ONGOING CONSULTATION: Youth Employment in Agriculture as a Solid Solution to ending Hunger and Poverty in Africa

July 22–3, 2018

Country

You are cordially invited to participate to the ‘Youth Employment in Africa as a Solid Solution to ending Hunger and Poverty in Africa’ online discussion hosted on FSN Forum Africa. Members in Africa and/or who work or are knowledgeable to the issues under debate are welcome to participate.

The discussion is part of the conference "Youth Employment in Agriculture as a Solid Solution to ending Hunger and Poverty in Africa: Engaging through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and Entrepreneurship" to be held in Rwanda on the 20th and 21st of August 2018

This online discussion is held to collect views around the three major thematic areas of the conference and via this online discussion youth engaged in agriculture are provided with an opportunity to share experiences, success stories, lessons learnt, and good practices of youth led entrepreneurship and digital innovations in agriculture.

Your contributions, views and experiences are solicited in replying to the following questions:-

Experience as a Youth in the Agriculture Sector

How would you describe your experience as an Africa youth engaged in the agriculture sector in your country? What motivated you to engage into the agriculture sector?

Major Achievements and Success Stories

What have been your major achievements? Do you have any experience or innovative ways that have helped you in your work that you would want to share? Do you have a success story – either your own or any other that you are aware of - of youth engaged in agriculture in your country? What is the story?

What the Rwanda Youth Conference Should Address

If given an opportunity, what question would you ask the experts at the Rwanda Youth conference on each of the three sub-themes – a). Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship, b). Digital Innovation to Overcome Agriculture Value-Chain Constraints, and c). Future of Work in Rural Economy - of the conference?

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Youth success stories

5 years of YPARD: a life-changing journey

"Being a YPARD representative gave me so many empowering opportunities, but also a chance to empower others" Testimonial by Ivana Radic Jean highlighting her experience and journey in working with youth in agriculture within the YPARD Serbia community since February 2013.

YPARDian bags home the 2017 SFIAR Master Thesis award!

In 2017, YPARD member, Sebastian Mengel, was the recipient of the Master Thesis award for his collaborative research with YPARD, HAFL and CGIAR CRP drylands program on agricultural livelihoods of rural youth in the drylands of Midelt, Morocco.

Good-bye from YPARD Nepal: Creating a space for young leaders

This testimonial by Dinesh Panday highlights his experience in working with youth in agriculture within the YPARD Nepal community since 2012. He is currently a doctoral graduate research assistant (2016-2019) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the former YPARD Nepal country representative.

A season of innovation

The climate-smart irrigation system was designed with the aim of addressing these challenges; by collecting rainwater, transferring it below the soil surface and using it during the time of low rainfall thus making water available and accessible for perennial plants all year round.

Climate resilient agriculture and producer-consumer justice through ICT

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13 was created to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts to ensure climate resilient agriculture and ICT based business promotional interventions from producer to consumer level. Youth, therefore, can play a supporting role to increase awareness and promote the agenda of SDG for agricultural sustainability to make sure others are aware of it.

From nowhere to somewhere; YPARD made a way

Marc Ghislain tells about all the changing scenes in his life as a young professional in agriculture: the anxiety in choosing a profession in agriculture and how his engagement with YPARD helped him find his feet in the agricultural sector.

A non-traditional career path

I strongly support and believe in an inclusive and equitable quality education together with lifelong learning opportunities for all. It is very important that we start to facilitate more flexible career paths in science if we want to encourage diversity and creativity. Being a lifelong learner is a value of sustainable self-development. It opens the door to life-changing, rewarding, fulfilling and continuous growth.

Easier said than done: Gender equality and women empowerment

The role of young people in helping shift gender perceptions is paramount. We can no longer employ tradition and culture as excuses for allowing basic inequalities between genders to occur and to keep perpetuating themselves. We need to acknowledge and cherish culture, but also acknowledge that culture is not a static entity and that it can, and must, evolve towards a more equal society.

Believe in sustainability, food security, fight for the hungry: My Credo

In an era where population, technologies and modernization are fast growing, meeting up with the basic food needs of the population worldwide is one of the greatest challenges nations and international institutions are witnessing. Marc Ghislain shares his views on how the young people can be part of the solution and more importantly in the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal number two.

La lutte contre la pauvreté : motivation, passion, profession et engagement!

Aimé Kazika describes his engagement with other young people to raise awareness so that they become more involved in the agricultural sector within the African and Congolese context.