Youth for agric production or value chains?

The drive to strengthen agricultural value chains was strongly upheld at he recently held 2^nd African Green Revolution Forum in Arusha, Tanzania.

Most discussions touted the value chains as viable option to engage young people in agriculture.

According to Mr. Kofi Annan, Chairman of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), there are opportunities for Africa to benefit from innovations in agriculture and information and communication technologies and for him, these new technologies appeal to the younger generation and give them opportunities to play a greater part in the agricultural revolution.

He added that it is this new generation of Africans – male and female – with their energy and entrepreneurial spirit that needs to contribute to create a sustained transformation.

But there are other concerns of how to replace the ageing farming population with energetic youth.

Kofi Adu Domfeh posed the question to Jane Karuku, President of AGRA, who says agriculture must first be seen to be profitable to attract the youth.