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More African youth needed in agriculture: FAO’s chief at regional meet
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Saturday, 29 March, 2014, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Tunis
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fiogf49gjkf0d Getting more African youth involved in agriculture and boosting support for the region's vulnerable family farmers would be pivotal to improving food security and economic well-being in the years to come.
This was stated by José Graziano da Silva, director general, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) at the organisation's Regional Conference for Africa.
He added that water scarcity, low investment and conflict were among the challenges to food security in the region.
However, da Silva said he was confident that Africa could reach peace, stability and food security in the future.
“The region’s economic growth rate is above the global average and most of the world’s fastest-growing economies are in Africa,” he told ministers of agriculture and funding partners at the meet, which concluded on Friday.
“The challenge is to translate this growth into social inclusion. Agriculture, rural development and youth can make this happen,” da Silva added.
Rejuvenating agriculture
The links between youth, agri-business and rural development were high on the agenda at the conference.
Africa is the world's youngest region, with more than half of the population being under 25 years of age.
It was pointed out at the meet that about 11 million people entered Africa’s labour market every year. But salaries were low in the rural sector, informality was high, agriculture was not considered as attractive by many of the region’s youth, and social protection was not always available for rural families in critical situations.
A paper prepared for the conference pointed out that the impressive growth in some African countries over the past decade has not translated into widespread employment or income for young people.
FAO called for greater public and private investment in agri-business, agro-industries and market-related services to attract and keep young workers, fuel job creation and spur new development in the agricultural sector.
Family farming
Da Silva noted that the African Year of Agriculture and Food Security was being observed alongside the International Year of Family Farming, calling on African countries to “use this opportunity to put small farmers, fishers, pastoralists, forest collectors and traditional and indigenous communities at the centre of our agenda.”
“Let me emphasise that to achieve food security, we need to combine the sustainable increase of production and social protection to provide a cushion for the most vulnerable,” he added, pointing out that about 90 per cent of rural African households is engaged in farming-related activities.
Regional priorities and partnerships
Da Silva said the region had taken an important step to strengthen agriculture with the establishment of the Africa Solidarity Trust Fund.
The Fund, fully financed by African countries, is housed at FAO, but co-led with the African Union, and developed in keeping with priorities laid down by the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).
Later in the week, da Silva is expected to sign agreements releasing the first packages of funding to six countries (Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mali, Niger and South Sudan) for programmes and action plans supported under the Trust Fund.
FAO has also supported countries in developing proposals for other sources of funding, including the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), which has benefitted 15 African countries with a combined total of more than $560 million.
Da Silva also stressed the importance of partnerships combining the efforts of governments, private sector companies and civil society in accessing financial services and other support for farmers.
Organisational focus
In his address, FAO’s director general gave an overview of a process of transformational changes taking place within FAO and its benefits for Africa, including an increase in its technical presence in offices throughout the region.
The organisation has three regional initiatives aligned with the renewed strategic framework, which respond to priorities identified by member countries and which are in different stages of implementation.
These are support to the renewed efforts and approaches to end hunger by 2025; promoting the sustainable intensification of agricultural production and commercialisation, and building resilience in the drylands of Africa, with a special focus on the Sahel, Horn of Africa and flood-prone countries.
Making progress
About 60 developing countries worldwide have already met a hunger-reduction target outlined by Millennium Development Goal (MDG) number one, to halve the number of chronically-hungry people between 1990 and 2015.
In Africa, the countries include Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Djibouti, Libya, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Sao Tome and Principe, South Africa, Togo and Tunisia.
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