Making farming a worthy career for African Youth
By 2050, Sub-Saharan Africa will be home to a third of the world’s young people, who will play a key part in feeding future generations. No region is this phenomenon of having more young people in the future more apparent than Sub-Saharan Africa.
However, the fact that young people in Sub-Saharan Africa often view agriculture as inefficient, socially immobile and technically uninteresting has led to a situation where the average age of Africa’s farmers is 60 despite the median age being 19.
The combination of an ageing generation of farmers, high rates of youth unemployment and a rapidly growing population poses a significant threat to Africa’s agricultural sector and future food security. As farmers grow older and young people move away in search of job opportunities, who will be left to feed the continent?
Involving more young people in farming is clearly crucial but major shifts in power dynamics and perceptions are needed to ensure that Africa’s next generation embrace agriculture. To attract Africa’s next generation of farmers, we must highlight how agriculture can be a profitable and rewarding enterprise.
And with limited access to financing, markets and land, young people must also be empowered with continuing support and investment in order to overcome these obstacles.
Directly involving them in the agricultural supply chain and enabling them to develop skills and knowledge is essential, and central to the approach of our non-profit enterprise called Producers Direct.
Working with more than a million smallholders across Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, we have learnt that to engage young farmers, we must also provide opportunities to access funds, training and markets.
With young smallholders comprising more than a fifth of our farmer-led network, giving them important roles throughout the agricultural supply chain and providing them with continuing training and support has enabled them to develop leadership skills and vital knowledge.
For example, we currently have ten youth coordinators, 29 youth agents and 118 youth leaders providing essential services to smallholders – from digital tool support and market linkages to on-farm diversification assistance so farmers can branch out into producing and selling new crops.
Youth farmers bundle these products and sell them at markets, earning commission for their work and enabling smallholder producers to earn a profit.
We must continue opening up lucrative opportunities that empower young people to embrace innovative tools, reshape perspectives, and give them leadership roles to carve out new enterprising routes that drive the agriculture sector forward.
Only then will Africa’s fast-growing youth population be able to cultivate a more fruitful farming future for themselves.
source: SciDev.Net’s Sub-Saharan Africa English