1 Francesca Dalla Valle, Youth Employment Specialist, FAO (francesca.dallavalle@fao.org) 2 Andreas Klemmer, Senior Enterprise Development Specialist, ILO (klemmer@ilo.org) 3 Estherine Fotabong, Director for Policy Implementation and Coordination, NEPAD (estherinef@nepad.org)

Youth, Decent Employment

and the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP)

FAO-ILO4NEPAD

Francesca Dalla Valle, Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO)1 and Andreas Klemmer, International Labour Organization of the UN (ILO)2

in collaboration with Estherine Fotabong (NEPAD)3

Draft

fo

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Sep

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2

‗‘Youth should be given a chance to take an active part in the decision-making of local, national and

global levels‘‘

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon

3

Table of contents

Acknowledgments 4

Executive summary 5

Introduction 6

1. Rural youth situation analysis 8

2. Towards more decent and green jobs for the youth – FAO-ILO4NEPAD

partnership and technical cooperation

13

3. Institutional aspects – The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development

Programme (CAADP) and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)

18

4. Youth and gender sensitive capacity development approaches 20

FAO – Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools (JFFLS) 20

ILO – Start Your Business (SYB) 21

UNIDO – Salima Agricultural Technology Trainings (SATECH) 22

The Songhai Model 22

5. Next steps 23

Objectives 24

Partnership activities 24

Participating countries 24

Implementation 25

6. Conclusions 26

Useful websites 26 Data of interest 26 Boxes Box 1 – Incidence of poverty among youth (15-24) in % in sub-Saharan Africa 9 Box 2 – Typical African youth 10 Box 3 – NEPAD, FAO & ILO shared vision 13 Box 4 – Decent and green jobs 14 Box 5 – Sustainable businesses 15 Box 6 – Market system and web of interactions 16 Box 7 – Market systems development process 17 Box 8 – CAADP pillars 19 Box 9 – Youth and decent work integration in the CAADP process 23 Useful definition in footnotes

Decent work agenda 6 Youth 8 Employment, persons in employment 8 Child labour 9 Gender equality 10 Informal sector 11 Smallholder 12 Livelihoods 13 Rural employment 14

4

Acknowledgments

This issue paper has been developed by Francesca Dalla Valle, Youth Employment

Specialist of the Rural Employment Team within the Gender, Equity and Rural

Employment Division in FAO and Andreas Klemmer, Senior Enterprise Development

Specialist of the ILO Pretoria Decent Work Team, in collaboration with Estherine

Fotabong, Director for Policy Implementation and Coordination of the NEPAD.

Special thanks for guidance and support in the development process of the issue

paper are given to Peter Wobst, Senior Economist and Rural Employment Team Leader

within FAO‘s Gender, Equity and Rural Employment Division; Martin Bwalya, Head of

CAADP in NEPAD and Tobias Takavarasha, Senior Agricultural Policy and Investment

Officer of the NEPAD.

Further acknowledgments for support and contributions go to the below

institutions and individuals.

In the African Union (AU), Vera Brenda Ngosi, Director of Director of the

Department in charge of the Human Resources, Science and Technology Department;

Raymonde A. Agossou, Head of the Human Resources & Youth Development Division and

Abebe Haile Gabriel, Director of the Rural Economy and Agriculture Department.

In the ACP–EU Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA),

Isolina Boto, Head of CTA Brussels office.

In FAO, David Phiri, Chief, Weldeghaber Kidane, Senior Agricultural Policy Officer

and Yasmeen Khwaja, Policy Officer of FAO‘s Policy Support Service (TCSP); Garry Smith,

Principal Adviser and Wadzanai Katsande, Economist of FAO‘s Investment Centre Division

(TCI); Elisenda Estruch, Economist from FAO‘s Gender, Equity and Rural Employment

Division; Maria Helena Semedo, Assistant Director-General and Diana Tempelman, Senior

Officer of FAO‘s Regional Office for Africa (FAORAF); Castro Camarada, Coordinator,

Maria Rizzo, Senior Policy Advisor (Agriculture) and Emmanuelle Guerne Bleich, Livestock

Officer of FAO‘s Sub-regional Office for Eastern Africa (FAOSFE).

In ILO, Jürgen Schwettmann, Deputy Regional Director and Judica Amri-Lawson,

Senior Advisor External Relations and Partnerships from the ILO Regional Office for Africa

in Addis Ababa and Martin Clemensson, Director of ILO's Country Office for Zambia,

Malawi and Mozambique.

In NEPAD, Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NEPAD

Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA).

5

Executive summary

In Africa, 200 million people are aged between 15 and 24 years, comprising more

than 20% of the population and finding productive employment for this cohort is one of

the continent‘s major challenges. At present, three out of every four youth live on less

than US$ 2 per day—lacking the resources and skills to be competitive.

