Transcript Slide 1
YOUTH ENGAGEMENT IN AGRICULTURE VALUE CHAINSLessons from Tanzania, Malawi, RSA, Mauritius, Swaziland and Zimbabwe 1. Definition and Composition of youth in the population • Average range of 35-60% youth and it is defined as the age group of btwn 17 and 35 in many parts of Africa • Mauritius has an aveg 24% youth in total population and they are defined as those in the aveg age of 15-29yrs 2. Young Peoples Perceptions on Agric in Africa Good perception in Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mauritiusonly source of employment in the mean time Bad in Tanzania as the youth keep referring to how their elders or parents suffer in as far as agric is concerned-no incentives General: Parents perceive it as a livelihood means for school dropouts e.g. in Malawi 3. Exclusion Of Young People In Policy Processes( formulation, reviews, program designs, implementation etc) • Examples of national initiatives/programs: Kilimo Kwanza in TZ, FISP,YEDEF and OVOP in Malawi • Govts, NGOs/NSAs do not put deliberate mechanisms to include young poeple in agric develop except for Mauritius case. • Youths are regarded as the end users of policies formulated • Youths are mainly involved in HIV/AIDS, Environment and many other activities that do not necessarily generate income like agric. Misallocated resource? No wonder at times are used in political violence! 4. Inadequate policy support on youth and agriculture development • There is a general word/expression in many policy document which says promoting youth economic empowerment. This lacks strategies on how diff youth groups can benefit on agric-All countries • Good news is that many govts set-aside Min of Youth Dev, Sports & Culture. However, the sports part of it is highly promoted than the development hence not realistic 5.Agric Academic Inst and their syllabi • Courses/modules emphasize much on the technical/scientific part of the study program with a scant attention on entrepreneurial part i.e. students being grilled to become employees and not self-employers-MALAWI • In Tanzania, there are tertiary institutions for upcoming young farmers. However, agric subject is no longer officially examined at primary and sec school levels • Mauritius has a series of courses in agric which targets young pple aspiring to venture into agric business 6. Weak voice by the youth in Africa( they do not realize that many small voices make one big voice) • Weak and lack of collective voice and their orgs at local, national, regional and continental levels has exacerbated their exclusion in agric and other policy related issues affecting them. • Lack of capacity to embark of policy advocacy campaigns is also another stand-alone issue • The case of RSA, very few young pple have access to info on what and how to produce despite having some official policies that support youth in agric. 7. Lack of trust in young pple by finance institutions • Before we begin discussing youth access to financial services, Agric in Tanzania is regarded as the most risky business hence few loans are serviced in the sector. • The institutions perceive youth as part of the population that does not have collaterals coupled with their status of being regarded as dependants hence several microfinance institutions and commercial banks do not have enough confidence to provide their loan services to youth- Malawi and Zimbabwe 7. Previous attempts to engage youth in Agric • Establishment of Youth development centers in MalawiMalawi Govt • The holding of the first youth summits on agric dev in Malawi(2007 by FUM), RSA(2008 by Govt) and Uganda(2012, organized by Future Agricultures Consortium and FANRPAN) • Establishment of the National Federation of Young Farmers Clubs in Mauritius • Ratification of African Youth Charter by many national govts ZIKOMO KWAMBIRI ASANTE SANA MERCI BORCU THANK YOU VERY MUCH