All roads are leading to Kigali for the 15th edition of Youth Connekt Africa Summit 2022, which will be held from 13-15 October under the theme “Accelerating Investments in Youth “Resilient Youth, Resilient Africa”. Africa’s largest annual youth summit that connects youth from across the continent and beyond with policy influencers, political leaders, public, private, and development sector institutions to engage, discuss, design, and accelerate youth empowerment efforts at a continental level. As I pen this piece, one in five people in Africa is going hungry. More than a billion Africans cannot afford a healthy diet. Africa is moving backwards in its efforts to end hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition. The latest report on the State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, co-authored by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), shows that Africa is bearing the heaviest hunger burden compared to other regions. About 278 million people in Africa faced hunger in 2021. This is an increase of 46 million people compared to pre-Covid in 2019. According to UN labour agency, young workers have been hit hardest by Covid fallout. Africa is the most youthful continent on our planet. More than 60% of Africans are under the age of 35. This is a driving force for all the desired change. The youth need to be changemakers and Africa needs their support and commitment. According to the African Development Bank, more than 12 million young people enter the labour market every year. Agriculture is one of the sectors that can absorb a large part of them. Agriculture is adapting to match the needs of youth. It is more and more becoming Technological— manipulating new machinery, clicking here and there on Agri digital platforms, accessing E-markets, and all E-s available as new skills. Farming is no longer a tedious occupation for old people who wake up every morning with a hoe and their shoulders, agriculture is being mechanized, and there are a lot of emerging new technologies and agribusiness opportunities. Agriculture sessions in the Youth Connekt are perfect moments to explore ways of creating strong synergies to remove all impediments to the involvement of youth in Agriculture. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources, and the Ministry of Youth and Culture and YouthConnekt Secretariat have secured, Track VI, a full track in the busy agenda of the Youth Connektsolely dedicated to Agriculture. It is going to be an important forum on the future of agriculture and food systems in Africa following the contribution of youth in the Food Systems Summit last year and the youth Town Hall event, held at the AGRF 2022 Summit a few weeks ago Three sessions are tabled On Friday 14th October will be the official launch of Track VI by Honorable Dr. Mukeshimana Geraldine, Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources of Rwanda followed by a high-level panel discussion on the Future of Agriculture and Food Systems at Intare Arena. Key actors including ministers of youth, young farmers and agripreneurs, and financial institutions such as the Arican development Bank will actively participate in this session. On the same day, there will be a masterclass on fit for finance with a thorough presentation on the Fit for Finance Model and Youth Peer Coaching on Business Formalization. This will be a great opportunity for youth in agribusiness to meet with senior officials from financial institutions and big industries and create all necessary linkages that facilitate the spirit of Buying from Youth. Big buyers of Agriculture products claim that youth don’t manage to produce enough quantity and on the other hand many young farmers say are discouraged by the lack of good and sustained markets. Where is the gap? Where can the two sides meet? The youth connekt summit will be a golden opportunity. Throughout the summit, there will be an exhibition and a marketplace named “Buy from Youth” inspired from the platform the Ministry for Agriculture and animal resources launched during Agrifood show in June 2022.Youth in agribusiness will be showcasing and selling their produce in Kigali Car Free Zone. Facilitated by Rwanda Youth in Agribusiness Forum (RYAF), young Rwandan farmers will be able to make participants of the Youth Connekt exchange on the enabled environment Governments are seeking to put in place for youth to access markets particularly private sector but also offer the opportunity to taste locally produced and processed food. Together with development partners, we will be interacting and taking notes of youth perspectives on opportunities to accelerate inclusive agrifood systems transformation in Africa. The visionary leadership of the government of Rwanda is behind the creation of Youth Connekt to build the resilience of young people on the African continent and to accelerate human capital and socio-economic development. There could not be a more suitable avenue to discuss ways of transforming agriculture, and charting ways of enticing and involving youth in this sector because having more youth in agribusiness means increasing modernization of agriculture through agriculture technology and therefore increased production and reduced malnutrition towards zero hunger. The writer is the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Representative in Rwanda.