Agriculture in Africa is one of the largest contributors to national GDPs and the

sector has the potential to provide employment for the growing numbers of unemployed

youth while increasing food security and rural income levels. Given the support and the

opportunity for employment, young people have the potential to play a significant role in

rural development.

The Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU)

declared, during its last Executive Council held in January 2009 in Addis Ababa, the years

2009-2019 as the Decade of Youth Development in Africa. Consultations with rural youth

and their organizations have been undertaken by the Food and Agriculture Organization

of the UN (FAO) in the past couple of years while designing rural employment

programmes for them and taken forward jointly by FAO and International Labour

Organization of the UN (ILO) during the pre-AU Summit events held in Addis Ababa (1-6

April 2011)4. Youth representatives expressed their views and requests, as well as their

wishes to be actively involved in the contribution to the rural development of their

countries and to be formally involved and included through the Comprehensive Africa

Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) implementation programmes in the

growth of their countries.

It is to answer to those requests that FAO and ILO with the New Partnership for

Africa's Development (NEPAD) are partnering within the Rural Futures programme, in an

innovative pilot initiative using approaches and mechanisms that aims at leverage the

forces of globalization for the benefit of rural youth populations.

The aim of this paper is to analyse the rural youth situation in Africa and outlining

the joint cooperation in a coherent and integrated innovative mechanism and approach

based around the application of a people-centered market systems development

approach using youth and gender sensitive angles towards the promotion and green and

decent jobs. While at the same time, taking into account that the transformation of rural

areas in Africa is slowly happening but in a context of rapid globalization making any

change in an individual national economy potentially, if given the appropriate support,

interactive with the rest of the world opening new markets and therefore country-specific

transformation policies should be tailored to respond to both the domestic and

international trends while looking at their youth cohorts.

4 http://au.int/en/summitfr/sites/default/files/AYF%20-%20recommend-Addis%202011Eng-Rev-1_0.pdf

6

MDG Target 1.B

―Achieving full and productive employment and decent work for all including women and young people‖

Target 1B indicators:

1.4 Growth rate of GDP (gross

domestic product) per person employed (labour productivity)

1.5 Employment-to-population ratio

1.6 Proportion of employed people living below (US) $1 (PPP) per day (working poor)

1.7 Proportion of own-account and contributing family workers in total employment (vulnerable employment rate)

Introduction

The numbers of young people are growing fast in developing countries. This is

especially evident in sub-Saharan Africa where, in some countries, more than 60 per cent

of the population is less than 25 years old5. A large and increasing youth cohort poses

significant pressure on the labour market. The consequences of failing to provide job

opportunities for young men and women can be far-reaching. Under-employed rural

young people, particularly those who are frustrated and idle because they have failed to

find decent jobs after migrating to urban centres, potentially contribute to social unrest,

crime and even armed conflicts. Initiatives that improve the opportunities for young

people to take part in decent agricultural and non-agricultural work provide large benefits

for social harmony, as well as for poverty reduction and food security. Indeed with the

right policies the influx of young job seekers can become a key asset in the development

process as rising labour supply provides an

opportunity for enhanced long-term growth.

Moreover, since 2005, the first Millennium

Development Goal to “eradicate extreme poverty

and hunger” includes target 1.B that encourages

the achievement of full and productive

employment and decent work6 for all including

women and young people7. This target

acknowledges the centrality of employment

promotion for the achievement of food security

and poverty reduction. Today, some 300 million

young people worldwide work for less than US$ 2

a day8.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of

the United Nations (FAO)9 leads international

efforts to alleviate hunger and mitigate poverty.

FAO serves developed, transitioning, and

developing countries. Achieving food security for

all is at the heart of FAO's efforts, that is, to make

sure people have sustained access to enough

high-quality nutritive food to lead active, healthy

lives. To this end, agriculture plays a pivotal role

in the rural economy of most developing countries. Support to rural youth and young

farmers has been part of FAO‘s work for the last four decades. This has occurred in the

form of strengthening and expanding young people‘s capacities, knowledge, and skills

through education and training. FAO recognizes that the multidimensional issues facing

young people in rural areas are interwoven but also recognizes that young people are

well suited and keen to contribute to national economic development. In order to enable

5 UNDESA World Population Prospects – 2010 Revision 6 The ILO Decent Work Agenda is the balanced and integrated programmatic approach to pursue

the objectives of full and productive employment and decent work for all at global, regional, national, sectoral and local levels. It has four pillars: standards and rights at work, employment creation and enterprise development, social protection and social dialogue.

