is an ideal way of sharing points of view on the future of African youth.

Climate change and lack of support for young farmers are the main challenges encountered by young Africans in relation to youth-specific capacity development initiatives in agriculture.

Examples of existing post-capacity development sustainability initiatives for youth in agriculture in Africa.

Examples of existing post-capacity development initiatives intended to ensure the continuity of capacity development for youth in agriculture in Africa, with which we are acquainted, are the contributions of international organizations to the coaching and training of young people in the agricultural sector. In Chad, FAO, GIZ [German Corporation for International Cooperation GmbH] and COOPI [Italian International Cooperation] contribute to initiatives for sustainable agriculture. But a lot remains on the Chad government side. We should recognize that the initiatives of the international organizations named above are working well because the young farmers are familiarized with modern technology to improve their productivity. Sometimes young farmers are left to their sad fate. The example we have experienced at FERME PERSEVERENCE was the purchase of cassava cuttings. FAO, through the Office National pour le Développement Rural (ONDR) [National Office for Rural Development], in the Grande Sido region of Chad, ordered cassava cuttings from the farm for distribution to the Central African refugees settled in Maro [Grande Sido region]. Rather than making the payment directly to the Farm, the payment was sent directly to ONDR which did not honor the commitment. The successful initiatives that we much like practice the sharing of examples of FAO in respect of young farmers. I have benefitted from two training sessions given by FAO which have helped me to produce more cassava.

Young people need financial assistance, training in agriculture and on climate change. Let us introduce young people to the creation of organizations and associations to help them pull together.

The enabling environment for ensuring the commitment and permanence of young people in capacity development initiatives in the agricultural sector is to improve farmers' living conditions by granting them credits and quality seeds of a kind that respond to climate change.  It is necessary to modernize agriculture.

The media play a very important role in the agricultural sector. To this effect, it will be important to carry out extension campaigns about agricultural products, and make farmers aware of the new agricultural techniques.

Hi there, happy to be on this forum.

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

Youths face many hurdles after attaining capacity development initiatives in Agriculture. The prerequisite for a production venture is to own a farm and many land tenure systems especially in Africa does not support land ownership by youth. Alternatively, the start-up land can be lease or rented but most microfinances and banks either give high interest rate on loans or refuse youths of loans because they often have little or no collateral.

Many youths are of the opinion that agriculture is a money making venture and therefore everybody wants to practice agriculture even without preliminary knowledge in order to be “rich”. One would really not expect anything fruitful if such persons go through capacity development trainings. I always say if you don’t like the colour green = plants, there’s no need wasting time attaining these initiatives. Capacity development is about the growth of the individual in knowledge, skills and experience and these programmes are often short duration such that the required knowledge and skills is not got by the end of these initiatives and therefore youths cannot make informed decisions.

Many agricultural policies often fail to account for the heterogeneity of youth, and so do not provide them with effective support. Policy makers must ensure that youths have a solid stand in their laws in order to increase youth’s participation and to curb the knowledge gap after capacity trainings.

Youths often engage in ventures without identifying their markets. In some instances, you find that many youths are skilled-equipped after capacity development initiatives but the sustainability of what they do is often lacking since they failed to consider the whole agricultural value chain, say, from selecting disease- free and improved seeds for planting to harvesting, and to the final consumers.

The way forward

Where serious and focused youths are identified, governments through youth capacity development mentors can allocate pieces of lands to these youths to engage and practice their acquired skills which will be monitored by their mentors for some years, say 5, the government later re-owns the land while the net returns be used by the youth for a venture that is solely his/hers. Similarly, Agricultural banks can give loans to youths through their capacity development mentors and the above explanation holds true.

Within and between youth groups, Mobile apps can be developed to constantly share agricultural information between themselves and link them to extension agents and plant doctors.

Agricultural value chain and not just a specific section, for example production, be considered and the risk evaluated with anticipated solutions before engaging in any programme.

Nkafu Therese

MPhil, agricultural entomology

University of Ghana.

From Cameroon

1. Greatest challenge youth face after going through youth in agriculture capacity building is finding a place to anchor their interventions. This goes beyond mentorship and access to capital as they need to have their interventions feed to and be fed from stable enterprises in a business context. This is a gap Greenfarm Agribusiness Incubation Network (GAIN) is working on with a equal measure of success and challenges (that are being converted to opportunities for accelerated growth).

