We're excited to share the inaugural episode of LINK Cast, a new communications tool developed by the USAID Policy LINK program (policylinkglobal.org). As with all Policy LINK communications, this podcast series centers the voices and stories of local partners and stakeholders working in policy spaces around the world. This first episode features three young agribusiness advocates and climate activists from Ghana and Kenya who were on the organizing committee for the UN Food Systems Summit African Youth Dialogue that Policy LINK supported in June 2021: • Kassim Gawusu-Toure, an environmentalist, climate change activist, and youth advocate from Ghana; • Kofi Kisiedu Acquaye, Regional Coordinator for the Young Professionals in Agricultural Development (YPARD) in Africa; and • Emmanuel Ngore, Coordinator for Partnerships and Networking at the CAADP Youth Network LINK Cast is moderated by Mark Wambui and Chethana Biliyar.
The panel-style conversation focuses on the role Africa's youth play in securing food systems and agricultural value chains on the continent. Tune in to hear Kassim, Kofi and Emmanuel explore a range of topics, such as:
• Why the so-called "demographic dividend" in Africa will remain elusive so long as youth are excluded from agricultural development.
• Why agriculture is not yet an attractive sector for most youth (e.g. little access to credit and land, predatory middlemen, and cultural barriers).
• What policies need to be put in place in the next five years to encourage youth participation in agribusiness.
LINK Cast Episode 1 Transcript
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
agriculture, people, youth, Africa, continent, mark, young, food, leadership, realize, ensuring, world, policy, promote, terms, increase, opportunity, access, land, agricultural
00:05
This is LINKCast - the podcast show that elevates learning, leadership, and collaboration in development through storytelling.
I'm your host, Mark Wambui.
In today's show, we tackle the fascinating, but often overlooked role of African youth in securing food systems and their value chains across the continent. To put this into context, we'll be speaking to Mr. Kassim Gawusu, an environmentalist, climate change activist, and youth advocate from Ghana, and also from Ghana is Mr. Kofi S Kisiedu, the Regional Coordinator of the Young Professionals in Agricultural Development. And finally, we have Emmanuel Ngore from Kenya, who is the Coordinator for Partnerships and Networking at CAADP Youth Network.
Please note, this podcast is being recorded remotely with varied sound environments from our guests.
Welcome, gentlemen.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mark.
Thank you, Mark. It's a pleasure to be here.
To start us off, Kasim. When did you know that you needed to be on the frontline of championing youth involvement in agriculture across the continent?
01:14
Thank you very much, Mark, and I'm sending my regards to your listeners. I graduated from the University at a time that youth unemployment was at its peak. Growing up from a rural area, I've witnessed how agriculture has helped rural communities and also rural households promoting food security. So, that is where I gained the kind of inspiration that yes, we need to encourage young people to adopt agriculture as a livelihood opportunity. But then we need to do this in a way that we would have impact on the climate.
01:50
And how about you, Kofi? When did you know you needed to be on the front line?
01:54
Great to be on your show. For me, I didn't start off with a desire to be on the front line. But I got the opportunity to be involved with a network of youth in agriculture, YPARD, which is the Young Professionals for Agricultural Development, the organization I work with currently. YPARD has been a network that has been passionate and very much involved in enabling and empowering young agricultural leaders to shape sustainable food systems. And so fast forward, here I am as the coordinator of YPARD in Africa.
And how about you, Emmanuel, we are looking at what brought you to the frontline of championing youth involvement in agriculture?
02:33
Thank you, Mark, I have been privileged to have been involved in both agricultural production, as well as agricultural policy environment. And what motivated me to find myself in the frontline is I was heavily exploited by a middleman at my rice farm. So, having produced, agriculture did not become profitable as I had expected. So fast forward, I managed to find myself in the YPARD network. They had advertised spaces for young people to learn about mapping of agricultural resources. I learned quite a lot. And I realized that many other young farmers are having many, many other problems and issues to do with finances. People have issues to do with input, you know, and mine was only to do with the middleman. Then I felt that if I could champion further through the YPARD network, then I would be able to help solve the youth problem.
03:24
Africa’s growing population of young people is an economic resource that could bring positive change to the continent’s economic future., With proper planning and investment in its youth, African countries could experience what is known as a demographic dividend. This happens when the working population outnumbers children and the elderly, which results in economic resources being freed up as a labour force grows faster than the population that is dependent on it. This could then lead to accelerated economic growth.
03:57
So just to start us off, when we, when people look at Africa, it's impossible to ignore the high number of youths within the continent. 60% of Africa's population is under the age of 25, with agriculture being the economic driver for most of the countries, especially in Sub Saharan Africa. But these two statistics are not in sync. What would you gentlemen say has been the reason why young people within the continent have moved away from agriculture? Maybe we can start with you, Emmanuel.
04:27
Thanks a lot again. 60% of Africa's population, we agree they are a youthful population. And this has not really been taken as an advantage for Africa's agricultural growth. It is supposed to be seen as an opportunity, but Africa hasn't already gotten to that level. Why? One of the main reasons I would say is that agriculture is not profitable. And when you talk about young people, they're looking at making money. Young people are looking at making money, and right now in Africa, having money is the prerequisite of everything. You cannot even marry if you don't have money. And I just want to drop something here very quickly that, you know, there, there are the four, you know, things that, you know, young people look into at that stage, under 25 years of age : one wife, two children, three bedroom house and a four wheel drive car.
05:14
And for you, Kassim, do you think that's the reason why African youth are dropping out of agriculture, or not being involved, even though they make up a huge part of our population?
05:27
Yes, I agree with Emmanuel, all the points that he has raised, that young people are looking forward to get themselves well established in terms of family, in terms of also achieving their aspirations. Yes, and what I can maybe add, to what Emanuel has also mentioned, with regards to young people who’d want to live a good life is that as young people, we now have priorities that change over time. So, for instance, when I started in advocacy, and enhancing or promoting young people's participation in their environmental advocacy and all that, right, yes, you still have that passion, to contribute to the world, to make sure that the world is a better place for the current and the future generation. But at a point in time, you realize that, besides the passion, you really need to make a living out of what you do.
06:27
To bring, Kofi into this: Kofi, has there been any change in terms of young people's perception of agriculture? Because with you gentlemen, at the front line, it means there's a reason or purpose that is driving the three of you in getting more youth involved.
06:48
Yeah, so, Mark, this is a very important question. And the reason why we actually end (up in) this together as youth is that we see how viable that agriculture is, as a business. And (as) youth, (we) ourselves have risen to the challenge of driving innovations in the sector, rather than brooding over the challenges that be whenever everybody talks about agriculture, we think directly about production. But now the youth are gradually becoming aware of the opportunities that there are in the sector, not only at the production level. I call it the community spirit of youth coming together to share their experiences to lift one another up.
07:36
Which is true, we are seeing that Africa's youth are exhibiting increased enthusiasm and energy and willingness to take up the challenge of ensuring that Africa feeds Africa, and the rest of the world. Gentlemen, from the experience at the frontline of this movement, what do you believe are the biggest inhibitors of progress? Maybe we can go back to you, Kasim.
08:00
Thank you very much. My terms of the inhibitors, maybe I can put them in three. One is that access to land. And second, maybe the lack of access to finance, which is very obvious, in terms of these two areas, they are very important to increase productivity within the agriculture value chain of foods to enhance food security. And, again, banks, and also financial institutions, most of them commonly require that you have used land as collateral to access funding. So, it means that land is very important for young people. But unfortunately, when you look at the African context, you realize that young people do not have access to land, because of one, the cultural practices that we have, where the land actually belongs to the community head and or their family head. That is quite a key challenge that young people are facing their financial literacy in terms of where they would have access or how they would even write proposals, how they would even have that kind of social connections with institutions that will support them with funding to support the agricultural activities. And again, I mean, what is very much interesting to note here is that most financial institutions also have negative perception about youth in agriculture, because they feel like young people even though i mean are passionate, but in terms of productivity, they might not really realize the full potential in terms of what agriculture really give. So, given credit and loans to young people for their agricultural production is really not there.
09:46
Emmanuel at the beginning you told us about your encounter with a middleman who sort of denied your ability to, you know, make profit in your endeavors towards creating a business in agriculture. Are these some of the challenges you feel our youth experiencing, or what do you feel is the reason why there's not enough progress being made across the value chain for sure?
10:11
Thank you, Mark. If you look at investment in agriculture in entire Africa, it's skewed towards the large-scale farm. And the small-scale farmer is normally required to aggregate with the other small-scale farmers in order to really earn a profit and make good money. Now, this is not working for young people, because of different objectives, different needs. I wouldn't want to put my produce in aggregate with somebody else in which to do a joint match if I'm in urgent need of money today, even the storage facilities, they don't have them. And accessing the other storage facilities means that we have to organize ourselves as young farmers then bring to the store. Now, that is one challenge that young people are facing. And that is actually the reason why I had to release my produce in the farm to a middleman. Secondly, young people in Africa are not organized. And this has been an area where other stakeholders have taken advantage of, especially government. It is very hard or very difficult to put in strategies and policies, looking even at agriculture space, and the way young people in Africa have been engaging. And in the African countries, you find it is very haphazard, you know, policies have been developed, but the word youth is just put in and just mentioned for the sake of it. So, if we can overturn this, then the story and the narrative can be different.
11:34
And, Kofi, do you agree with what Emmanuel or Kassim are saying or you feel there other different challenges that young people are facing?
11:42
If it is not working for the youth, then it's not working for anybody because the youth are actually the majority. Also, it is great to involve them in decision making, and even evaluate the kind of activities that go on around the youth to see whether it is profitable to see whether it is working for youth and then we can improve on it or even replicate further, what efforts are being put into youth engagement.
[We'll be right back after the break]
12:24
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13:12
With 60% of the world's arable land, Africa's ubiquitous agricultural resources are the continent’s definitive asset base and represent over 23% of sub-Saharan Africa's GDP, employing 60% of the continent’s workforce. Agricultural resources play a significant part in the continent’s economy. and the potential of the agriculture sector is enormous. And if well harnessed, can eradicate hunger and food insecurity. With the establishment of African continental free trade area, agriculture is set to boost intra African trade contributes to increased commodity-based industrialization and play a major role in global food markets.
13:57
If the three of you were to be in positions of influence, in the next three to five years, what policies or intervention do you feel should be put into place if you actually increase this participation in the whole value chain and sort of make our continent finally food secure? Can we start with you, Emmanuel?
14:21
Thanks, Mark, once again. If I was in that kind of position, you know, high influence at the policy level, first of all, I would push, encourage governments to ensure that they have strategies that are specifically aligned towards young people in agriculture. Kenya, for instance, has a youth in agribusiness strategy that really mention and give a clear plan, you know, actions, areas that need to be taken to increase young people's participation. And now this is already being, you know, domesticated in the country. So, one thing I'll do is to make sure that at least push governments, or influence governments, or incentivize governments, to have strategies that are targeting young people in agriculture. Secondly, is on the fund. We have agriculture fund for youth in many African countries, but this fund is a nightmare to access. You know, the bottlenecks that have been put there are just numerous. And thirdly, I would create or promote what we call a youth brand, kind of, you know, marketing strategy. And the brand youth would be, first of all, ensuring that this fund can cushion young people. And after that, you know, be able to engage with the stakeholders in the markets and to advise them to promote or rather to purchase produce from young people. So, it begins at the policy stage, developing that policy or of ensuring that the strategy is targeting youth. And then make the fund easily accessible.
16:02
How about your Kasim? What do you feel would be the policies that you would put into place to increase youth participation in agriculture?
16:12
Thank you very much, Mark. For me, I mean, if I were in the position to influence policies in the agriculture sector, I think what I would look forward to change is the opportunity or to have policies that would address the inequalities that exist in terms of access to land by young people, building capacities of stakeholders, particularly those that have influenced to enhance youth’s participation in the agriculture sector. And I would want to mention the financial institutions and financial service providers.
16:53
Yeah, and Kofi, do you feel like there's anything else that Emanuel and Kasim haven't mentioned in terms of what would you do to affect policy in that position?
17:07
One thing I would like to add to everything that has been mentioned by Emanuel and Kasim, is that it would be great to support youth, who are already coming out with all the wonderful and helpful solutions and innovations that create opportunities for other youth to be employed in the sector.
