This
is through the development of rural enterprises in sustainable agriculture and
agribusiness along strategic value chains.
The
USD$ 4 million project is funded
by the African
Solidarity Trust Fund.
NEPAD's chief
executive officer, Dr Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, has lauded this
partnership.
“The
collaboration between NEPAD and FAO will go a long way in ensuring that the
youth, Africa’s future, are not forgotten,” he said. “It is by creating an
economic environment that stimulates initiatives - particularly by conducting
transparent and foreseeable policies - and at the same time by regulating the
market in order to deal with market failures that we will attain results and
impact through the new thrust given to our farmers, entrepreneurs and youth.”
The project – which will see over 100 000 young men and women in rural
Benin, Cameroon, Malawi and Niger benefit – is anchored in the Rural Futures
Program of NEPAD. Rural transformation is at the heart of this Programe where equity and
inclusiveness where rural men and women can develop their potential and thrive.
Agriculture and
agribusiness transformation required
FAO Assistant Director General for Africa Mr Bukar
Tijani said, “Today marks an important milestone in moving forward and upward
in terms of empowering youth in these four countries - especially women, as
2015 is the African Union’s year of women empowerment. This is actually also
one of the concrete ways that we can see the declarations made in Malabo in mid
2014, coming to fruition by opening new paths for African youth within the
agricultural arena”.
Over
half of the continent’s population is below 25 years and approximately 11
million young Africans will join the labour market every year for the next
decade. Despite strong
economic growth in many African countries, wage employment is limited and
agriculture and agribusiness continue to provide income and employment for over
60 percent of Sub Saharan Africa’s population.
However,
the laborious, subsistence-oriented small-scale agriculture is often not the
preferred choice of work for many young people. If Africa is to reap from this
demographic dividend, it will need to attract
young people in to the agri-food sector. This will require transforming the
agriculture and agribusiness sector to be more modern, profitable and efficient
capable of providing decent
employment opportunities for this young labour force.
Africa
leaders need to set policies that encourage skills development in the
agriculture sector to train the youth in different aspects of agribusiness and
‘Agripreneurship’ along agriculture value chains for them to take agriculture
as a business. The emphasis of this project is on acquisition of skills along
specific value chains and the transition of the trainees into business in the
sector.
In 2012 the African Union Commission, NEPAD Agency,
the Lula Institute and FAO formed a partnership aimed at ending hunger in the
continent. A year later, the four partners organised a high-level meeting of
ministers - in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - leading to a declaration to end hunger
and a road map for implementation.
This Declaration was subsequently endorsed at the
2014 African Union summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea and incorporated as the “Commitment to
Ending Hunger in Africa by 2025” in the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated
Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved
Livelihoods.
In providing a model for advancing the Commitment
to Ending Hunger by 2025, it contributes to the implementation of the Comprehensive
Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which aims to boost agricultural
productivity and food security on the continent.
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