Impakter
  • News
    • Culture
      • Art
      • Cinema
      • Entertainment
      • Literature
      • Music
      • Photography
    • Style
      • Architecture
      • Design
      • Fashion
      • Foodscape
      • Lifestyle
    • Society
      • Business
      • Foreign Affairs & Politics
      • Health
      • Tech
      • Science
      • Start-up
    • Impact
      • Environment
      • Eco Life
      • Circular Economy
      • COP26
      • CityLife
        • Copenhagen
        • San Francisco
        • Seattle
        • Sydney
      • Sustainability Series
        • SDGs Series
        • Shape Your Future
        • 2030: Dream or Reality
      • Philanthropy
        • United Nations
        • NGO & Charities
        • Essays
  • Business Hub
  • Sustainability Index
  • Partners
  • About
    • Team
    • Contributors
    • Global Leaders
    • Write for Impakter
      • Republishing Content
      • Permissions and Copyright
      • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Culture
      • Art
      • Cinema
      • Entertainment
      • Literature
      • Music
      • Photography
    • Style
      • Architecture
      • Design
      • Fashion
      • Foodscape
      • Lifestyle
    • Society
      • Business
      • Foreign Affairs & Politics
      • Health
      • Tech
      • Science
      • Start-up
    • Impact
      • Environment
      • Eco Life
      • Circular Economy
      • COP26
      • CityLife
        • Copenhagen
        • San Francisco
        • Seattle
        • Sydney
      • Sustainability Series
        • SDGs Series
        • Shape Your Future
        • 2030: Dream or Reality
      • Philanthropy
        • United Nations
        • NGO & Charities
        • Essays
  • Business Hub
  • Sustainability Index
  • Partners
  • About
    • Team
    • Contributors
    • Global Leaders
    • Write for Impakter
      • Republishing Content
      • Permissions and Copyright
      • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
Impakter
No Result
View All Result
Home Food and Agriculture

Africa’s Agribusiness Sector to Reach US$1 Trillion by 2030: What Role Does the Youth Play?

How we can create decent employment opportunities and motivate the African youth to participate in agribusiness

bySophie Nedlin
August 16, 2022
in Food and Agriculture, SDG Series, Society
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Africa harbors the youngest population worldwide in terms of average age, with 70% of sub-Saharan Africa’s population being under the age of 30. However, the dire employment situation hinders the continent to fully incorporate the potential of the energetic workforce, creating a fruitful ground for youth unemployment.

#InternationalYouthDay
Africa has the youngest population in the world, with 70% of sub-Saharan Africa under the age of 30. To achieve SDG #6 on clean water and sanitation for all, we need to leverage the full potential of all generations, everywhere.
📹: WaterAid Uganda pic.twitter.com/bKhqTxJspN

— WaterAid East Africa (@WaterAidEA) August 12, 2022

Because of that, most of Africa’s youth resort to informal work, many are underemployed or remain in poverty despite having work due to a weak social safety net and low wages. According to the African Development Bank, the youth face roughly double the unemployment rate of adults, varying from country to country.

However, if properly supported and effectively integrated into the job market, it is the African youth that has the potential to transform Africa’s economy sustainably.

Naomi Ruhara, an indigenous vegetable farmer, explains that she has come to learn that agribusiness has the potential to create a variety of jobs and opportunities: “If youth are trained on agribusiness I think they will gain more interest in it.” She encourages the youth to involve themselves in agribusiness as it can sustain the economy and improve individual and societal livelihoods.

Agribusiness indeed holds considerable potential in providing gainful employment opportunities for African youth and presents a first step towards a structural transformation of developing countries’ economies. It can enable poverty reduction through the strengthening of entrepreneurial ecosystem and self-employment, has the potential to mitigate climate change through sustainable production practices and new technologies as well as enhance economic competitiveness and integration into regional and global supply chains.


Related Articles: Involving the Youth in Decision-Making Processes | Creating a New Social Contract for a Healthy, Just and Sustainable World

Because of its vast agricultural potential, Africa’s agribusiness sector is expected to reach US$1 trillion by 2030, fueling the motor of sustainable and inclusive growth. For that reason, growing political commitments can be observed across Africa to engage youth in agribusiness. Adding to the commitments, many African governments and development partners started focusing on various interventions to increase youth engagement, such as skills development, access to resources, and provision of new technologies. These developments could help increase innovation among the youth and attract them toward agribusiness.

UNIDO’s contribution in accelerating youth employment in agribusiness

At the 2019 Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) officially launched a joint programme, named “Opportunities for Youth in Africa (OYA): Accelerating job creation in agriculture and agribusiness,” to accelerate efforts in the area of job creation for African youth, especially through agribusiness and entrepreneurship development.

In the Photo: A young entrepreneur presenting her business model during IDEAS convention, a pitching event concluding NextGen, OYA incubation programme in Zambia. Photo Credit: UNIDO.