(http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/decent-work-agenda/lang--en/index.htm) 7 http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/poverty.shtml 8 World Bank 2009 9 http://www.fao.org/

7

the rural youth to become active partners in the achievement of economic and social

goals they must receive adequate support and access to resources that allow them to

reach their full potentials. FAO is supporting the implementation of the Comprehensive

Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP)10, the strategic agricultural

framework of the African Union (AU)11 and the New Partnership for Africa‘s Development

(NEPAD)12. CAADP is an African-owned programme that strives to increase economic

growth in Africa through agriculture-led development and agricultural reform. With the

objective of increasing public investment in agriculture to a minimum of 10 percent of

national budgets, CAADP aims at achieving an annual agricultural growth rate of 6

percent by 2015. A key principle of the CAADP framework is the emphasis on African

ownership, which calls for national capacity building. The national CAADP implementation

processes and the Agriculture Investment Plans (AIPs) present an important instrument

and opportunity to practically and concretely integrate objective and evidence-based

mechanisms and programmes to address youth and decent employment in a gender

sensitive manner.

The International Labour Organization (ILO)13 is the UN specialized agency which

seeks the promotion of social justice and internationally recognized human and labour

rights. The ILO formulates international labour standards in the form of Conventions and

Recommendations setting minimum standards of basic labour rights: freedom of

association, the right to organize, collective bargaining, abolition of forced labour,

equality of opportunity and treatment, and other standards regulating conditions across

the entire spectrum of work related issues. It provides technical assistance primarily in

the fields of vocational training and vocational rehabilitation; employment policy; labour

administration; labour law and industrial relations; working conditions; management

development; cooperatives; social security; labour statistics and occupational safety and

health. It promotes the development of independent employers' and workers'

organizations and provides training and advisory services to those organizations. Within

the UN system, the ILO has a unique tripartite structure with workers and employers

participating as equal partners with governments in the work of its governing organs.

Consultations with rural youth and their organizations have been undertaken by

FAO in the past couple of years while designing rural employment programmes for them

and during the pre-AU Summit events held in Addis Ababa (1-6 April 2011)14 in which

both FAO and ILO were part of the steering committee members. Youth representatives

expressed their views and requests, as well as their wishes to be actively involved in the

contribution to the rural development of their countries and to be formally involved and

included through the CAADP implementation programmes in the growth of their

countries. It is further to the youth organizations and representatives requests that the

FAO and ILO are partnering with the NEPAD under the Rural Futures Programme15 and

within the CAADP process. The partnership focuses on one major key challenge, namely

how rural youth can access and benefit from decent and productive employment

opportunities and access markets. Furthermore, the Assembly of Heads of State and

Government of the African Union (AU) declared, during its last Executive Council held in

January 2009 in Addis Ababa, the years 2009-2019 as the Decade of Youth Development

10 http://www.nepad-caadp.net/ 11 http://www.au.int/ 12 http://www.nepad.org/ 13 http://www.ilo.org/global/lang--en/index.htm 14 http://au.int/en/summitfr/sites/default/files/AYF%20-%20recommend-Addis%202011Eng-Rev-1_0.pdf 15 http://www.nepad.org/foodsecurity/knowledge/doc/1736/rural-futures-programme

8

MDG 2

Achieve Universal Primary

Education Target 2a: Ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling

Target 2A indicators: 2.1 - Net enrolment ratio in primary education 2.2 - Proportion of pupils starting grade 1 who reach last grade of primary 2.3 - Literacy rate of 15-24 year-olds, women and men

in Africa16. The decade is an opportunity to advance the agenda of youth development in

all member states across the AU, to ensure effective and more ambitious investment in

youth development programmes and increased support to the development and

implementation of national youth policies and programmes and facilitate the

implementation of the African Youth Charter (AYC)17.

1. Rural youth situation analysis

Youth18 is a time of transition: from childhood to adulthood; from dependency on

others to independence through paid employment19. In poor rural settings, this transition

seems particularly problematic, as evidenced by extensive periods of job search. Several

factors can be identified for this situation, including insufficient or inadequate education

and vocational training; a lack of access to productive resources; and limited support

from networks, such as producer organizations

and cooperatives. Young people also typically find

it harder than older adults to gain access to credit,

due both to missing collateral and reliability in the

eyes of potential lenders. This limits their ability

to invest in their economic activities or start a new

business. For those wishing to stay in the

agricultural sector, the lack of new arable land

often results in marginal and unsuitable land

being used for cultivation. Insufficient access to

support networks is a common obstacle for rural

youth to establish or expand a business and

access markets. Support from producer

organisations and cooperatives can also help

improve the bargaining position in more vertically

integrated production and distribution processes.

