AGRA rallies stakeholders towards cohesive approach to youth employment

The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has identified four priority and promising agribusiness value chains for the youth which include horticulture, poultry, Irish potatoes and superfoods, indicating they have the potential to address youth unemployment and drive up the economy. Such value chains meant to increase youth participation in agri-food entrepreneurship were proposed by the youth in agribusiness ecosystem assessment whose findings were validated by a workshop held in Kigali on Thursday, 24 March 2022. It was meant to consider ways to strengthen the agribusiness ecosystem so as to create employment opportunities for the youth within the Agriculture space. According to those who carried out the survey, more than 125,000 first-time job seekers enter the labor market in Rwanda each year. Yet, close to 30 percent of them will not get a job because of the limited employment opportunities. They argued that promoting agri-food entrepreneurship will be a quick win if attention is paid to the challenges entrepreneurs face. Dickson Naftali, Head Generation Africa, the arm of AGRA which brings partners together to strengthen the ecosystem for young agripreneurs across the continent, said that 60 percent of startups by the youth in agriculture cannot make it to the maturity stage as they fail because of various factors. He pointed out that some of the direct support that they realise that youth need, are in areas of education, capacity, business development services and access to finance. “Other than this direct support that the youth need, they need an enabling and incentivised environment. And this is where the Government institutions come in,” he said, citing the need for market access support for the start-ups’ products. Speaking at the event, Jean-Chrysostome Ngabitsinze, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources said that the Government is committed to supporting the youth engaged in agribusiness so that they become successful entrepreneurs, especially in high value crops. “People are getting money from chia seeds out there… AGRA will support us to organise the value chain [in order to get] quality seeds, a good market for farmers, and ensure good quality [of the produce],” he said. Sakina Usengimana, a young agripreneur and CEO of Afri Foods, a horticulture company, which exports fresh fruits and vegetables to Europe and the Middle East, said that the report reflected the reality on the market such as showing horticulture as one of the potential areas for the youth, and challenges facing them. “We have a weekly chilli demand of about 15 tonnes but we face a supply shortage of about 10 tonnes of chilli as we cannot get enough quality produce because of the gap in the production,” she said, calling for efforts to increase quality produce. The four priority value chains To select the four priority value chains for youths, the essessment based on five key parameters. These are market systems which among others consider market availability and meeting standards, economic relevance or viability, youth employability, national agenda like plans to enhance growth of the value chain, as well as resource requirements and needs. Horticulture VC According to the assessment, the choice of this value chain was informed by the fact that it was attracting attention from buyers, especially at the international market. It indicated that horticulture exports – including fruits, flowers and vegetables – increased five times from $5 million in 2005 to $25 million in 2018. Being relatively new to Rwanda’s agricultural exports, horticulture is considered the country’s new cash cow thanks to its potential. Poultry VC The assessment indicated that traditional village poultry is the dominant system in Rwanda, estimating that of 5-7 million chickens reared, only 1 million came from commercial production. Meanwhile, Rwanda looks at poultry as a major contributor to improving nutrition, especially stunting among children that stood at 33 percent as of 2020. This can be achieved through increasing egg and chicken meat production. With that, there is opportunity in the poultry sector for the youth, especially in the commercial production system. Irish potato VC This is a staple food crop. The assessment estimated that it constitutes 7.6 percent of all food purchases and 8.3 percent of all food consumption in Rwanda. Yet, close to 75 percent of quality potato seed demand in the country is not met, implying that only about 25 percent of Irish potato farmers use certified seeds. Such a situation, those who carried out the survey said, presents an opportunity for the youth especially in the seed production area. Superfoods (seeds) Superfoods are foods that are very rich in nutrients and are considered to be especially beneficial for health and well-being. Here, low calories but high nutrient foods like Chia, pumpkin, quinoa and other super food seeds are a unique opportunity for youths to exploit, the assessment indicated. It noted that such foods are in high demand, while the supply is still limited. Jean Paul Ndagijimana, AGRA Rwanda Country Manager said that all the way to 10 years, agribusiness startups still face failures, pointing out that the assessment sought to help devise effective plans to support them become successful ventures. “AGRA is committed to youth development in Rwanda, especially those in agriculture,” he said. To ensure the success of youth agribusinesses, the report recommended key intervention areas such as agriculture digitalisation, financial access, promoting value addition, and agriculture mechanisation as well as capacity building. Meanwhile, Evans Myers, the Deputy Director of Economic growth at USAID on behalf of the development partners welcomed the findings of the assessment, pledging that her agency will continue to roll out projects that responds to recommendations of the assessment.

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AGRA rallies stakeholders towards cohesive approach to youth employment