The objective of the programme is to increase decent employment opportunities in the agricultural and agribusiness sector for youth through individual skills and competencies training, the strengthening of agricultural value chains, and the reinforcement of institutions in supporting youth employment creation and entrepreneurship development.

The OYA programme is a unique solution for boosting creativity and productivity by expanding horizons of opportunities and offering groundbreaking technologies and skills to young people hungry to learn, grow and become actors of change in their own countries and on the continent at large. Through demand-driven technical and vocational trainings, work-based learning and skill-enhancement courses, OYA accompanies young and aspiring entrepreneurs in turning their business ideas into sustainable and bankable business models.

Africa youth agribusiness
In the Photo: Opportunities for Youth in Africa interactive Seminar on Agri-preneurship and agribusiness. Photo Credit: UNIDO.

“Our expertise lies primarily in providing youth-responsive, sensitive, and action-oriented policy support to local and national governments and the identification of strategic sectors that harbour potential for growth”, says UNIDO Project Manager Siaka Bashir Conde.

Another important pillar is equipping the youth with the necessary skills for the job market. “It is important to remember that the management of successful agribusinesses can only be achieved when combined with skills development of youth,” adds Conde.

The programme also aspires to attract the youth to engage themselves in agribusiness. By conveying the importance of smart agriculture and innovative (digital) solutions as well as incorporating the youth in policy dialogues and knowledge and experience sharing, the programme supports the creation of a better enabling environment for young entrepreneurs across the continent.


Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed here by the authors are their own, not those of Impakter.com — In the Featured Photo: A worker at the Somali Poultry Farm in Mogadishu stands between two rows of chickens in one of the farm’s chicken coops on 15 April 2018. The poultry farm, one of the first of its kind in Mogadishu, has over 30,000 chickens and is capable of producing up to 12,000 eggs a day. Featured Photo Credit: The African Union Mission in Somalia/Tobin Jones.

Tags: africaAfrican YouthAgribusinessOYA programmeSkills DevelopmentUNIDOyouth
Previous Post

To Reverse Nature Loss in High Seas, ‘Nobody’s Waters’ Must Become ‘Everybody’s Waters,’ WWF Says

Next Post

Is One Health at a Turning Point?

Sophie Nedlin

Sophie Nedlin

Sophie Nedlin is part of the Learning and Knowledge Development Facility (LKDF) at the Agro-Industries and Skills Development Division within the Department of Agri-Business in UNIDO. Sophie is a social media specialist with an academic focus on international relations and development. She has worked extensively in the areas of Political Ecology as well as refugee-related topics at UNHCR. Currently, she writes her Master thesis on Austrian Policies in the reception of Syrian and Ukrainian refugees.

Related Posts

IPCC report
Climate Change

UN IPCC: Leaders Urged to Heed Science and Act Now to Avert Climate Catastrophe

March 20, 2023
Critical Water Shortage: World to Face a 40% Deficit by 2030, New Report Warns
Climate Change

Critical Water Shortage: World to Face a 40% Deficit by 2030, New Report Warns

March 20, 2023
After 12 Years of War in Syria, Protection of Civilians ‘Remains an Illusion,’ UN Says
Politics & Foreign Affairs

After 12 Years of War in Syria, Protection of Civilians ‘Remains an Illusion,’ UN Says

March 20, 2023
Next Post
Is One Health at a Turning Point?

Is One Health at a Turning Point?

Recent News

IPCC report

UN IPCC: Leaders Urged to Heed Science and Act Now to Avert Climate Catastrophe

March 20, 2023
Critical Water Shortage: World to Face a 40% Deficit by 2030, New Report Warns

Critical Water Shortage: World to Face a 40% Deficit by 2030, New Report Warns

March 20, 2023
After 12 Years of War in Syria, Protection of Civilians ‘Remains an Illusion,’ UN Says

After 12 Years of War in Syria, Protection of Civilians ‘Remains an Illusion,’ UN Says

March 20, 2023
impakter-logo-light

Impakter informs you through the eco news site and empowers your sustainable lifestyle with its eco products marketplace.

Visit here IMPAKTER ECO for your eco products needs.

Registered Office Address

32 Lots Road, London
SW10 0QJ, United Kingdom


IMPAKTER Limited

Company number: 10806931

Impakter is a publication that is identified by the following International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is the following 2515-9569 (Printed) and 2515-9577 (online – Website).


Office Hours - Monday to Friday

9.30am - 5.00pm CEST


Email

stories [at] impakter.com

About Us

  • Team
  • Contributors
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Partners

By Audience

  • Lifestyle
  • Green Finance
  • Culture
  • Society
  • Style
  • Impact

Impakter Platforms

  • Media
  • Index

© 2023 IMPAKTER. All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Culture
    • Style
    • Society
    • Impact
  • Business Hub
  • Sustainability Index
  • About
    • Team
    • Partners
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy

© 2023 IMPAKTER. All rights reserved.

Impakter.com uses cookies to enhance your experience when visiting the website and to serve you with advertisements that might interest you. By continuing to use this site, you agree to our use of cookies. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.