Although improving, educational

attainment still lags behind internationally agreed

objectives such as Millennium Development Goal

220. Many countries in Africa have not yet

reached universal primary schooling, and literacy

16 http://www.au.int/en/summit/sites/default/files/Final%20African%20Youth%20Decade%202009-2018.pdf 17 http://www.africa-union.org/root/ua/conferences/mai/hrst/charter%20english.pdf 18 The United Nations defines youth, as those persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years, (without prejudice to other definitions by Member States). Children are those persons under the age of 14. It is worth noting that Article 1 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines ‗children‘ as persons up to the age of 18, the age overlap was intentional, as it was hoped that the Convention would provide protection and rights

to as large an age-group as possible and because there is no similar United Nations Convention on the Rights of Youth. Employment must comply with the Minimum Age Convention adopted by the ILO in 1973. The convention has adopted minimum ages varying from 14 to 16 and requires ratifying states to pursue a national policy designed to ensure the effective abolition of child labour and to raise progressively the minimum age for admission to employment or work (http://social.un.org/index/Youth/FAQ.aspx) 19 Persons in employment comprise all persons above a specified age who during a specified brief period, either one week or one day, were in the following categories: i) paid employment, ii) self employment. Context: persons who during a specified brief period such as one week or one day, (a) performed some work for wage or salary in cash or in kind, (b) had a formal attachment to their job but were temporarily not at work during the reference period, (c) performed some work for profit or family gain in cash or in kind, (d) were with an enterprise such as a business, farm or service but who were temporarily not at work during the reference period for any specific reason. (ILO Resolutions Concerning Economically Active Population, Employment, Unemployment and Underemployment Adopted by the 13th International Conference of Labour Statisticians, October 1982, para. 9). 20 http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/education.shtml

9

Box 1 - Incidence of

poverty among youth (15-24) in % in Sub-Saharan Africa Uganda 93.8 Nigeria 92.9 Zambia 86.3

Burundi 85.7

Mozambique 75.4 Ethiopia 70.7 Sierra Leone 68.0 Ghana 66.5 Malawi 66.3

Kenya 54.5 Côte d‘Ivoire 46.5 Source: World Bank survey-based harmonized indicators

rates remain alarmingly low in many rural areas, especially among young girls. Rural

youth are among the most disadvantaged groups as they often have limited access to

educational programmes that address their specific situations and needs. This results in

high dropout rates at an early age. Curricula are often geared more toward academic

accomplishments and to urban-focused studies than to (learning) useful skills that

enhance rural livelihoods. The resulting low enrollment

rates, coupled with low completion rates, have

contributed to the difficult transition into quality

employment. As a compounding factor, education can

be cost prohibitive and sometimes viewed as

unnecessary in an agricultural society that is

dependent upon farm work. Therefore, most rural

youth remain poor—three out of every four live on less

than US$ 2 per day—lacking the resources and skills to

be competitive (Box 1 - Incidence of poverty among

youth - 15-24 - in % in Sub-Saharan Africa).

Child labour21 also poses an additional

challenge. Apart from harming the physical and mental

development of children, excessive work in generally

low quality and sometimes even hazardous activities is

often associated with premature school leaving or

indeed with never going to school. Worldwide, 60

percent of child labour can be found in agriculture22.

The ILO estimates that there are globally 215 million child labourers between 5 and 17

year old, just over half of these children, 115 million, are estimated to work in the worst

forms of child labour, in sub-Saharan Africa, one quarter of all children aged 5-15 are

estimated to be working. Almost 50 percent of all employed youth in the age-group 15-

17 are involved in the worst forms of child labour, often in the agricultural sector23.

As a way to escape poverty, many youth look for better opportunities through

migration. Urban and rural poverty are very much interlinked and urban work or

prospects of work often encourage migration from the rural areas to the cities. It

therefore seems intuitive to address rural poverty in order to make sustainable progress

also as regards urban poverty. Today, the needs and challenges of rural young people

are greater than ever, but, at the same time, the demand and opportunities for talented

professionals are numerous. Several studies have highlighted the importance of

agricultural and rural development for economic growth and poverty reduction24. Rural

21 The term child labour is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development. It refers to work that: 1) is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and 2) interferes with their schooling by: i) depriving them of the opportunity to attend school; ii) obliging them to leave school prematurely; or iii) requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work. In its most extreme forms, child labour involves children being enslaved, separated from their families, exposed to serious hazards and illnesses and/or left to fend for themselves on the streets of large cities – often at a very early age. Whether or not particular forms of ―work‖ can be called ―child labour‖ depends on the child‘s age, the type and hours of work performed, the conditions under which it is performed and the objectives pursued by individual countries. The answer varies from country to country, as well as among sectors within countries (ILO definition). 22 ILO 2010 23 ILO 2010 24 Among others:

10

youth can play a central role in this process. For one, they are open to new and

innovative production techniques that will help raise agricultural productivity. They also

tend to be more flexible when adjusting to new income generating activities that continue

to become increasingly important in rural settings. Despite their potential, young people

face several challenges in finding employment. Those who find a job usually work in the

informal sector with bad pay, low job security and insufficient social protection.

Underemployment, i.e. working below ones capacities in terms of time and skills or

ability to generate a living wage, is also widespread among rural youth. Many jobs in the

agricultural sector, for example, have a strong seasonal component, hence work might

only be needed during certain times of the year.

The challenge of youth employment has also an important gender dimension25.

