EVENT REPORT TEMPLATEassets.fsnforumhlpe.fao.org.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws... · executed during the conference. The following are some of the key messages from the online consultation:

Republic of Rwanda

Ministry of Agriculture

and Animal Resources

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CONFERENCE REPORT

FAO – Regional Office for Africa, 2018.

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Table of Contents i. List of Acronyms ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 2

ii. Quick facts ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 3

iii. Executive Summary .............................................................................................................................................................................. 4

I. Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 6

II. Conference proceedings ....................................................................................................................................................................... 6

III. Key outcomes/take-aways from the Conference per thematic area/side event .............................................................................. 11

IV. Conclusions ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 13

V. Key recommendations ........................................................................................................................................................................ 15

VI. Annexes.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 16

1. List of Participants ........................................................................................................................................................................ 16

2. Conference Concept Note & Annotated Agenda ........................................................................................................................ 16

3. Conference Background Document ............................................................................................................................................. 16

4. Kigali Youth Communiqué............................................................................................................................................................ 16

5. Report of the FSN Forum Online Consultation ............................................................................................................................ 16

6. Session proceedings reports ........................................................................................................................................................ 16

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i. List of Acronyms

ABG: Africa Business Group

AFRACA: Association Africaine de Crédit Rural et Agricole

AGRA: African Green Revolution Forum

AUC: African Union Commission

CAADP: Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program

CABI: Centre for Agricultural Bioscience International

CTA: Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation

FAO: Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations

GoR: Government of Rwanda

IFAD: International Fund for Agricultural Development

IITA: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture

ILO: International Labor Organisation

NEPAD: New Partnership for African Development

UNIDO: United Nations Industrial Development Organisation

WMO: World Meteorological Organisation

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ii. Quick facts

Organisers of the Conference & Partners

Organisers: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), in conjunction with the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Government of Rwanda (GoR). Partners: UNIDO, ILO, CABI, CTA, WMO, AGRA, AFRACA, Smart Africa, ABG, Master Card Foundation, IITA, IFAD.

Nº of participants 465

Countries of origin for the Youth present at the Conference

Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Angola, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Comoros, Djibouti, South Sudan, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Lesotho, Sao Tome & Principe, Togo, Benin, Niger, Nigeria, Botswana, Mozambique, Malawi, Guinea, Sudan, Morocco, Tunisia, Namibia, Singapore.

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iii. Executive Summary

Considering agriculture as an essential driver of economic development and an area of great opportunities for young people in

Africa, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in conjunction with the African Union Commission and

the Government of Rwanda (in partnership with other organizations) convened a regional conference from 20th to 21st August 2018

in Kigali, Rwanda on the theme: Youth Employment in Agriculture as a Solid Solution to ending Hunger and Poverty in Africa:

Engaging through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and Entrepreneurship.

The 2-day conference was officially opened on behalf of His Excellency Paul KAGAME, President of the Republic of Rwanda, by Hon.

Geraldine Mukeshimana, Rwanda’s Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources. Statements were also made by Josefa Leonel

Correia Sacko, African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, Li Yong, Director General of the United Nations

Industrial Development Organisation, and José Graziano da Silva, Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the

United Nations.

After the Opening Session, discussions progressed to the drivers of youth-centered entrepreneurship and innovations in agriculture

and agribusiness around the following major themes: Entrepreneurship and ICT innovations in agri-food systems for youth; Digital

solutions to overcome agriculture value-chain related constraints; Access to finance, markets and skills development for an effective,

profitable and viable agro-entrepreneurship; and the Future of work in the rural economy. Several side events were also organised,

including a digital innovation track (Hackathon); an exchange of experiences and lessons learned on a FAO/NEPAD youth

employment project being implemented in Benin, Niger, Cameroon and Malawi; a matchmaking/networking session as well as an

exhibition by the youth, FAO and partner-organisations of different products and services.

As a result of the discussions, five major recommendations were registered. These include: (i) to initiate a web-based regional

platform for information and knowledge sharing on job opportunities for the youth in agri-food systems, as well as on services

offered by different stakeholders (the youth, governments, development partners, financial institutions, academia, etc); (ii) to

explore options for institutionalising similar dialogues/consultations on an annual or biennial basis; (iii) to support the

establishment of National Youth Platforms, similar to the Youth in Agribusiness Forum of Rwanda; (iv) to support the launch of a

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Youth Innovation Technical Assistance Facility for Africa (following the pledge made by Rwanda during the Conference to establish

such a facility for the Rwandan youth) and encourage other African countries to join the initiative; and (v) to convene follow up

consultations and develop a detailed roadmap/Action Plan (by end of September 2018), taking into consideration the key outcomes,

commitments and pledges from the conference.

