IITA begins youth-based agripreneurs initiative
As African nations continue to face problems of under development and unemployment, attention is being shifted at raising new breeds of entrepreneurs in the various agricultural sub-sectors.
The concerns have led to about 20 African countries throwing their weight behind the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Youth Agripreneur, (IYA) initiative.
The scheme, which is in its pilot phase, is targeted at engaging youths in agriculture with the aim of reducing youth unemployment in the continent.
According to Dr. Namanga Ngongi, IITA Board member, in a communiqué issued at the end of a conceptualisation workshop on “Engagement of Youth Entrepreneurship for Agricultural Transformation in Africa” held at IITA Ibadan recently, the initiative has also been certified by the IITA Board of Trustees.
The scheme, according to the document, is designed to change the mindset of young people towards agriculture and equip them with various opportunities in the production and marketing of agricultural products, cutting across value chains such as cassava, banana/plantain, soybean, maize, vegetables, livestock, and fish production.
Over 200 participants at the workshop are of the opinion that with the current high rate of unemployment situation in the continent, African leaders need to take holistic approach in tapping the potentials of agriculture.
According to stakeholders at the workshop, over 70 per cent of the population of Africans between 15 and 24 years are under-employed in some countries while some are unemployed in other places.
This situation they said poses a serious threat not only to food security but also the national security of all African countries which may compromise the attainment of the targets set under the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program, CAADP, and the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs.
The workshop therefore recognised that agriculture can drive development and has the potential to create millions of decent jobs for African youth in the provision of products and services such as seed and input supply, crop aggregation and marketing, postharvest handling, processing and storage, and other value-addition activities.