The vast majority of

rural poor in Africa are

smallholders and the

majority of these

smallholders are young

girls and women (Box 2

– Typical African

youth). African farmers

struggle with many

constraints. Among

them are lack of access

to modern technologies,

capital investments and

supportive research;

lack of participation in

decision making; and

vulnerability to

ecological shocks.

Farmers who are young

women face the added

burden of juggling

multiple responsibilities and systematic prejudice in land rights and political

representation. To boost the agricultural sector and reduce poverty requires to

understand the specific issues facing young women farmers (and smallholder farmers in

general) and develop policies that enhance their rights and meet their needs. Young rural

women are generally the last to be hired and the first to be fired; they are

World Bank Agriculture, Rural Development, and Pro-poor Growth http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTARD/Resources/PPG_final.pdf and http://go.worldbank.org/BR4VX141Q0; DFID Agriculture, growth and poverty reduction http://dfid-agriculture- consultation.nri.org/summaries/wp1.pdf; OECD - Agricultural Transformation, Growth and Poverty Reduction http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/25/27/46767135.pdf IFAD - Achieving the Millennium Development Goals: Rural Investment and Enabling Policy http://www.ifad.org/events/gc/28/panel/e.pdf FAO - SOFA 2010-2011 http://www.fao.org/publications/sofa/en/ 25

Gender equality means that women and men have equal conditions for realizing their full human rights and

for contributing to, and benefiting from, economic, social, cultural and political development. Gender equality is therefore the equal valuing by society of the similarities and the differences of men and women, and the roles they play. It is based on women and men being full partners in their home, their community and their society. Gender equality starts with equal valuing of girls and boys. (ABC of Women Worker‘s Rights and Gender Equality, ILO, 2000 and http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/conceptsandefinitions.htm).

Box 2 - Typical African Youth Country

Location Gender Age

Burundi Rural 93.9% Female 54.9% 18 Côte

d‘Ivoire

Urban 46.8% Female 51.9% 19

Cameroon Rural 56.4% Female 52.5% 19 Kenya Rural 81.0% Female 51.9% 19 Mozambique Rural 76.9% Female 52.3% 19 Uganda Rural 82.8% Female 51.3% 18 Zambia Rural 59.8% Female 52.8% 19

Malawi Rural 87.4% Female 52.7% 19 Sierra Leone

Rural 51.9% Female 52.4% 18

Median African Youth

Poor Rural Female Little

educated

Little job

opportunities

Source: World Bank survey-based harmonized indicators

11

overrepresented in the share of informally and/or temporarily employed; and often face

the harshest and most hazardous working conditions. While the global gender gap in

youth unemployment is relatively small (at 0.3 percent)26, it might disguises the true

level of labour market discrimination. Inequalities are also particularly striking in areas

where cultural traditions push women into unpaid family work. Closing the gender gap in

agriculture could reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 12-17 percent,

thereby reducing the number of hungry by at least 100 million people, according to

FAO27. Official statistics indicate that youth unemployment is about three times higher

than in other age groups, the true number of young people without a job might even be

higher as the dire situation on the labour market will discourage many to even look for

employment.

Those that find a job usually work in the informal sector28 with bad pay, low job

security and insufficient social protection. In sub-Saharan Africa an estimated three

quarters of jobs held by people aged 15 and above are considered vulnerable

employment29. Evidence suggest that the resulting underemployment is particularly

prevalent among young people. As a result, many young people seek employment

opportunities out of rural areas (in cities or abroad). More than one third of all migrants

in developing countries are between 15 to 24 years old, and rural youth are 40 percent

more likely to move to urban areas than other age groups30. Many rural communities are

ageing precisely because, in the absence of incentives to remain there, young women

and men are leaving rural areas to seek opportunities elsewhere. Rural-urban migration

can have positive effects – e.g. through remittances, a potential skill transfer, and an

increase of human and financial capacities when the migrants return home.

Today‘s generation of young people is the largest in history. In developing

countries, young people make up on average 20 percent of the population31, and as such

they represent a huge potential resource to those countries. Yet ironically, rural areas are

not benefiting fully from this resource. Young women and men who live in rural areas are

the world‘s future farmers, entrepreneurs and leaders. The challenges of meeting future

food demand, developing vibrant rural centres and promoting broad-based economic

growth in developing countries depend on them. These are compelling reasons to place

rural young people and smallholder agriculture at the forefront of global strategies for

food security, poverty reduction and income growth. Consequently, the main objective of

a sustainable development strategy should be to integrate qualified young people into

rural labour markets where youth can contribute to building the foundations of long-term

economic growth. Responding to the challenges of enhanced agricultural productivity and

rural economic growth demands at least the following: i) investment in social and

economic infrastructure in rural areas; ii) the provision of expanded opportunities for

young men and women to build the capacity and skills that they need to take advantage

of these opportunities, especially if rural-urban linkages are leveraged; and, iii) the

26 World Bank 2010 27 FAO - The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) 2010-2011, Women in Agriculture – Closing the Gender Gap http://www.fao.org/publications/sofa/en/ 28 The term informal sector describe the activities of the workers who are working but not recognized, recorded, protected or regulated by the public authorities (ILO International Labour Conference 90th Session 2002, Report VI – Decent Work and the Informal Economy). http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc90/pdf/rep-vi.pdf 29 ILO Global Employment Trends, 2011 30 UNDESA 2010 31 UNDESA 2010

12

creation of remunerative economic opportunities for young people in agriculture and in

the rural non-farm economy.