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I. Introduction There has been increasing recognition of the strategic importance of agriculture for job creation and inclusive, broad-based growth.

Due to lagging structural transformation, a large percentage (62%) of the population in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is still heavily

reliant on agriculture for income and employment, primarily in family farms and, in fact, agriculture is the most important source of

employment for women in SSA (50%). Rapidly growing demand for food and value addition is creating new market opportunities

for producers and processors as well as scope for substantial job creation, particularly for the youth.

It is in this context that the Government of Rwanda, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the

African Union in partnership with other organizations convened a regional conference from 20 to21 August 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda

on the theme: Youth Employment in Agriculture as a Solid Solution to ending Hunger and Poverty in Africa: Engaging through

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and Entrepreneurship.

The conference aimed at fostering an exchange among stakeholders (policy makers, development partners, the private sector,

youth and women organizations, civil society organizations, research and academia) on knowledge and best practices regarding the

interfaces between agriculture, youth employment, entrepreneurship, ICT innovations in agriculture and rural development.

II. Conference proceedings

The Conference was officially opened on behalf of His Excellency Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda by

Hon. Geraldine Mukeshimana, Rwanda’s Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources, who conveyed the following key messages:

“Africa is endowed with all ingredients needed for moving fast from potential to real economic transformation and growth in

agriculture is 2-3 times more effective at reducing poverty than an equivalent amount of growth generated in other sectors”.

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“The main outcome from this two-day event will be to boost youth engagement and interest in agriculture in order to create

a solid foundation towards eradicating poverty through decent youth employment which is an integral part of the agenda of

wealth creation and shared prosperity in Africa, consistent with African Union Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable

Development Goals”.

“To the young people: this is your opportunity to be in the same room with these great leaders discussing your role in

agriculture. We are here because we believe in you as being smart, hardworking and capable to do real business in

Agriculture and lead Africa to the zero hunger”.

Prior to the keynote speech, three statements were made by Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko, African Union Commissioner for Rural

Economy and Agriculture; Li Yong, Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation and José Graziano

da Silva, Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.

It is worth mentioning the following few but important messages (among others) from the three statements, which set the tone for

subsequent discussions:

“We need to double our efforts and join hands to mobilize more resources for youths in agriculture and agribusiness, for

employment creation. We need to see a proliferation of youth enterprises along the agricultural, animal production and

fisheries value chains” said Josefa Leonel Correia Sacko;

“Agri-food industry, especially food processing in rural areas can provide massive job opportunities for the youth” Said Li Yong;

“In the next 15 years, nearly 220 million young people will enter the labor market in Sub-Saharan Africa, therefore it is

fundamental to improve the absorption capacity of domestic labour markets” remarked Jose Graziano da Silva, adding: “One

third of all international migrants from developing countries are between 12 and 24 years of age, therefore we need to take

action to make agriculture more attractive to young people”.

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After the Opening Session, the conference discussed the importance of known drivers of youth-centered entrepreneurship and

innovations in agriculture and agribusiness around the following major themes:

Youth and entrepreneurship which focused on solutions that offer new opportunities for youth entrepreneurship, including

on-farm and beyond, along agricultural value chains. This theme was discussed during the following sessions:

A high-level panel made of Rwanda’s Minister of Information Technology & Communications, Leaders of WMO,

AGRA, IFAD, CABI, ILO and FAO who shared their perspectives on the topic and made recommendations around

concrete actions to be prioritised going forward.

A “Voice of the Youth” session, during which six successful young entrepreneurs from Rwanda, Kenya, Zimbabwe,

Nigeria, Senegal and Singapore shared their experiences and lessons with the audience (other youth in particular),

while voicing some challenges that need particular attention. These youth also made specific recommendations on

the way forward, which were translated into a Kigali Youth Communiqué (annexed hereto) as one of the conference

outcomes.

Parallel sessions were conducted around the following themes:

Digital solutions to overcome agriculture value-chain related constraints, which focused on technological solutions that

support youth-related innovations and modern production technologies in agriculture.

Access to finance, markets and skills for an effective, profitable and viable agro-entrepreneurship in which the current

status in Africa of financial products, skills development initiatives and access to market platforms & other programs was

discussed with an emphasis on initiatives tailored to addressing the needs of the youth in agriculture. Specific

recommendations were also made for consideration by various stakeholders at regional and national levels.

