Prioritizing Youth and Women in Transforming Africa’s Food Systems
As of 2024, youth make up the largest share of Africa’s population – about 60 percent of the continent’s 1.2 billion people are below 25. However, together with women, who account for nearly half of the agricultural labour force, young people are among the most marginalized demographics, often left out of enhancement opportunities. Without the influential role of these two groups, it will be impossible to achieve sustainable development goals by 2030, especially ending poverty and hunger. At SNV, we recognize this reality. We are deliberate about implementing initiatives that include youth and women across all aspects of Africa’s food system transformation – from a position of contributing to influencing policy; facilitating accessing modern agricultural inputs and financial services to leadership in trade, including cross-border trade.
Our approach fosters the urgency, confidence and voice of young people through the development of soft skills, business acumen and technical skills. By facilitating access to markets, finance and assets, and by forging strategic partnerships, we help create an inclusive and sustainable environment. Our strategy focuses on amplifying the voice of youth, incorporating green and digital jobs, focusing on market sector growth, transforming systems, and promoting gender equality and social inclusion.
SNV prioritises youth employment and entrepreneurship in our work in Africa and Asia. Our engagement with youth includes a range of employment and entrepreneurship programmes in over 10 countries in Africa. Through these initiatives, we have supported livelihoods and enabled employment opportunities for more than 500,000 young people. A recent long term follow up study found indicative results of the long-term impact of the approach on the wellbeing of young women and men through increased income, diversified livelihoods and improved community influence and engagement.
In this article, we highlight some of our initiatives across Africa, showcasing our contribution to driving youth and gender inclusion.
Realizing Aspiration Youth in Ethiopia through Employment (RAYEE) – The RAYEE project, implemented in partnership with Mastercard Foundation aims to create meaningful employment in agriculture and agri-business for 240,000 young Ethiopians, with 70 percent of the target being women. The project assesses the skills required by employers and offers tailored training in social and technical skills to young women and men. Additionally, trainees are connected to identified job opportunities. Through the project, SNV supports existing SMEs to expand job prospects for young people and provides business development services to help ambitious young entrepreneurs start new enterprises. These services include training in business management, administration, and marketing, as well as improved access to inclusive financial services, input supply, and market information.
Boosting Green Employment and Enterprise Opportunities in Ghana (GrEEn) – This initiative, an investment by the EU, aims to support at least 5,000 entrepreneurs and green SMEs in Ghana by enhancing their operations. Its objectives include facilitating the transition of local economies to green and climate-resilient development; improving employability and entrepreneurial skills by connecting individuals with market opportunities and providing mentorship for self-employment and enterprise development; and creating and strengthening local ecosystems that foster youth self-employment and the growth of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Climate Resilient Agribusiness for Tomorrow (CRAFT) – Implemented in collaboration with various partners, this initiative aims to enhance the inclusion of women in value chains across Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. It seeks to empower women to adopt sustainable practices and improve their livelihoods through digital technologies. A key component of the program is improving access to information, particularly for women who lag in accessing and implementing smart agricultural practices like weather forecasting, soil testing, and crop selection. CRAFT partners with meteorological institutions in these countries to provide weather and climate information via SMS, a successful approach that has seen over 14,000 women in Tanzania benefitting from weather updates since 2018. Additionally, the CRAFT initiative aims to boost women’s access to finance by connecting them with financial institutions for credit and other financial services.
Enhancing Opportunities for Women’s Enterprises (EOWE) – Implemented between 2016 and 2020, the EOWE initiative aimed to support the start-up and growth of women’s businesses in rural areas of Kenya and Vietnam. The program focused on enterprise development, social transformation, and policy advocacy. It reached 22,000 female farmers and entrepreneurs by providing training in business and farming and improving their access to inputs, productive assets, finance, and markets, particularly in the context of climate change.
There are many other SNV initiatives across Africa, including in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, targeting women and youth enterprises Youth | SNV. We look forward to sharing the results of these projects at the 2024 Africa Food Systems Forum in Kigali, Rwanda, on 2-6 September. Join us in contributing to the dialogue and partnerships that will enhance the inclusion of women and youth in driving Africa’s food system transformation.