The global population is projected to increase from the current 6.9 billion to 9.2

billion by 205032. Projections show that global food production will have to increase by 70

percent to sustain this growing population. Agriculture in developing countries will need

to play a much greater role than it does today in contributing to global food security (and

distribution). Smallholder agriculture is not only vital in helping to feed a growing global

population, it also forms the basis of rural economic development and can promote pro-

poor growth, which benefits both the non-rural economy and the rural one. If smallholder

agriculture in developing countries is to thrive in the coming years, it will have to deal

with a number of important challenges.

Smallholder farmers33 will need to increase their productivity, exploit new trade

opportunities, and link up better to national and global markets. They will need to

commercialize their production systems using the most appropriate farming methods and

technologies and, increasingly, farm ‗as a business‘. However, the resources on which

their livelihoods depend have become degraded due to population growth, unsustainable

patterns of use (such as inappropriate use of agrochemicals, overexploitation of water

sources, deforestation, overgrazing and overfishing), and ineffective policies and

institutions. While smallholder farming must become more productive, it must also

become more environmentally sustainable. Moreover, natural resource degradation is

compounded by climate change, and smallholder farmers will face growing climatic

uncertainty and stress. Agriculture has to become more resilient to the shocks that are

already becoming ever-more frequent. Food price volatility a major threat to food

security34 is another major challenge smallholders are facing, among the root causes of

volatility identified by experts, there are, insufficient information on crop supply and

demand, poor market transparency, unexpected changes triggered by national food

security situations, panic buying and hoarding, as well as a decline in national

investments in agriculture35. In order for smallholder agriculture to respond to these

multiple challenges, it will need to be more innovative and knowledge-intensive than it is

today. The next generation of farmers will be at the forefront of this knowledge-intensive

agriculture: substantial and sustained investments in that generation are essential if their

energies and ambitions are to be harnessed.

In the past years several training programmes have started to adopt holistic

approaches, confirming the benefits of combining support to school and vocational

training with employment promotion. Programmes seem particularly successful if they

32 UN DESA 33 The concept of small farms can be approached from a variety of angles. Small-scale agriculture is often, albeit not always appropriately, used interchangeably with smallholder, family, subsistence, resource-poor, low-income, low-input, or low-technology farming (Heidhues and Brüntrup 2003). Examples of definitions: i) The World Bank‘s Rural Strategy defines smallholders as those with a low asset base, operating less than 2 hectares of cropland (World Bank 2003);ii) FAO defines smallholders as farmers with ―limited resource endowments, relative to other farmers in the sector‖ (Dixon, Taniguchi, and Wattenbach 2003); iii) Narayanan and Gulati characterize a smallholder ―as a farmer (crop or livestock) practicing a mix of commercial and subsistence production or either, where the family provides the majority of labour and the farm provides the principal source of income‖ (2002). 34 Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/y4671e/y4671e06.htm#TopOfPage). 35 2011 - Committee on World Food Security – High Level Panel of Experts http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/hlpe/hlpe_documents/HLPE-price-volatility-and-food-security-report-July-2011.pdf

13

Box 3 – NEPAD, FAO & ILO shared vision

are tailored to the local situation, address the specific needs of young women, and are

targeted to low income/poorly educated young people. Improving labour market

information systems, building on community involvement, and promoting the

development of youth associations are other factors that determine the success of

interventions.

2. Towards more decent and green jobs for the youth

FAO-ILO4NEPAD partnership and technical cooperation

Despite tangible economic progress over the past 20 years, Africa needs to lift

over 400 million people out of poverty while employing the additional 215 million young

men and women expected to join the labour force in sub-Sahara Africa over the next

decade – 130 million in rural areas. With 70 percent of Africans that still will continue to

rely on the rural

sector for their

livelihoods36, rural

development must be

recognized as a critical

component to the

development agenda.

The framework

of technical

cooperation proposed

in the following

responds to this call

from the African Union

while addressing also

the requests of rural

youth organizations. It

outlines an innovative

approach for rural

economic

development jointly

developed by the ILO

and the FAO, with a roadmap for piloting its first application in selected African countries

(Box 3 – NEPAD, FAO and ILO shared vision).

The challenge to be addressed through the technical cooperation between NEPAD,

FAO and ILO is the promotion of decent and green jobs for youth in African rural

economies through the development of sustainable businesses.

