Creating jobs for a continent of young people
The African continent has the highest percentage of youth in the world. The challenge is to create more than 10 million decent jobs annually by 2035 to absorb this young workforce.
Agricultural supply chains and food systems offer vast employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for young women and men. But while young people are already transforming agrifood systems in Africa – building on opportunities and bringing in new ideas, innovative solutions, products, services, networks – they often work in low paid, precarious and unsafe jobs.
FAO partnered with the African Union Commission (AUC) to produce the Investment guidelines for youth in agrifood systems in Africa, which provide guidance and practical “how-to” steps for developing youth-focused and youth-sensitive investment programmes that engage youth fully as partners. An investment brief was also published titled Scaling up investments in agrifood systems for youth in Africa – what policymakers need to know that summarizes the guidelines’ key points for ramping up investments for and by youth.
The investment guidelines, officially launched during FAO's 32nd Regional Conference for Africa in Malabo, are organized around four main steps: engaging youth in the investment programme cycle; assessing and pre-designing with a youth lens; designing with a youth lens; and implementing, monitoring, evaluating and capitalizing on what was learned. FAO and the AUC developed the guidelines drawing from research, case study analysis of successful programmes, multistakeholder consultations and a widely attended technical validation workshop.
The first step to operationalizing these guidelines is to make them widely accessible. The AUC, governments, financial and development partners, the private sector and youth all have a role in sharing these guidelines to raise awareness and get the message out. Building national and local stakeholder capacity on applying the guidelines is important, as are multistakeholder dialogue and workshops that include young people. Governments play a pivotal role in providing opportunities to engage youth as agents for change at every stage of the investment programme cycle, while encouraging collaboration across ministries and with development and financial partners.
Investments for and by youth in agrifood systems in Africa are urgently needed. Young people are key actors in contributing to greater economic prosperity, stronger social capital and more sustainable agrifood systems.