ICA regional work: 2020 updates
ICA also develops work and collaborations at regional and sub-regional level. Let’s have a look at the latest activities!
East Africa
Around 50 young agripreneurs from Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda met in Kampala in November 2019, along with government institutions and multiple financial and business service providers, to discuss the bottlenecks that inhibit youth access to policy dialogue and finance. The forum was jointly organized by the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF), FAO and IFAD.
ICA has taken action to address the key recommendations, including: (i) enhancing information sharing and youth-learning opportunities through a regional communication platform; (ii) increasing evidence-based policy development and implementation based on lessons learnt from other countries; (iii) promoting partnerships between financial institutions, youth, incubators, and the public sector in support of more adapted and flexible youth-specific financial services.
- Partnership with the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF)
Following the successful collaboration of the Regional Forum, FAO and EAFF signed an implementation agreement in Sept 2020 to promote and strengthen joint actions in the following two areas:
- Youth engagement in policy dialogue and youth networking
- Access to finance for young agripreneurs
West Africa
This event was held on 21-25 October 2019, in partnership with FAO Partnership and UN Collaboration unit (PSU), Rikolto and YPARD, to inspire 36 young agripreneurs from Senegal, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Burkina Faso, and Togo to strengthen rural-urban linkages for sustainable food and agriculture by increasing participants awareness on: (i) agricultural production and sustainable use of inputs; (ii) improving nutrition-sensitive value chains; and (iii) networking opportunities on business opportunities, innovation and best practices for production and along food value chains. Read the final report of the event here.
Latin America
In close collaboration with the Núcleo de Capacitación en Políticas Públicas of the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, the e-learning course “Productive employment and decent work in rural areas” was offered as an online tutored learning between May and July 2020 and was completed by over 60 participants from regional institutions, ministries, NGOs, universities or the private sector. On the main FAO e-learning Academy, the course is available in English, French, and Spanish.
Central America
- Digital networking among rural youth
Through the digital platform ChispaRural.GT, ICA initiated a collaboration with national rural youth networks established in the Central American Integration System (Juventudes Rurales SICA) with support by PROCASUR. This contributed to the exchange of COVID-19 experiences and success stories of resilient rural youth and the organization of a joint webinar on green jobs and business opportunities for youth (Emprendimientos Verdes).
What’s cooking for 2021
- ICA will support EAFF in the set up and management of the African Youth Agripreneurs (AYA) regional platform, an online community that aims to improve information and knowledge sharing among youth in agribusiness across East Africa.
- ICA will support the development and piloting of a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Agripreneurship under a Technical Cooperation Project led by the FAO Sub-regional Office for Eastern Africa.