Agri Conference looks at ICT, entrepreneurship in boosting youth employment in Africa

17 Aug 2018

From 20-21 August 2018, the Youth Employment in Agriculture Conference will see more than 500 delegates from across Africa meet in Kigali, Rwanda to discuss ways to boost employment opportunities agriculture in Africa through the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) and entrepreneurship. Over 60% of Africa's estimated 1.2 billion people are under the age of 25, yet with little job creation currently in the rural areas where the majority of the population resides, there is a growing uncertainty over the continent's preparedness to tap this resource.

Neil Palmer (CIAT) via Wikimedia Commons

The conference aims to foster an exchange among stakeholders on knowledge and best practices regarding the interfaces between agriculture, youth employment, entrepreneurship, ICT innovations, leading to prioritising interventions going forward.

Conference themes include youth entrepreneurship, digital innovation to overcome agriculture value-chain related restraints, and the future of agriculture work. The agenda will focus on sustainable solutions for decent youth employment in agriculture in Africa such as minimising drudgery while harnessing opportunities in agribusiness entrepreneurship and innovations to enhance productivity and competitiveness.

During the conference, FAO will introduce four digital applications aimed to help farmers improve their household nutrition, food production, income and livelihoods.

Delegates include policy makers, development partners, the private sector, youth and women organizations, civil society, researchers and academia.