Agricultural Transformation in Africa Driven by the Youth

The MasterCard Foundation will be hosting its second Young Africa Works Summit in Kigali, Rwanda on February 16-17, 2017 aimed to focus on youth as drivers of agricultural transformation in Africa and explore three key themes: climate smart agriculture, technology, and gender.

The Summit brings together approximately 300 high-level influencers from NGOs, civil society, government, peer funders, financial service providers, and the private sector to discuss youth, employment and agriculture in Africa. Fifty young people working in or studying agriculture will also be in attendance to offer their voice and perspective.

The Summit will among other things, discuss how the next generation of farmers, researchers, scientists, and extension workers are best placed to positively contribute to technologically innovative, gender aware, and sustainable, efficient and profitable agriculture.

The event is an opportunity for local, regional, and international communities to present what they are doing to address youth unemployment. During the Summit, the Foundation will inform and influence the sector by sharing what it believes to be the best approaches for linking young people to employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, specifically in the agricultural sector.

The MasterCard Foundation believes that the agricultural sector has an important role to play in creating sustainable and fulfilling livelihoods for young people in Africa; however, agricultural transformation requires an enabling environment, raised productivity, and the treatment of agriculture as a modern business.

Africa is home to approximately 51 million smallholder farmers. It holds half of the world’s uncultivated arable land, yet, many smallholder farmers are only able to produce enough food to feed themselves and their families.  In the recent adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals, world leaders have recognized that by helping smallholder farmers boost their agricultural productivity, they can help end rural poverty, guarantee food security, and combat climate change.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, agricultural growth can be twice as effective in reducing poverty than growth in any other sector of the economy.

Removing barriers to agricultural production could increase the continent’s agricultural output from US$280 billion per year to as much as US$880 billion by the year 2030. This has the potential to create eight million stable jobs in Africa by 2020, and up to 14 million if the sector is accelerated.

Africa is home to the youngest population in the world and has high rates of unemployment and underemployment. There is enormous potential for modern agriculture and agri-food systems to become a viable source of employment for young people.

In Africa, there are more than 200 million young people between the ages of 15 and 24 according to the African Economic Outlook, 2013. 72 percent, approximately 144 million of these youth live on less than US$2 per day and rely on vulnerable or unpaid employment – meaning that they are self-employed, unpaid family workers with no formal arrangements or have to access social protection benefits or programs.

Exploring economic and demographic trends, the Mastercard Foundation sees potential in the agricultural sector in Sub-Saharan Africa. Agriculture is set to create 8 million stable jobs in Africa by 2020, and up to 14 million if development in this sector is accelerated.

Agricultural growth in Africa has expanded into livelihood opportunities for millions of people now engaged in the growing off-farm stages of the agri-food system.

Policy and public investments can create an enabling environment that improves the profitability and attractiveness of agriculture and agri-food value chains to position the continent to reap a demographic dividend from its growing youthful workforce.

The Foundation is committed to programming that helps young people transition into a sustainable means of living. It believes that a combination of skills training, ongoing support, and access to financial services will expand the opportunities available to them.

It also takes a holistic, youth-centric approach to preparing young people for employment and entrepreneurship. It includes a mix of technical knowledge and soft skills to ensure job readiness; a demand-driven approach to ensure the programs are adapted to the needs of local growth sectors of the economy; and access to relevant financial services.

Mastercard Foundation believes that it is important to show young people that there are many opportunities along the agricultural value chain that do not involve farming in the traditional sense. For example, agribusinesses, processing and manufacturing, trading, export, transport, and retail sales are other viable options. It recognizes that traditional subsistence agriculture is not considered an attractive venture for some young people in Africa. Our work will demonstrate to young people that there are many opportunities along the agricultural value chain that do not involve farming in the traditional sense.

Enhancing the productivity of agriculture through improved inputs, livestock vaccinations, the use of technology, and access to market information is also important for increased income generation. To date, the Foundation has committed US$402 million to 37 projects in Africa reaching 1.8 million young people through our Youth Livelihoods program.
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