Future of work in the rural economy. A dialogue facilitated by ILO included representatives of FAO, NEPAD, Egyptian

Federation of Industries, International Trade Union Confederation, the Youth Arm of the CAADP and resulted in specific

recommendations on how to strengthen the process of transforming the work for youth in agriculture.

In addition to the main thematic sessions, side events were organised. These included:

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i. A digital innovation track (hackathon), which engaged youth on creating new innovative solutions and ways to elevate

existing innovations to achieve a results-oriented approach. Three complementary innovation teams - #HackAgainstHunger,

#AgriBootCamp, #AgriPitch- were established prior to the conference to aspire young innovators. Results from these

activities were presented at the closing of the conference, where all hackers were recognised, with special recognition to the

top three teams.

ii. Virtual consultations were conducted, prior to the Conference, to engage youth from across the continent on thematic

areas of the conference. Videos were streamed and conference interviews as well as other types of media coverage were

executed during the conference. The following are some of the key messages from the online consultation:

“Agriculture has a very poor image among African youth and lacks role models for them to learn from or aspire to be. This is a well-known issue. What concrete actions are being taken by the governments and development partners to address this image problem and support the youth who could emerge and act as role models?” [Contributors: Aimé Kazika, DRC; Prosper Niyonkuru, Burundi; Ednah Karamagi, Uganda]

“African youth engaged in agriculture, who surmount the challenges of lack of access to finance, markets and land, face the challenge related to competition from imported agricultural products/produce. As a result, most youth-led enterprises on the continent fail to sustain themselves due to this competition”. [Contributors: Obonyo Alphonse Francis, Uganda; Tang Erasmus Nchuaji, Cameroon]

“The school curriculum in Africa is not preparing the African youth for work in the agriculture sector. This problem cuts across all levels of education, from primary to university”. [Contributors: Aimé Kazika, DRC; Adebayo Depo, Togo; Obonyo Alphonse Francis, Uganda; Henry Machina, Zambia]

Agriculture research organizations/institutes in Africa have generated many technologies and innovations to help the farmers. How easily accessible are these technologies/innovations to the youth who want to engage in agriculture? [Contributors: Houéfa Adido, Benin; Kelvin Mupeta, Zambia]

iii. Digital strategy focusing on youth engagement in social media channels – the digital campaign aimed to (1) raise awareness

about contemporary Africa , breaking down the stereotypes and showcasing a new image of young Africans engaged in the

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agricultural sector through innovative ideas and products that can help overcome some of the key challenges faced by this

primary sector and impact local growth and development. (2) And to tell stories of young innovators who made a change

and impacted people’s lives, food security and livelihoods, including inspiring stories on youth employment in a continent

where 60 percent of the youth population between 15 and 24 is unemployed. Activities carried out:

o Facebook Live session on Day 2 of the Conference provided an opportunity to show how young Africans are finding

alternative ways to succeed in the agribusiness sector. A couple of inspiring stories from young entrepreneurs, their

motivation and challenges. Result was traffic on fao.org with successful number of likes, comments, and shares on

the channel.

o Podcasts on success stories of digital innovation implemented in the agribusiness with focus on the youth having the

potential to generate economic growth and transformation across Africa through digital innovation.

o Webcasting on demand – videos fed into digital platforms and platforms included Rwanda Broadcasting Agency’s

Youtube channel and website as well as FAO video archives.

o Social media campaign was set up with a focus on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram, using promoted posts

as well as live reporting from the floor. The Social Media Team composed of volunteer youths provided posted live

updates and dynamically engaged with the digital audience. Result was an increase in digital engagement.

iv. Innovative products and services in agriculture and rural development were exhibited by the African youth as well as by

various development organisations. In total, 20 booths were set up to accommodate different products and materials

highlighting different organisations and representing the geographic diversity of the continent.

v. Youth and potential investors as well as development partners also participated in a networking/matchmaking session on

the second day of the conference. Eleven (11) organisations/companies and more than 100 youth took part in the session,

while other arrangements were made at participants’ convenience through WHOVA, an event management software, which

enabled participants to connect directly. In addition to the networking features of WHOVA, the software through its mobile

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app provided a platform for participants to engage with the event organizers before and during the conference. Access to

the app will remain active for the next 6 months.

vi. FAO and NEPAD jointly organized a side event on the status of a project (being implemented under the Africa Solidarity

Trust Fund) which is aimed at promoting decent rural youth employment and entrepreneurship in agriculture. The purpose

of the side event was to exchange lessons & experiences on the project, discuss how to scale it up in beneficiary countries,

and replicate it in others.

