A coalition made up of different entities aimed at supporting agribusiness entrepreneurship among the youth has launched a Youth and Agroecology National Caravan 2021 intended to nurture their business acumen in sustainable farming.
The Caravan is being held under the theme; "Promoting agroecology and unlocking the business opportunities for youth in Rwanda,” and it runs from March 30 through April 02, in Northern and Eastern provinces.
It was launched on March 30, at the College of Agriculture, Animal Sciences and Veterinary Medicine (UR-CAVM) in Northern Province.
Agroecology refers to an integrated approach that simultaneously applies ecological and social concepts and principles to the design and management of food and agricultural systems.
It seeks to optimise the interactions between plants, animals, humans, and the environment while taking into consideration the social aspects that need to be addressed for a sustainable and fair food system.
This Caravan consists of youth moving from place to place learning best practices in agroecology undertakings.
It has the overall objective of enabling young agripreneurs to gain practical knowledge, skills, approaches, through peer-to-peer exchanges and learning from youth-led agribusiness enterprises, exposure field visits to youth-led and successful farms/firms within and beyond their own horizons.
The coalition that organised the Caravan includes; Three Mountains Academy under the YALTA Initiative in collaboration with Rwanda Youth in Agribusiness Forum (RYAF), Agriterra Rwanda, Help a Child Rwanda, University of Rwanda-CAVM College, YEAN, UNILAK, Rwanda Organic Agriculture Movement (ROAM) and other like-minded organizations.
Youth in Agroecology and Business Learning Track in Africa (YALTA), a three-year initiative running from 2020 through 2022 – aims to support young agripreneurs to apply agroecological principles and to co-create networks around them thereby contributing to increased sustainability of food systems and youth employment in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda.
Netherlands Food Partnership (NFP) with support from IKEA Foundation is currently implementing the YALTA Initiative through Three Mountains Academy as the initiative’s host in Rwanda.
Speaking during the launch of the Caravan, Thacien Munyamahame, the programme Manager at YALTA Rwanda said that though agroecology is still in its nascent stage in Rwanda, there are young people who have started practicing agroecology through beekeeping, organic manure production, agroforestry, and mushroom cultivation and processing avocadoes into oil among others.
"For some young people, waste has become an opportunity as they have started making money from turning it into manure. It’s no longer dirt business; rather golden business,” he said.
He said there is a need to promote agroecology-related research which is still at a low level in Rwanda, calling for putting more efforts into teaching this farming activity and developing a strategy aimed to advance it.
During the Caravan the youth will be coached to develop agroecological business models and be connected to opportunities through a business accelerator, among other interventions.
It will also provide a platform for joint advocacy actions and receive commitments from policymakers on issues that affect youth in agroecology for an improved policy environment, and to link at least 50 youths to experts and coaches in this field.
Adeline Umukunzi, young organic mushroom growers based in Musanze District said that the initiative means a lot in increasing youth’s skills in their agribusiness ventures, marketing their products as well as funders.
"Through the Caravan, financial institutions get to know our products, which can help us get financing from them,” she said adding that it is also an occasion for young agripreneurs to learn best practices from others.
Jan Willem from Three Mountains Academy said that young entrepreneurs are the future of Rwanda’s food systems.
"It is you as young entrepreneurs, as the young generation of farmers who will help Rwanda to survive and address climate change, and be able to feed the increasing population sustainably,” he said, emphasising the importance of agroecology.
Olivier Muvandimwe, Programme Manager at RYAF said that agroecology presents an opportunity for the youth to tap into.
"We should bear in mind that agriculture should be sustainable to provide healthy and nutritious food to both the current and future generations. That has an opportunity for the youth who venture into agroecology,” he said.