2. Examples of post-capacity development initiatives include;

a) Greenfarm International contracts to buy Brachiaria fodder in Kenya at Ksh 250 (about USD2.5) per bale from farmers. Youth were empowered by Greenfarm International (a start-up member of GAIN) to develop contract farming to collect the fodder and sell it to Greenfarm International with a margin of Ksh 25 for each bale. Greenfarm International finances all purchases, transport and storage. This is an example of a success story as well working in Bungoma and Trans-Nzoia Counties of Kenya.

3. Post capacity support youth need is in 3 areas;

a) Refining the business model based on an anchor framework as defined in (1) above

b) Support in mapping business opportunities

c) Provision of business infrastructure so that one only directs money to the real business. GAIN has set up furnished work stations with internet, finance and HR services where a start-up pays Ksh 10,000 (USD 100) monthly and works with no other costs for power, internet, licenses etc. There are also sites for animal rearing such as pig pens and poultry units hence a youth can just buy stock and lease the units. When he/she is not interested in the business, they will not have funds sunk in buildings that they do not need at the time. This also addresses the issue of access to land that has been a challenge to youth, but with this arrangement, it is no longer a significant challenge.

4. Enabling environment to ensure sustainability of youth in agriculture is an incubation ecosystem that allows them access to research and staffing (through internships) without paying for directly. Research is expensive (in-affordable) by start-ups yet market research is indispensable at all times.

5. Absolutely, technology has a great role. Many youth do not want to get to rural areas hence use of CCTV attached to their mobile phones enables them to manage farm based enterprises from the comfort of their urban centres. The capital outlay is high, but the benefits by far outweigh the costs.

One of the  major challenges faced with youths that have undergone youth-specific development programs is the lack of resources. This makes it difficult to implement the skills that may have be learnt. In some cases there are no opportunities for the youths to apply the knowledge gained from the development programs due to high unemployment rates. 

Even after going through the youth-specific capacity development initiatives in agriculture, such youth need other supportive initiatives that would help them sustain their interest and focus. Such support should include mentoring them into identifying their Talents and interest in agriculture before they are plunged into the sector. Those with talent and interest in farming are most likely to succeed since they are able to translate farming into an interesting job for themselves and eventually influence their peer into agriculture and act as their peer mentors.

A consistent mentorship, coaching and relevant supportive functions are critical to these young farmers in helping them remain focused and interested in Agriculture. Identifying mature successful mentors from within their localities with a success story will work wonders to the trained youth who can identify a good promise to excel in farming thus sustaining the interest. It is also necessary to group these trained youth into common interest groups based on their areas of focus (Livestock or Crops farming) to help create "accountability partners" among themselves, on their joint journey in Agriculture. They will challenge, encourage support and consult each other as they grow together in Agriculture and subsequently love it and attract others to join them.

It’s necessary to note here that many financial institutions have none or limited youth based option on financial services. Again, with the continued land demarcations, occasioned by population increase, many young people have no or limited access to land for agriculture or for collateral. As such access to the necessary resources for Agricultural venture by youth remain at the training level. With access to financial and with a good support functions like credit guarantee program, youth can lease land for agricultural ventures and be successful. Thus financial institutions need to develop appropriate financial products for the youth in Agriculture. Agriculture in itself is exposed to many challenges that include the adverse effects of the climate change and other vagaries of nature and thus there is need to support the youth training with credit guarantee program, climate resilient and conservation agriculture training programs as well as with incubation programs to kick-start their start -up agricultural projects but with clear outcomes and targets for accountability on their part.

A one off training is not enough for the young potential farmers, an integrated sustainable training program is what the youth need given their high mobility and dynamism at their life stage. They tend to loose interest very rapidly and thus a consistent training program that aligns with their progressive farming needs will help them remain focussed to the course. These include regular training on; entrepreneurship that helps them see business in agriculture, inculcating a savings culture as a means to wealth creation, Financial management for growing business in farming, agricultural value chain developments for high value product for increased return on their investments, learning on new and trending farming approaches/products, networking opportunities for peer learning, sustainable market access for their products among other sustaining training opportunities. Once the first batch of young farmers succeed in a particular area, they become the role models and mentors to others interested in agriculture. They are able to demonstrate that Agriculture is a valuable employer of choice and not employer of last resort as it is the case in most African Countries.

Otherwise youth and Agriculture holds the answer to the African growth & development and more so to the realisation of the Continent's prosperity.

Season Greetings Everyone and Thanks for the Initiative.

