ENABLE Youth Program

Africa has the world’s youngest population, but the average age of its food producers is alarmingly high for a continent hoping to feed itself and to eradicate malnutrition by 2025. There are currently 364 million young Africans between the ages of 15 – 35 years and that number is expected to double by 2045. Clear possibilities exist for drawing the next generation to the agriculture sector as ‘agripreneurs,’ by harnessing new skills and technologies and a value chain approach. The ENABLE (Empowering Novel Agri-Business-Led Employment) Youth Program in African Agriculture is one such initiative which in its pilot phase has provided evidence that with greater access to the right skills, improved access to credit, and an enabling environment, young African men and women can become the proud owners of profitable agribusiness enterprises. The success of young entrepreneurs can help mitigate such serious social issues as the rural and trans-Atlantic migration, soaring youth unemployment, and associated risks to society. The focus of the ENABLE Youth is to support young unemployed graduates to go into agribusiness as a well-paying career and in the process create wealth and subsidiary employment.