The Rural Futures Initiative37 launched by the AU and the NEPAD seeks to

promote this debate on rural economic development by way of exploring alternative

development models that ―promote broad-based rural economic development and

36 Humans inherently develop and implement strategies to ensure their survival. A livelihood comprises the

capabilities, assets (including both material and social resources) and activities required for a means of living. A livelihood is sustainable when it can cope with and recover from stress and shocks and maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets both now and in the future, while not undermining the natural resource base. (Chambers & Conway, 1991) 37 http://www.nepad.org/foodsecurity/knowledge/doc/1736/rural-futures-programme

14

Box 4 - Decent and Green jobs

reduction of poverty and inequality including securing decent jobs and sustainable

livelihoods‖; these models should reflect an ―inclusive multi-dimensional approach to

socioeconomic transformation‖ that ―encompasses micro-, meso and macro-level policies

and interventions.‖38

The rural economy39, here, is defined as a distinct economic sub-system where

people seek to generate value added from the exchange of goods and services typically

related to the production of food and/or harvesting of raw materials like wood.40

Decent work is defined as gainful and productive employment in conditions of

freedom, equity, security and dignity. Green jobs are defined as jobs that contribute

substantially to preserving or restoring environmental quality, including jobs that help to

protect ecosystems and biodiversity, reduce energy, material and water consumption

through high-efficiency strategies, de-carbonize the economy and minimize or altogether

avoid generation of all forms of waste and pollution (Box 4 – Decent and Green Jobs).41

38 Quoted from the Final Communiqué of the Rural Futures Strategic Briefing Meeting held in Addis Ababa,

Ethiopia, 25-26 May 2011, p2 39 While, Rural Employment refers to any activity, occupation, work, business or service performed by rural people for remuneration, profit, social or family gain, or by force, in cash or kind, including under a contract of hire, written or oral, expressed or implied, and regardless if the activity is performed on a self-directed, part-time, full-time or casual basis. Rural employment is comprised of agricultural employment, which includes both on-farm self-employment and wage employment in the agricultural sector, as well as non-agricultural employment, which includes non-farm self-employment and wage employment. 40 The borderlines delineating this space from the non-rural economy are typically diffuse and the main parameter for what constitutes value added (like satisfaction of physiological needs, social status and self-actualization) are thought to be generic for both rural and urban folk, but the weight attributed to each parameter by rural people is thought to differ – accordingly, the distinction between rural and non-rural economy would need to be drawn along the benchmarks for at least satisfactory value added attributed by the people interacting in the market place. 41 For more information on the terms and definitions underpinning green and decent work and sustainable enterprises refer to ILO-UNEP 2007 Green Jobs report.

15

Box 5 – Sustainable businesses

Sustainable businesses (Box 5 – Sustainable businesses) are social systems that

seek critical balance between the interests of people (people dimension) and their natural

environment (environment dimension).42 Businesses are considered sustainable if they

meet or surpass minimum thresholds set for a catalogue of dimension-specific key

performance measures (pressure points) that can consequently translate into key

performance indicators for private sector development.

The proposed technical cooperation centers around the application of a people-

centered market systems development approach using youth and gender sensitive

angles. In this approach, businesses are treated as small systems being part of larger

economic sub systems that again are part of an economic system inextricably connected

42 In the people dimension, if the interests of people relate to the value added that each of them generates from economic interaction, then the financial performance of a business (as an expression of the value added for its owners) must be balanced with the financial performance of all other system stakeholders – in this view, social equity and economic performance are flipsides of the same coin.

16

to both other social systems in the people dimension (like the education system and the

political system) and to its natural environment. Any economic sub-system - in theory

even the global economic system as such - can become the reference point for a market

systems development effort. In practice, though, fast escalating complexity at higher

system levels and resource constraints will tend to limit the scope of the development

effort to a local economic territory, a single sector, an industry, a value chain, a cluster

or other ‗smaller‘ sub-systems. The market system is constituted by people interacting to

generate economic value added from the exchange of goods and services, and people

representing the interests of the environment dimension and its non-human stakeholders

along the transaction process. In the model, these people are typically represented

through organizations (like unions, business associations, environmental pressure

groups, youth associations, farmers‘ federation, producers‘ associations, government

agencies etc.) but

pending the size of

the chosen sub-

systems - or the role

played by a given

person - they might

also be depicted as

individuals. These

organizations are

grouped according to

their core function

across three system

levels (Box 6 – Market

system and web of

interactions).

The web of

interaction between

organizations

(representing the

people making up the

social system) is

typically complex; the

connections between

these organizations

are multiple, some

organizations are

more connected than

others (they form

network hubs),

circular and the

relationships often cut

across system levels.