III. Key outcomes/take-away messages from the Conference per thematic area/side event

Youth and

entrepreneurship: high

level Panel and Voice of

the Youth

Digital innovations to

overcome agriculture

value-chain related

constraints

Access to finance, markets and skills for an

effective, profitable and viable agro-

entrepreneurship

Future of Work in Rural

Economy

Side event on digital

innovation track

(hackathon)

Side event on

the ASTF youth

employment

project

High-Level Panel

Agriculture is a big

business.

Look at

financing/investment

in agriculture as a

business opportunity

and not as a charity

or public sector

responsibility alone.

Disseminate existing

The creation of a

digital innovation

ecosystem will unlock

employment

opportunities in the

agriculture sector

contributing to

ending poverty and

food insecurity.

The right

environment can

enable the

Access to Finance & Markets

Credit needs to be available to farmers

at a reasonable price. The only way to

ascertain this is by sharing risk. If

Governments are willing and able to

share risk with Financial Service

Providers (FSP), the expectation is that

the FSP will invest more in the

Agriculture sector while being able to

lend at interest rates that are more

reasonable.

Financial Service Providers and young

Investments in

agricultural

development,

enhancing agricultural

productivity and

helping small-scale

producers and SMEs

shift into higher value

added activities in the

supply chain is essential

for the overall process

of productive

transformation and

Through a 2-days

Hack Against Hunger

exercise, FAO

promoted the need

to invest in the most

innovative businesses

and support rural

communities through

digital and financial

inclusion initiatives.

95 teams from 20

African countries

South-South Cooperation and peer learning should be encouraged to scale up the Africa Solidarity Trust Fund Project.

Strengthening communicatio

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good practices on

youth in agribusiness.

Explore opportunities

to scale up successful

models.

“Voice of the Youth”

Need to change the

image and

conversation around

agriculture. Shift

focus onto the

opportunities, and

profits to be made

through production

and value addition to

African products.

Support is needed to

help young

agripreneurs

establish operations

and scale up.

Mentorships,

provision of inputs,

understanding and

compliance with

standards, business

plan development

guidance, etc.

Youth should be

development of

innovative solutions

and business models

to provide concrete

actions for an

agriculture sector

that is more

competitive and more

inclusive.

entrepreneurs should have open

discussions in which they each learn

about the other sectors’ needs and

expectations. This will lead to successful

partnerships.

Without access to consistent market

linkages, youth will not be able to engage

in viable and sustainable agricultural

ventures.

Understanding the barriers of

smallholder farmers to markets and

address those barriers is key to promote

livelihoods of youth in agriculture and in

food systems.

Skills development

Skills development should not be an end in

itself. It should be linked with other

factors of production in order to lead to

the start and growth of profitable

enterprises by the youth

Strengthen collaboration between

universities and the private sector in order

to deliver demand- driven skills

development

Incubation and other training / skills

development programmes should be

based on specific business opportunities

with high prospects of profitability

Skills development should be holistic,

economic

diversification of rural

economies. Rural

tourism and

construction are sectors

with great potential of

job creation in the rural

economy.

The commitment of

multiple stakeholders

and the participation of

youth themselves in

decision-making and

policymaking processes

is key. Organizing and

empowering young

workers in the rural

economy, in particular

young women, requires

a holistic approach that

includes changing

norms. Building the

capacity of young

leaders through

adequate mentoring

programmes is central

to their engagement.

The future of work is

not carved in stone. It is

for Africa’s youth to

applied for this

opportunity, but only

8 teams from

Rwanda, Zambia,

Cameroon, Uganda,

Benin, Nigeria and

Senegal were

retained to go

through the digital

innovation track

(hackathon), which

was made of three

complementary

components -

#HackAgainstHunger,

#AgriBootCamp,

#AgriPitch.

As a result of the

#AgriPitch, the top

three winners were

from Zambia,

Rwanda and Benin

(1st, 2nd and 3rd

respectively). FAO

will contribute in

increasing capacities,

exposure and

visibility for the

winning teams as a

token of

recognition/motivati

n strategies to enable the sharing of lessons from countries benefiting from the project is vital.

RECs should consider setting up youth forums to encourage experience and knowledge sharing by project beneficiaries with other youth across Africa.

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involved in the

formulation and

implementation of

policies, which

directly affect them.

being specific on a business opportunity,

but also including problem solving skills,

life skills, etc.

