“RURAL FUTURES” PROGRAM

Abraham Sarfo, Fati Nzie Hassane Hamady Diop, Martin Bwalya

Experts meeting, rural and regional policies for sustainable and inclusive development in Africa –

NEPAD/OECD/CIRAD/AFD Paris, 28 March-April 1st, 2016

NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency

Outline

Context of rural transformation in Africa Rural Futures vision and Goals Key questions on rural transformation? Addressing the critical questions Heading towards the 2nd Africa Rural Development Forum, 2016

CONTEXT

Income And Asset

Rural Poverty (More than 80% of African in Rural areas earn less than $2/day

Insecure Land Entitlement esp for women

Low Land and Labour Productivity

Constrained opportunity for non-farm productivity and employment

Infrastructure

Irrigation (Only 6% of Arica Lands are Irrigated

Road, Transport and Communication-Poor Access an Poor Quality

Energy-Little Access to Electricity

Water and Sanitation-Very Poor

Technological and Innovation

Agricultural Inputs –Only 15% of the level of Asia Poor Seeds

Limited Mechanization

ICT- Concentration very Low despite the emergence of mobile technology-How do we capitalize on the 600 millon Youth through ICT

CONTEXT

Policies, Institutions and Rules

Weak Rural Development Policies and regulatory

frameworks

Agricultural education, research and extension

institutions under-developed and under-

funded

Limited capacities and voice of farmers’ and

other local-level organizations

Human & Social Capital

Poor Access to Education and

Health

Disparity between Rural and Urban Space-Poor Access to decent

Rural Jobs

Lack of jobs and related social inequities fuelling migration and insecurity

Natural Resources

Capital

Land Degradation and Loss of Fertility

Deforestation

Desertification

Loss of Biodiversity

Rural Futures Vision People centred rural transformation based on equity and inclusiveness Rural men and women can develop their potential and reach their aspirations including income security whilst securing environmental sustainability; Rural transformation accompanied by appropriate governance, policies, institutions and practices

Goals • Accelerate and diversify economic

growth in rural areas including an expansion of employment and livelihoods;

• Enhance the pace of poverty reduction;

• Enhance environmental sustainability

• Empowering the people through public policy At the local level

Critical Questions for Inclusive & Empowering Transformation

Have we identified a development pathway that leads us to the ideal of transformative growth with development? How do we get more people employed with decent

jobs? What are some of the bold actions that Africans

have to take in moving this agenda? Have other initiatives achieved the results we

envisage for Rural Poverty Alleviation?

HAVE WE IDENTIFIED THE DEVELOPMENT PATHWAYS?

Rural Development Zone

Rural Futures Development Zone approach includes “Integrated Rural Development,” which effectively combines multiple sectors and techniques from health care service, agricultural expansion, and education, improvement of infrastructure to technical transfer, choosing specific regions and treating the local governments as counterparts in a multi-sectorial approach

Key Objectives of Rural Development Zones

Improvement of Economic Capabilities

• Agricultural income improvement

• Non-agricultural income improvement, improvement of rural industries

• Development of rural infrastructures

Improvement of Human Capabilities

• General health improvement

• Development of vocational and technical education standards skills development to create employment opportunities in the rural space

Key Objectives of Rural Development Zones

Improvement of Protective Capabilities

• Conservation of natural environment and natural disaster prevention measures

Improvement of Political Capabilities

• Decentralization and improvement of policy-making capabilities

Collaboration

•Crossing sectors (public, private, non‐profit)

•Crossing political boundaries, recognizing regions

Sustained Political Engagements with Governments

•Welcoming new voices (especially underrepresented individuals and youth)

•Visioning a different future (bottom, up process)

Leveraging Regional Resources

•Analyzing region’s competitive advantages (focus on strengths, identify clusters)

•Strengthening competencies of local political administration

•Engaging key intermediaries

• Investing local capital

Promoting skills development, training, and

knowledge sharing

Promoting Rural infrastructure development

Supporting the integration of ‘regional’ or ‘zonal value

chains’ especially with urban market systems

Supporting public-private institutions, both industry specific and transversal.

Supporting and coordinating NGOs, Development Partners, Local

Administration central government efforts in supporting local institutions and systems to become efficient and

effective

Implementation Focus for Rural Development Zone

Emerging Good Practices of Rural Futures Development Zones

HOW DO WE GET MORE PEOPLE EMPLOYED WITH DECENT JOBS?

Job Creation and Youth Employment

• Studies undertaken in – Benin; Ghana, South Africa, Malawi,

Cameroon, Zambia, Uganda, Guinea, Burkina, Togo

• Goals of the studies – Assessment of rural based jobs as critical

component of employment creation in Africa;

– Support countries to develop a 10 years country action plans for Youth Employment

– Resource mobilization for the implementation of the country Action Plans

Skills Audit in 10 Countries

Main Objective and Expected Outcome Creation of decent employment opportunities for young women and men through the development of sustainable

agricultural and agribusiness enterprises along strategic value chains.

The main outcome of the programme is to contribute to create a conducive environment for

the next generation of youth

Pilot Countries-Niger, Cameroun,

Benin Malawi

Budget-4 million from Africa

Solidarity Trust Fund (ASTF)

Main Partner-FAO

04-Apr-2016 17

HEADING TOWARDS THE NEPAD RURAL FUTURES FORUM 2016

Theme • Sub-Themes

– Indicators for rural change –The Paradigm Shift

– Rural industrialization experiences with transforming food systems and rural non-farm sectors

– Youth skills empowerment today and re-configuration of Africa’s future rural workforce

– Land Policy Governance, Rural infrastructure and mechanization for inclusive rural development

– Multi-sector partnerships, drivers and institutional innovations for youth in rural development

Transforming Africa’s Rural Space through Youth Empowerment, Job Creation and Skills Development Venue –Yaoundé, Cameroon Date-Week of June 6th, 2016

– Promoting Multi-sectorial approach for Rural Development to create enabling environment for job creation

– Provision of strategic direction and garner further partnerships with institutions such as UNDP, IFAD, FAO, Africa Development Bank (AfDB), Japanese Development Corporation and other related bodies to invest in Skills Development

– Playing catalytic role to stimulate governments and other institutions at country level to deepen investments in Skills Development.

– Facilitating development of policy framework to foster and secure private sector partnership in rolling-out successful models.

– Supporting the creation of platform to attract corporate/private institutions within the continent to invest and support agri-enterprise development as part of their contribution to job creation and food security.

Thank You