On October 6 – 9, 2012,
the leadership of UNIDO Regional Office in Abuja-Nigeria in partnership with
IFAD, UNWoman, FAO, UNDP, Songhai Centre & OXFAM organised a four day
workshop in Port Novo tagged ‘Youth & Women As Catalysts For
Agribusiness Development And Growth in West & Central Africa’.
The event started with
a trade fair showcasing agribusiness produces and processing machineries and
culminated in a consultative forum which explored strategies for attracting
more women and youth in agribusiness - as a credible job and wealth creation
option for the sub region.
The key objective of
the youth workshop fair was to articulate a strategy for attracting and
engaging young women and men in agribusiness. Focusing largely on creating
decent employment opportunities for young men and women by making agriculture
more productive, efficient, remunerative and competitive, the consultative
forum made salient inputs towards the development of evidence based set of
policy guidelines that promote women and youth entrepreneurs in agribusiness
development
The workshop was
attended by over 200 participants from 14 African countries. Participants
included young entrepreneurs, Songhai Centre graduates, government
representatives, agribusiness companies, women entrepreneurs and organisations,
farmer organisations, business associations, civil society as well as
representatives from national, regional and international development agencies.
During the workshop,
stakeholders shared experiences and ideas on strategies for implementation of
agribusiness programmes. They identified key factors and successful business
models like the Songhai Centre - that can attract young people to become
engaged in agribusiness and collaborated to produce a plan of action for a strategic
approach to making agriculture an attractive option for more women and youth to
engage in.
Participants acknowledged the enormous potential young women and men
possess to effectively contribute to this critical sector - agreeing that
agribusiness offers a realistic opportunity for job and wealth creation for
young people who are key drivers of economic growth in emerging markets like
the West and Central African sub region. Despite these potentials nonetheless,
there was a general consensus that more needs to be done; the sector was still
not attractive enough to new entrants, as it continues to be characterised by
low investment in technology and research, drudgery, policy lapses and unequal
access to information, agribusiness inputs and markets. The need to develop
policies to address these challenges was underscored by several participants.
The consultative forum
concluded with participants agreeing on specific issues for organisers to
follow up on and action:
1. Establish a platform where women and
young people as well as development partners and other key stakeholders can
network and share salient information on available opportunities including -
best practices, technology and research, innovations, commodity prices and
access to market.
Facilitate the
formation of communities of practice amongst women and youth agro entrepreneurs
utilising participants in the workshop as the pioneer cohort
2. Utilising inputs from interactive
sessions and experiences shared by entrepreneurs, the forum urged organisers to
develop a comprehensive policy guidelines for promoting the profitable
engagement of women and young people in agribusiness in the West and Central
African Region. The policy guideline will serve as a useful tool for programme
development, advocacy and fund mobilisation by governments and development
partners.
3. Finalise and disseminate a Strategic
Action Plan based on interactive sessions and experiences shared by agro
entrepreneurs during workshop. The plan will aim at promoting agriculture as a
lucrative business for young men and women in West and Central Africa.
It was agreed that the
plan should articulate critical elements discussed in meeting such as effective
coordination, capacity building for young agro entrepreneurs to meet required
quality standards for markets, resource mobilisation strategy to fund plan, a
media and advocacy strategy to rebrand and provide visibility to the
opportunities in agribusiness and a Monitoring and Evaluation regime to guide
implementation of action plan.
4. Organise an Annual Award Event aimed at
recognising successful agro entrepreneurs as role models in the West and
Central African region.
5. The developmental Institutions present
resolved to work with the agro entrepreneurs and Government agencies in
addressing the specific challenges affecting women and youth, particularly
those relating to unequal access to finance and other agribusiness inputs.
As the phrase ‘business
unusual’ was adopted as the guiding ethos for the workshop fair, the organisers
were urged by the participants to ensure that resolutions reached by the forum
be followed through dutifully.
On their part, participants, especially the
women and young entrepreneurs resolved to increase the momentum generated from
the workshop by spreading the information on the several opportunities they
have identified in the sector to their peers in their respective communities
and expressed willingness to form themselves into a community of practice where
they can continue to share information and have a strong platform for
influencing policies that affect them.
The lead organizer Maada Gombu said ‘It was an eye opener and he thought it will be selfish if I did not share
this cash cow called ''agribusiness'' with my friends and loved ones. I am sure
those who attended will share my sentiments’. ‘Anyway the reason I am
writing is to encourage you all to get in to agribusiness as a key component of
your retirement plan.
The opportunities abound and it is all just about
changing mindsets and getting involved at the earliest possible time. It is
always nice to give back to our respective communities and it is even nicer
when we a get to benefit from lending a helping hand. We will be setting up a
web portal to provide information on the varied value chains available and how
to set up your own agribusiness project. I will share link once it goes live’.
He said
He also stressed that plans
are underway to invest big in agribusiness ventures over the next decade and
would not want to be the only millionaires ($) amongst his circle of friends.
Join the train of making millions and retiring early!
I am inspired by this sustainable
move in Africa, a move that would keep our youths busy and productive while providing
food and other means of livelihood for the continent and world at large. I
would follow this initiative and contribute my little quota while keeping all
of you my friends and follower on Hamzy! blog updated on the next plan of action.
Feel free to contact my good friend J Maada for more information on M.Gombu@unido.org
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