By Christabel DANSO ABEAM
AGRA, an African-led organisation focused on catalysing agricultural transformation, and Mastercard Foundation, an international NGO, have partnered with the National Youth Authority to promote youth involvement in agriculture through an initiative dubbed the ‘Youth and Food Systems Transformation Convening’.
The conference is themed ‘Empowering youth for decent jobs and a climate-resilient food system in Ghana’ and its objectives are to: facilitate dialogue with the youth and key stakeholders; support youth empowerment for a better understanding of their needs and priorities; and create awareness around the Youth Entrepreneurship for Future of Food and Agriculture (YEFFA) programme.
The dialogue is also concentrated on opportunities available to young people in Ghana – focusing on shaping a youth-friendly policy ecosystem, amplifying their voices, promoting their empowerment and creating opportunities in agriculture.
Speaking at the event, Dr. Betty Annan, Country Director-AGRA, indicated that the YEFFA is a five-year programme aimed at increasing the involvement of youth, young women and People Living with Disability (PLWD) in agricultural transformation – and also to stimulate food systems transformation, creating dignified job opportunities for youth with a strong emphasis on female participation.
“The programme aims to cultivate an environment that promotes entrepreneurship, market access, agricultural productivity, financial inclusion and youth participation in governance across Africa,” she added.
Dr. Anan further reaffirmed AGRA’s commitment to continually support and empower youth in the agriculture space.
“AGRA is excited to continue our collaborative efforts to increase, particularly, youth, young women and PLWD’s involvement in agricultural transformation; and we are hopeful that in the next four years we will be able to create 92,400 dignified and fulfilling job opportunities for the youth.”
She further added that AGRA will continue to work and strengthen youth voices, support access to productive resources and facilitate equitable opportunities for all youth across the country – and encouraged the youth to be actively involved in agricultural activities as well as being agents of change.
Pius Enam Hadzide, Chief Executive Officer-National Youth Authority (NYA), underscored the need to make youths real and active participants in our democratic experiment and development agenda.
“After all, we the youth constitute a majority of Ghana’s population and we have the energy and time to be leveraged,” he stressed.
He noted that agriculture and its value chain provide one of the lowest-hanging fruits in terms of youth employment, jobs creation and decent living; and suggested that agriculture must become priority among the youth to help decrease the rate of unemployment.
Mr. Hadzide said: “We must design strategies that deal with challenges such as access to finance, land ownership and access, technical skills and knowledge, infrastructure deficiency, market access, climate change and environmental factors, cultural issues and mindsets – and find creative ways to make agriculture become more attractive while dealing with technological barriers the sector faces”.
He stressed that an enhanced government policy approach, increased private sector investments, targetted educational initiatives – aimed at equipping the youth with the requisite skills- and also provision of resources will help address the challenges mentioned.
Congratulating AGRA and Mastercard Foundation, he encouraged the youth to participate in agricultural activities and change their mindset toward the sector.
Country Director-Mastercard Foundation Ghana, Rica Rwigamba, also reiterated Mastercard Foundation’s dedication to continue supporting youth and the agricultural sector as a whole.