Encourage youth to go to school for other

studies beyond agriculture; other sectors

can inform future business operations

(accounting, management, etc.)

shape

on.

IV. Conclusions

The demographic dividend remains central to accomplishing Africa’s aspiration for economic transformation (two-thirds of Africa’s population is aged 35 and below) and 10-12 million new jobs will have to be created every year for the new labour market entrants over the next 20 years. With well targeted investments, the large youth population can make a significant contribution to high and inclusive growth as well as poverty reduction;

At the dawn of implementation of both the Agenda 2063 of the African Union and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, African Heads of State and Government declared at the 29th Ordinary Summit of the AU held in July 2017 the period of “2018–2027” as “the African Decade for Technical, Professional and Entrepreneurial Training and Youth Employment”. The Summit also endorsed the African Youth Fund and the Pan-African Youth Forum was institutionalized. This is particularly relevant for the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1 on “ending poverty in all its forms everywhere”, SDG 8 on “promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all” and SDG 5 on “achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls”.

The agricultural sector has a huge potential to offer attractive employment opportunities for Africa’s youth. Increasing youth-inclusive investments to modernize the sector is critical to unleash this potential;

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Youth focused policies and programmes should not be standalone. They need to be integrated into countries’ overall development strategies, national investment plans, agricultural and rural development plans, migration policies, gender equality and other development frameworks and young women and men must be involved in the design of such strategies;

Governments will need to continuously improve the business environments in order to stimulate private sector investments targeting youth, while making strategic investments in public goods and services. Particular attention needs to be paid to ensuring that private sector investments include segments of the value chain where capital is missing (e.g. input supply marketing, transformation) and where there is potential for creating new jobs and apprenticeships for the youth;

Investing in developing skills and education of youth to bridge the gap between labour supply and demand remains critical. Youth need access to quality training, in order to develop relevant skills for the labour market (supply), and decent farm and off-farm employment opportunities within agri-food value chains (demand). This includes training in business and soft skills, ICT, incubation and mentoring. Delivery modalities should be also adapted to rural realities (e.g. mobile schools for nomad communities);

Platforms and mechanisms for youth engagement on policies and employment opportunities need to be enhanced. Strengthening the youth voice in policy dialogue also requires youth to be united and effectively organized. National youth organisations need to be established and capacities of existing ones should be strengthened to enable them effectively make their voice heard, and strengthen their position in negotiating for specific support or policy instruments.

Agriculture must be rebranded to highlight the business opportunities and potential for youth to engage in the sector. Development agencies and educational institutions have an important role to play in the narratives propagated about who works in agriculture and how their work is presented to the community at large.

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V. Key recommendations

1. Building on existing IT applications, forums such as the Food Security & Nutrition Forum, , to initiate or strengthen online regional platforms for information and knowledge sharing on job opportunities for the youth in agri-food systems, as well as on services offered by different stakeholders (the youth, governments, development partners, financial institutions, academia, etc).

2. To explore possible options for responding to the request (reference to the youth communiqué) of institutionalising the regional youth conference and convene similar dialogues/consultations on an annual or biennial basis. Among other options for consideration, such dialogues could be hosted in the sidelines of the biennial FAO Africa Regional Conference (ARC) or to organize events similar to the Youth Employment in Agriculture Conference on an annual or biennial basis.

3. Equally in response to the Youth communiqué, to support establishment of National Youth Platforms, to stimulate more

involvement of the youth in policy dialogues and jointly increase their ability to meaningfully contribute to the transformation of the agricultural sector.

4. To support the launch of a Youth Innovation Technical Assistance Facility for Africa (following the pledge made by

Rwanda during the Conference to establish such a facility for the Rwandan youth) and encourage other African countries to join initiative through facilitation of stakeholder consultations on the scheme at national and regional levels. This Facility will aim at channeling investment in youth led agri SMEs at different stages of maturity; at promoting open innovation and fostering the discovery and development of youth-focused innovative technologies and business models in Sub-Saharan Africa.

5. As a next step, to convene follow up consultations and develop a detailed roadmap/Action Plan, taking into

consideration the key outcomes, commitments and pledges from the conference.

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VI. Annexes

1. List of Participants

2. Conference Concept Note & Annotated Agenda

3. Conference Background Document

4. Kigali Youth Communiqué

5. Report of the FSN Forum Online Consultation

6. Session proceedings reports

Documents

EVENT REPORT TEMPLATEassets.fsnforumhlpe.fao.org.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws... · executed during the conference. The following are some of the key messages from the online consultation: