Youth employment and food insecurity - Why more and dedicated agricultural investments are needed Cases from Nigeria and Benin Youth Employment in Sub Saharan Africa (YESSA) International Conference Dakar, 28 - 30 January 2014 Francesca Dalla Valle ([email protected]) Youth Employment and Institutional Partnerships Specialist Economic and Social Development Department Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Food and Agriculture Organization’s mandate Achieving food and nutrition security for all Strategic objectives • Help eliminate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition • Make agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and sustainable • Reduce rural poverty (explicit emphasis on the promotion of decent employment opportunities for rural youth) • Enable inclusive and efficient agricultural and food systems • Increase the resilience of livelihoods to disasters Youth Employment in Sub Saharan Africa (YESSA) International Conference Dakar, 28 - 30 January 2014 Brief Africa Outlook - positive trends • • • Africa has the world youngest population with about 200 million people aged between 15 - 24 Africa has a 2.7% working age population growth per year (13 million) By 2040 (if growth continues) Africa’s labour force will be of 1 billion (surpassing emerging economies like China and India) • By 2030 59% of youth aged between 20 - 24 will access secondary education (presently approx 42%) • – 137 million with secondary education – 12 million with tertiary education The agriculture sector (farming, fishery, livestock, forestry and agro industries) provides employment opportunities to up to 80% of the working age population in some African countries (for example in Tanzania, Malawi among others) Youth Employment in Sub Saharan Africa (YESSA) International Conference Dakar, 28 - 30 January 2014 Brief Africa Outlook - trends to address • • • Africa created 73 million jobs (2000 - 2008) but only 16 million for youth 15 – 24 60% of unemployed are youth In most African countries youth unemployment rates are double than adult ones (the problem is very intense in most middle income countries) – In North Africa youth unemployment rate (pre-revolution, 2010) was 23.4%, adult was 3.8% – In South Africa youth unemployment rate was 48%, adult was 2.5% (2010-2011) • 72% of Africa’s youth population live with less than $2.00 a day (with rates surpassing 80% in countries like Nigeria, Ethiopia, Uganda, Zambia and Burundi) • 38% of Africa’s working youth is presently working in agriculture (adequately addressed, the sector can provide a much higher rate of employment opportunities for young people) Youth Employment in Sub Saharan Africa (YESSA) International Conference Dakar, 28 - 30 January 2014 Main constraints observed / experienced in countries when designing rural youth employment investment plans / activities Youth Employment in Sub Saharan Africa (YESSA) International Conference Dakar, 28 - 30 January 2014 Education, vocational training, capacity development Low levels of school attendance - Many poor rural households understand the need of keeping children in school but do not have the means to do so Strengthen support for vulnerable rural HH providing protection schemes and safety nets to keep children in school. This will also prevent child labour in the agriculture sector The MDGs and governments have majorly focused on universal literacy Strengthen focus on universal literacy along with a good quality of education towards an ‘’employable’’ generation Present curricula in rural areas do not reflect the needs of the context Revision of the curricula of both formal education and vocational training to reflect the agricultural sector needs and opportunities The changing of the climate will affect the agricultural sector in a variety of ways (reducing crop yields, water resources, production stability and people’s incomes) Capacity development for young farmers must reflect the ever changing environment and equip them with knowledge to mitigate climate variability issues Youth Employment in Sub Saharan Africa (YESSA) International Conference Dakar, 28 - 30 January 2014 Access to land In rural communities and through customary laws the leaders and elderly decide on access to land and distribution Sensitize community leaders, elderly, communities, producers’ federations and unions etc, in the positive outcomes of having young people in rural areas to whom transfer knowledge and skills for a future sustainable production for all Youth are still not adequately and specifically addressed in most land tenure policies and they are not aware of their rights Strengthen youth land rights, youth responsive land laws and policies are needed along with youth and communities leaders and unions knowledge, awareness and empowerment, through economic incentives and capacity building Youth Employment in Sub Saharan Africa (YESSA) International Conference Dakar, 28 - 30 January 2014 Access to finance Financial access is still very much limited to youth and young people are still regarded by financial and micro finance managers as ‘’risky’’ clients Promote/develop specific youth friendly financial products combining credit with thorough training, financial literacy and capacity development Finance institutions present in rural areas Facilitate knowledge during trainings about the presence of producers’ federations credit unions, village saving schemes etc are less Youth Employment in Sub Saharan Africa (YESSA) International Conference Dakar, 28 - 30 January 2014 Youth representation Youth are inadequately represented in producers’ organizations / federations and unions Youth committees / sections should be facilitated in producers’ / farmers’ organizations Youth associations representatives are majorly ‘’ad-hoc’’ invited participants (for example in conferences dedicated to young people specifically) Enhance and support the creation of rural youth and young farmers’ councils / platforms to address and facilitate rural youth participation in agricultural and rural development policies, design of programmes and projects and M&E while enhancing their participation in all kind of policy debates Youth Employment in Sub Saharan Africa (YESSA) International Conference Dakar, 28 - 30 January 2014 Youth access in the agriculture sector positive results (Countries assessments on FAO’s rural youth employment activities) Increase in the employment rate, decrease in under employment and working poverty Increase in food security and income of rural HH Propagation of post-harvest value addition Innovation in labour saving technologies As observed in impact assessment in various African countries, youth headed HH when compared to adult ones derived a higher income from their agricultural activities* As before, younger HH heads have been assessed in being more involved in appropriate storage and processing* Young people are more keen and active in using any kind of new technologies* LEADING TO Contribution to poverty alleviation in rural areas Rejunification of the agro sector * FAO’s appraisals 2008-2013 Youth Employment in Sub Saharan Africa (YESSA) International Conference Dakar, 28 - 30 January 2014 • • • Nigeria Youth population approx 67 million 42.2 % of youth are unemployed 80 % of the unemployed youth do not have secondary education Investment plan - Approx 220 million (US$) MARKET COMMODITY ZONES AGRO-INDUSTRIES Programme duration - 5 years AGRIBUSINESS (2-3) Beneficiaries o 740,000 market oriented young agro producers (20,000 per each state) o 18,500 agropreneurs (500 per each state) Agroprocessing Transport Bulking-up, storage Executing entity - Ministry of Agriculture Producer Partners - Ministries of labour, education, trade, vocational training, private sector, civil society etc Commodities of primary focus by agro ecological zones o Cotton, onions, tomatoes, cassava, rice, sorghum, livestock and fisheries, maize, oil palm, cocoa etc. Value addition Producer Producer AGRICULTURAL (Value chain) MARKET-ORIENTED PRODUCERS & Tranformers (5-10.000) N-AGRIPRENEURS Youth Employment in Sub Saharan Africa (YESSA) International Conference Dakar, 28 - 30 January 2014 Benin • • Youth are approx 60 % of entire population Approx 100,000 rural youth enter the labour market each year Investment plan - Approx 200 million (US$) ii. Renforcement des capacités d'investissement: - kit de démarrage - accèss au crédit /matching grant Programme duration - 5 years Envisaged jobs o 150,000 youth agro enterprises Executing entity - Ministry of Agriculture Partners - Ministries of labour, education, trade, vocational training, private sector, civil society etc i. Renforcement des capacités humaines - formation technique et gestion; - information - PROMOTION de L'EMPLOI des JEUNES dans le SECTEUR AGRICOLE iii. Accompagnement / Appui continu Commodities of primary focus by agro ecological zones o Cassava, rice, soya bean, livestock and fisheries, maize, cashew nuts, etc - autorités locales (commune, departement) - organisations paysannes (OPA) et de jeunes - formation continue des services conseil - projet de développement local iv. Envirinnement favorable - cadre regulateur - acces aux ressources (terre/eau) - acces aux intrants - acces aux marchés - coordination & stratégies - fora des 'voix' locales et sectorielles Conclusions • Establishing partnerships among governments, farmers’ federations and unions and youth producers is essential to enhance youth entrance in the agro sector • Develop or revise national youth employment plan of actions taking into account the specific needs of rural youth • Enhance and support the inclusiveness of youth in local economic development efforts and initiatives (for example the CAADP, economic corridor development initiatives, territorial development activities etc) • It is key to improve the quality and occupational and health safety standards of jobs in the informal sector and minimum wages in the agriculture sector • Promote, institutionalize and invest in holistic approaches that strengthen both youth’ skills and provide mentorship • Foster adequate means and opportunities for youth to be able to remain in rural areas and manage migration Youth Employment in Sub Saharan Africa (YESSA) International Conference Dakar, 28 - 30 January 2014 Thank you For further info: http://www.fao-ilo.org/fao-ilo-youth/en/ Youth Employment in Sub Saharan Africa (YESSA) International Conference Dakar, 28 - 30 January 2014