Nhamo N*, SP20 - 16 International Institute of Tropical ... · IITA is a member of the CGIAR...
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www.iita.org A member of the CGIAR Consortium Advancing sustainable youth engagement models within cassava innovation platforms in Zambia Importance of youth engagement in agriculture, especially in the cassava subsector? In Africa, youth participation in agriculture has been on the decline for the past 30 years. Though school enrolment has increased tremendously over the same period, unemployment among the youth has increased. Youth unemployment in Zambia has averaged about 25.7 % in the last decade and similar trends have been observed in southern Africa in Malawi (13.4 %), Mozambique (14.2 %) and South Africa (52.2 %). In response to this problem, regional bodies such as the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) as well as governments in the sub-region have prioritized seeking solutions to youth unemployment. While agriculture in general can provide employment to many people, crop value chains in particular can provide a wide range of opportunities for youth participation in agribusiness enterprises thereby creating income and jobs. Cassava has potential to become an important source of income and food security for resource poor farm families in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia while South Africa offers huge market opportunity for its product such as starch. Cassava is gradually gaining favourable policy and institutional support from governments in SADC that will lead to increased production and consumption in the future. At IITA-Zambia, the SARD-SC Cassava Project is engaging youth groups from the project areas who are willing to develop agribusiness enterprises. The objective of this engagement is to facilitate youth groups to develop sound and sustainable cassava enterprises that will, in turn, generate stable incomes for the group. How did we do it? Within the context of the Innovation Platform on Cassava initiated in Kaoma district in 2013, the SARD-SC Cassava project is using a three-step approach to sustainably engagement with youth agriprenuers i.e., mobilization and sensitization, developing sustainability plans and capacitating youth groups in business development. The approach taken with the youth groups will strengthen the identified agribusiness enterprises to a level where other value chain players such as financial service providers can work with the youths (Fig. 1). Additionally, it is envisaged that other value chain actors (intermediaries; off-takers) will eventually be interested in providing services to support the activities of the youth groups. Such services may include, for example, product bulking for a bigger market in the case of the group producing cassava. What has come out of this initiative? Following the initial project meeting and the formation of a cassava innovation platform in Kaoma youth groups were sensitized of the developments and potential agribusiness opportunities in cassava. The following are highlights of the progress to date: 1. Five youth groups have been identified in Kaoma i.e., Future Feeders, Kaoma Resources, Sky Ways, Mulamatila, and SunRise. 2. Youth leader from five groups have presented their agribusiness enterprises plans to IITA and partners 3. Key areas which require capacity building have been identified in a joint meeting 4. A master plan has been developed and topics for facilitation developed to include: Developing a good business plan, business forms and legality (registration), crop and animal enterprise budgeting What have we learned so far? While youth have ideas on how to participate in agriculture, the majority require capacity building in areas such as understanding and technical knowledge of the crop commodity of interest, entrepreneurial skills, enterprise and market knowledge, business plan development, knowledge on registration and legalising their operations, diverse ideas on value addition for the new markets, financial management and record keeping. What more do we need to do? Youth facilitation is key to increasing interest and developing sustainable youth-run and owned agribusinesses. We need to facilitate the development of bankable proposals and sound business plans by youth groups and invest in them to enhance the image of agriculture among the youth, thereby contributing to lessening youth unemployment. Fig. 1: Conceptual model for youth engagement in cassava agribusiness development through Innovation Platforms (Top) Youth leaders presenting proposed enterprises in Kaoma district; (Bottom) Youth leaders at the Cassava Innovation Platform youth engagement meeting in Kaoma. Nhamo N*, Chibwe T, and Ntawuruhunga P. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Southern Africa Hub, 32 Poplar Avenue, Avondale, Lusaka, Zambia. Email [email protected] Young women participating in an IITA-implemented cassava value chain training. References: 1. The Springfield Center 2014. The Operational Guide for the Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) Approach, 2nd Edition funded by SDC& DFID. 2. NEPAD 2012. Africa’s Decade of Change. NEPAD, ECA an OSAA, Addis Ababa. http://www.nepad.org/system/files/Africa/Decadeof/Change/Final.pdf . 3. International Labour Organization 2015. http://www.ilo.org/ilostat/ 15 November 2015 SP20 - 16
Transcript of Nhamo N*, SP20 - 16 International Institute of Tropical ... · IITA is a member of the CGIAR...
