African Rural Youth Engagement in Agribusiness: Achievements, Limitations, and Lessons
Mastewal Yami,
Shiferaw Feleke,
Tahirou Abdoulaye,
Arega D. Alene,
Zoumana Bamba and
Victor Manyong
Additional contact information
Mastewal Yami: Independent Consultant, P. O. Box 5689, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Shiferaw Feleke: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Plot No 25 Mikocheni Light Industrial Area, Mwenge-Coca-Cola Road, Mikocheni B, Dar Es Salaam 34441, Tanzania
Tahirou Abdoulaye: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), PMB 5320, Oyo Road, Ibadan 200001, Oyo State, Nigeria
Arega D. Alene: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Chitedze Research Station, Off-Mchinji Road, Lilongwe 30258, Malawi
Zoumana Bamba: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), 4163 Avenue Haut-Congo Quartier Revolution, Commune de la Gombe, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
Victor Manyong: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Plot No 25 Mikocheni Light Industrial Area, Mwenge-Coca-Cola Road, Mikocheni B, Dar Es Salaam 34441, Tanzania
Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-15
Abstract:
Engaging rural youth in agribusiness has become an important strategy to create employment opportunities in Africa. To this end, governments and development partners have implemented various interventions that facilitate youth engagement in agribusiness for several years. However, there is a dearth of evidence on what worked and what did not work well, making it difficult to inform evidence-based policy making. In an effort to fill this knowledge gap, a comprehensive literature review of the outcomes of interventions related to youth engagement in agribusiness was conducted using a deductive coding approach. Results showed that the interventions implemented by governments and development partners across Africa have succeeded in producing favorable outcomes despite some limitations. Interventions that integrate capacity development, financial support for startups, and continuous mentorship on the technical and financial aspects of youth-run agribusiness projects proved successful in enhancing youth engagement in agribusiness. This suggests that the design and implementation of future interventions should be based on an integrated approach that considers diversity of youths’ aspirations and shared capabilities, interests, expectations, as well as challenges associated with access to resources and participation in collective action. The design of future interventions should also be built on strong partnerships among rural communities, academia, research, and private sector for increased impact on livelihood improvements.
Keywords: aspirations of youth; access to resource; collective action; achievements; limitations; rural youth; skills development; youth engagement in agribusiness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (19)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:11:y:2019:i:1:p:185-:d:194311
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