17:29
Taking into consideration that on this podcast today, it's for gentlemen, and we do understand that women have been the backbone of agriculture in Africa. What do you guys feel would be the best way forward to ensure that this movement does not sideline any gender. Kofi, what do you think?
17:48
One thing about gender issues, when they’re raised, we only see to just promote gender equality. I would propose that we have gender mainstreamed into all our activities, so that this would actually be a means of anchoring it. It's very easy to overlook the important contribution, we may have to consider that we have to reform, we have to increase the participation of women at all stages of life. And also, we'll have to increase access to training and mentorship for our women.
The UN food system summit is upon us, as part of the Decade of Action to achieve sustainable development goals by 2030.
18:37
Food is more than just what we eat. The ways in which we produce, process and consume food touch every aspect of life on this continent. It is the foundation of our culture's our economies, and our relationship with the natural world and has the power to bring us together as families, communities and nations. But today's food systems are fragile and unequal. When they fail, their ripple effects around the world and the pandemic has impacted the most vulnerable among us. But we know what we need to do to get back on track. We have an opportunity to build back stronger than ever; transforming our food systems is possible and necessary. And we can set a course to make real change for the benefit of all people by bringing together key players from around the world and giving voice to citizens in every country. Because a strong food system means that no matter your age, no matter your class, no matter where you live, women and men have equal opportunity to produce and access nutritious food, which promotes human health at every step without degrading land and water resources.
19:50
What actions and awareness do you feel been important for Africa's youth during this summit and beyond? We can start with you Emmanuel.
19:58
UNFSSgiving us as a world an opportunity to sit down and rethink of how we do business. The world has finally realised increased productivity, ensure food security, while making sure that the environment is not abused, ensuring that young people of Africa understand the importance of environmental integrity.
20:28
And Kassim as an environmentalist and climate change activist what do you also feel should be the actions that we need to be taking to be able to achieve these sustainable goals?
20:48
Thank you very much, Mark. Our contribution to the global greenhouse gas emissions is not much. But then, as a global community, especially with the international treaties and conventions that we have, as we are we have signed on to this agreement, it's our responsibilities as well to make sure that our actions in terms of enhancing agriculture integrity. So, we really need to pay attention to that by enhancing agro ecology and by also ensuring that the new systems in terms of enhancing our food security adopts all the approaches that would save that environment for the current and in the future generation to also benefit.
21:30
Right. Thank you so much. And to sort of wrap up this conversation, I have one question for Emmanuel specifically. We have been receiving some clap back for the UN food system summit. With a lot of people, including the African Union, saying it is not necessary for us to engage with this UN Food System Summit because they are trying to achieve what CAADP is doing for the continent.
22:02
With 60% of the world's arable land, Africa's ubiquitous agricultural resources are the continent’s definitive asset base, and represent over 23% of sub-Saharan Africa's GDP, employing 60% of the continent’s workforce. Agricultural resources play a significant part in the continent’s economy and the potential of the agricultural sector is enormous. And if well, harnessed, can eradicate hunger and food insecurity. With the establishment of the African continental free trade area, agriculture is set to boost intra African trade, contribute to increase commodity-based industrialization and play a major role in global food markets.
22:47
If you look at CAADP, and its formulation, it is an African-led, you know, Africa's development to the next stage. And cut up is very, very clear. And it's improving the land and agribusiness toll systems. And then also if you look at the other pillar of CAADP, they’re looking at increasing the agriculture-led or a driven. Now, if you look at the UNFSS, UNFSS is creating this agriculture led economy production. As we want to extend land or area and agricultural development, are we doing it in a sustainable way? Is the food we're producing in a smarter saying want to increase food supply to reduce hunger? That is what UNFSS is looking at. And then also they're looking at how do we manage around the food production, the route, the post-harvest management, and around even the consumption at the consumer level. So, UNFSS, to me, is complementing what could happen.
23:51
And with that, I would like to say thank you so much, gentlemen, for making time to have this discussion on LINKCast. We appreciate you're welcome and thank you. Thank you very much, Mark.
Thank you for joining us on LINKCast. Be sure to subscribe and listen for more in-depth conversation on the software of global development. This episode has been made possible by the generous contribution of the American people through USAID Policy LINK. Sources used to support the content of this episode from the World Bank. The African Union and the United Nations Food Systems Summit are linked in the description of this episode.