IITA is a member of the CGIAR Consortium
www.iita.org A member of the CGIAR Consortium
Advancing sustainable youth engagement models
within cassava innovation platforms in Zambia
Importance of youth engagement in agriculture, especially in the cassava subsector? In Africa, youth participation in agriculture has been on the decline for the past 30 years. Though school enrolment has increased tremendously over the same period, unemployment among the youth has increased. Youth unemployment in Zambia has averaged about 25.7 % in the last decade and similar trends have been observed in southern Africa in Malawi (13.4 %), Mozambique (14.2 %) and South Africa (52.2 %). In response to this problem, regional bodies such as the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) as well as governments in the sub-region have prioritized seeking solutions to youth unemployment. While agriculture in general can provide employment to many people, crop value chains in particular can provide a wide range of opportunities for youth participation in agribusiness enterprises thereby creating income and jobs. Cassava has potential to become an important source of income and food security for resource poor farm families in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia while South Africa offers huge market opportunity for its product such as starch. Cassava is gradually gaining favourable policy and institutional support from governments in SADC that will lead to increased production and consumption in the future.
At IITA-Zambia, the SARD-SC Cassava Project is engaging youth groups from the project areas who are willing to develop agribusiness enterprises. The objective of this engagement is to facilitate youth groups to develop sound and sustainable cassava enterprises that will, in turn, generate stable incomes for the group.
How did we do it? Within the context of the Innovation Platform on Cassava initiated in Kaoma district in 2013, the SARD-SC Cassava project is using a three-step approach to sustainably engagement with youth agriprenuers i.e., mobilization and sensitization, developing sustainability plans and capacitating youth groups in business development.
The approach taken with the youth groups will strengthen the identified agribusiness enterprises to a level where other value chain players such as financial service providers can work with the youths (Fig. 1). Additionally, it is envisaged that other value chain actors (intermediaries; off-takers) will eventually be interested in providing services to support the activities of the youth groups. Such services may include, for example, product bulking for a bigger market in the case of the group producing cassava.
What has come out of this initiative? Following the initial project meeting and the formation of a cassava innovation platform in Kaoma youth groups were sensitized of the developments and potential agribusiness opportunities in cassava. The following are highlights of the progress to date:
1. Five youth groups have been identified in Kaoma i.e., Future Feeders, Kaoma Resources, Sky Ways, Mulamatila, and SunRise.
2. Youth leader from five groups have presented their agribusiness enterprises plans to IITA and partners
3. Key areas which require capacity building have been identified in a joint meeting 4. A master plan has been developed and topics for facilitation developed to include:
Developing a good business plan, business forms and legality (registration), crop and animal enterprise budgeting
What have we learned so far? While youth have ideas on how to participate in agriculture, the majority require capacity building in areas such as understanding and technical knowledge of the crop commodity of interest, entrepreneurial skills, enterprise and market knowledge, business plan development, knowledge on registration and legalising their operations, diverse ideas on value addition for the new markets, financial management and record keeping.
What more do we need to do? Youth facilitation is key to increasing interest and developing sustainable youth-run and owned agribusinesses. We need to facilitate the development of bankable proposals and sound business plans by youth groups and invest in them to enhance the image of agriculture among the youth, thereby contributing to lessening youth unemployment.
Fig. 1: Conceptual model for youth engagement in cassava agribusiness development through Innovation Platforms
(Top) Youth leaders presenting proposed enterprises in Kaoma district; (Bottom) Youth leaders at the Cassava Innovation Platform youth engagement meeting in Kaoma.
Nhamo N*, Chibwe T, and Ntawuruhunga P. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Southern Africa Hub, 32 Poplar Avenue,
Avondale, Lusaka, Zambia. Email [email protected]
Young women participating in an IITA-implemented cassava value chain training.
References: 1. The Springfield Center 2014. The Operational Guide for the Making Markets Work for the Poor (M4P) Approach, 2nd Edition funded by SDC& DFID. 2. NEPAD 2012. Africa’s Decade of Change. NEPAD, ECA an OSAA, Addis Ababa. http://www.nepad.org/system/files/Africa/Decadeof/Change/Final.pdf. 3. International Labour Organization 2015. http://www.ilo.org/ilostat/ 15 November 2015
SP20 - 16