1. in response to the question on challenges faced by youths in Africa after completion of specific capacity development programs, the following points can be summarized. (i) Microfinance policies: most African youths do not approach microfinance structure with their projects. This may be because youths do not understand how microfinance structures operate and/or because microfinance policies do not attract youths (who in most cases lack colaterals). (ii) Unemployment: The agricultural sector in most African countries is lagging because governments are not fully engaged in developing and promoting the sector. A consequence of this is the high importation rate of Agricultural products from Asia, North and South America and Europe. Trained youths in Agriculture because of lack of jobs are unable to exercise their expertise and most often are engaged in other revenue generating activities or are bound to operate small scale agriculture activities. (iii) Governance: platforms to engage youths in community development activities are absent. Innovation platform is an effective mechanism for mobilizing key actors at local, district and national levels for negotiation on collective action and concerted decision-making to create a conduicive working environment. Key actors here include financial institutions, administrators, transporters, traders and agriculture value-chain actors. Innovation platform approach has been adopted in Benin (Glazoué community) initiated by the Africa Rice Center.

2. The uploaded document is titled "Innovation System: Towards effective strategies in support of smallholder farmers. Success stories are shared there in and the offers tested methods for communities seeking active engagment in Agriculture

3. The relevant post capacity development support Youths in Africa need is employment and project financing skills.

FSN- FOOD SECURITY AND NUTRITION IN AFRICA.

1. This year’s THEME of FAO FOOD DAY CELEBRATION is “Invest in Food Security and Rural Development”, could be the real and most touch first point or issue one can address on the Youth Specific Capacity Development , should be the main issue if the “ Food Security, Nutrition, and Rural Development”, have to be initiated. The youth are the most workforce of the agriculture, now or in future. If the traditional practice is maintained, the food security and nutrition will NOT be met.

2. The Post-capacity Development Initiatives that can be maintained, for sustainability of the their capacity, is assured market of their produce, and other farm inputs , because any moment, there are some challenges, their statuses, and earnings re-evaluation could disrupt their businesses.

• What works – State Facilitation of Youths and Women / Guarantee-ships percentage to enable their take-offs.
• What does not work or reduced performance – their performance and regulation of businesses may not be so perfect, but may be tolerated, and perfection may be attained.
• Successes can be seen, and model practices learned from.  

3. What can the Youth Do to support each other – Study Visits can be mounted, as LEARNING TRIPS, of MANAGEMENT, PRACTICES, SUCCESS AND FAILURES. They can learn from each other.

4. What enabling environment needed for sustainability –:

(i). Assured or protected market – Without markets this is a key weakening issue.

(ii). Access of Farm Inputs – Seeds, Fertilizers, herbicides/pesticides .

(iii). Better or Innovational Practices Access – Irrigation water access, tractor hire services, transport or evacuation of produce.

5. Information / Communication technologies are so essential for them, or else, their business may abort on take-off. The sources of the essential services listed above, they should have the details. Or the regular Radio Agriculture Extension, Commercial Radio and TV Services, and Promotional Programmes of Inputs etc. - Could play the MAJOR ROLE RELAYING WHAT THEY NEED! 

In my opinion, looking at question 4 and 5 Youths need more incentives and motivation to be engaged in Agriculture. To this, I will suggest that:

1. We need to develop a regional curricula (simple principles, guidelines and indicators) for monitoring the involvement and evolution of Africa Youths in Agriculture. This curricular will be completed at individual, national and continental level by all youths that have received a capacity development support.

2. We need to organise Youth farmers in Agriculture contests portal or platform in which Youths farmers practicing agriculture will register their farming activities from land acquisition through marketing and experts will judge the coherence and consistency in the processes. Best farms will be selected for further visits by the experts to assess the level of efficiency and novelty demonstrated on the farms. While visiting the farms, participating youths will be advised on their practices and the most outstanding farms will be rewarded based on awards packages that will be determined by a commission. This process has three advantages

a. Motivated youths are given an opportunity to share their experience and to know that what they are doing is important;

b. The youth’s activities are linked to a team of experts who can provide them with advice and follow-up services

c. Innovative youths are rewarded to encourage them do better

d. The reward process stimulates internal competition to do better among the youths and therefore enhances more commitment on their part

Youths face a lot of problems going through agricultural capacity development initiatives. Among these include: Lack of follow-up, proper mentoring after training and exposure to situations requiring the necessary knowledge so acquired.

Chigozie Abuta,

Graduate Student,

University of Port Harcourt.

Consultant Agricultural Information Analyst, Administrator and Communicator.

Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Nigeria.