1a

YOUTH GLOBAL FORUM 2010NETWORKING FOR IMPACT

BY JAMES GOGGIN

USAID REPRESENTATIVE

September 21, 2010

2

MAP OF THE CARIBBEAN

3

CURRENT SITUATION

• Vulnerability• Transitional period• Unemployment

4

• Mindset issues• Educational curriculum• Drug involvement• Migration • Financial sector

DEVELOPMENT CHALLENGES

5

• Macroeconomic and microeconomic conditions• Micro-finance provisions• Self-employment opportunities

POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

6

USAID’S INITIATIVES

• Structural Reform Process • New Youth-Serving Initiatives

– Workforce Development – Junior Achievement– Cave Hill School of Business

• Youth Microenterprise Opportunities

7

YOUTH MICROENTERPRISE OPPORTUNITIES

• Study conducted in August 2010 for USAID Eastern Caribbean Youth Microenterprise Program by EcoVentures International

• Barbados and Dominica first assessments, others will follow

• Identified wide range of activities in short time, revealing strong youth opportunities

• Types of High Priority Youth Microenterprise: 35 specific opportunities

8

BARBADOS OPPORTUNITIES

26%

23%20%

17%

14%

Technical/Professional services (including creative services)

Primary production and value-added processing, Agriculture

Contractor/sub-contractor

Bulking, distribution, brokering

New services

9

AGRICULTURE SECTOR

Agricultural Processing;• Gift arrangement and packaging

• Small scale processing and storage

• Procurement

• Export

Root Crops• Production

• Harvesting

• Brokering/Wholesale

10

Herbs• Production

• Processing and Storage

• Brokering/Wholesale

Specialty Crops & Technical Services• Production

• Technical specialty service provision

11

Specialty Crops Sector Map(High-potential opportunities are indicated by the black boxes)

12

OPPORTUNITIES FOR TECHNICAL SPECIALTY SERVICES

• Agricultural technical specialist including pest control, fertilizer and weed management specialist

• Shortage of technicians• Ministry of Agriculture interested in providing training

to increase viability of greenhouse agriculture• Trained ag. technicians could immediately provide

services for existing greenhouses• Ag. Experts identified these jobs as particularly

suitable for youth as they are more technical and less farm labor-oriented

13

EXAMPLES OF TECHNICAL SERVICES NEEDED IN MARKET

• Pest management• Fertilizer and weed management• Irrigation scheduling• Soil composition testing• Equipment maintenance• Post-harvest handling• Business management• Networking and brokering• Record-keeping• Health, safety and security • Green house support services

14

SIMILAR ASSESSMENT IN DOMINICA

23% of 30 Youth Microenterprise Opportunities in Agriculture– Fishing tourism

– Organic Fertilizer production and distribution

– Raw material bulking and supply to processors

– Specialty crops (herbal teas, hot peppers)

– Distillation of essential oils

15