The aim of the

approach, therefore,

is not to mirror the actual complexity of the system, but to depict the principal actors and

the cause-effect relationships linking them across system levels. It thus paves the way

Box 6 - Market system and web of interactions

17

for analyzing the current system dynamics and next to foster, where necessary also

rewire or newly create connections between stakeholders for improved interaction. In the

process, and mindful of circular feedback loops linking people in any complex social

system, the web of economic interaction is considered as a closed sphere where

everything that ‗goes around eventually comes around‘ to stakeholders, including

externalized environmental costs and lack of regard for fundamental rights at work.

To develop the market system in practice, the sequence of steps visualized in Box

8 is advocated (Box 7 – Market systems development process). As indicated in the

graph, key emphasis is laid on the facilitation of dialogue among stakeholders in the

value chain, and collective action in support of doing sustainable business. Change is not

enforced top down by way of asymmetric power relations but facilitated through

collective action, ensuring in the process that all stakeholder are able to generate

sufficient value added to be willing to continue interacting.

Box 7 - Market systems development process

18

The proposed framework differs in a number of ways from the traditional

approach to private sector development.

3. Institutional aspects - The Comprehensive Africa

Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and the

New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)

In order to foster focused agricultural development in Africa, the African Union

(AU) and NEPAD have launched the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development

Programme (CAADP). Established by the AU assembly in 2003, CAADP focuses on

improving food security, nutrition, and increasing incomes in Africa's largely farming

based economies.

It aims to achieve this by raising agricultural productivity by at least 6 percent per

year and increasing public investment in agriculture to 10 percent of national budgets

per year. This has been endorsed by all Heads of State who have agreed to significantly

increase the share of national budgets allocated for agriculture and rural development.

Traditional approach to private sector

development

Market systems development

framework advocated by FAO-ILO

I. Sustainability equals profitability I. Sustainability equals critical

balance between the interests of

the people dimension and the

environment dimension

II. Product centered II. People centered

III. People are cost drivers III. People are the constituents of the

system

IV. The natural environment is

regarded mainly as a source of

production inputs – access is

infinite

IV. The natural environment ‗has a

voice‘ in the way business is done

– access is finite

V. Assumes linear and mechanistic

cause effect relationships between

businesses

V. Assumes circular cause effect

relationships among people /

stakeholders representing them

VI. Change is imposed in often

asymmetric power relationships

VI. Change is facilitated by way of

social dialogue / communication

between people

VII. Pipeline view of transactions

(input-throughput-output)

VII. Transactions are treated as closed

loops (―what goes around comes

around‖)

VIII. Modular view (focus on a single

dot)

VIII. Systemic view (―connect the

dots‖)

19

Box 8 – CAADP Pillars

Pillar 1 Land &

water

management

Pillar 1 aims to extend the area under

sustainable land management and reliable water control systems http://www.nepad-caadp.net/pillar-

1.php

Pillar 2 Market

access

Pillar 2 aims to increase market access through improved rural infrastructure and other trade-related interventions http://www.nepad-caadp.net/pillar-

2.php

Pillar 3 Food supply

and hunger

Pillar 3 aims to improve risk management, increase food supply,

improve incomes for the poor and reduce hunger and malnutrition http://www.nepad-caadp.net/pillar-3.php

Pillar 4

Agricultural

research

Pillar 4 aims to improve agricultural

research, technology dissemination and adoption through strengthened agricultural knowledge systems to deliver profitable and sustainable technologies that are widely adopted by farmers resulting in sustained agricultural growth

http://www.nepad-caadp.net/pillar-4.php

To achieve this goal, CAADP aims to stimulate agriculture-led development that

eliminates hunger and reduces poverty and food insecurity.

More specifically, the NEPAD vision for Africa holds that, by 2015, Africa should:

I. Attain food security;

II. Improve agricultural productivity to attain a 6 percent annual growth rate;

III. Develop dynamic regional and sub-regional agricultural markets;

IV. Integrate farmers into a market economy; and

V. Achieve a more equitable distribution of wealth.

The CAADP initiative takes a continent-wide view, but builds on national and

regional plans for the development of agriculture, it is entirely African-led and African-

owned and represents African leaders' collective vision for agriculture in Africa.

It contains a set of key principles and targets, in order to:

I. Guide country strategies

and investment

programmes;

II. Enable regional peer

learning and review; and

III. Facilitate greater

alignment and

harmonization of

development efforts.

CAADP works on four

thematic „pillars‟ (Box 8 –

CAADP pillars) that serve as

policy frameworks for national

and regional programmes for

investment and action in

pursuing increased and

sustainable productivity in

agriculture, forestry, fisheries

and livestock management.

These programmes at the

national and regional levels

follow a specific process in a

‗round table‘ format that result

in country and regional ‗CAADP

Compacts‘43. During the CAADP

country round tables key players

come together to assess the

43 CAADP Compacts http://www.caadp.net/pdf/investment.pdf

20

realities of their own particular situation and develop a road map for going forward. This

process leads to the identification of priority areas covering policy reforms and guiding

public and private investments and interventions through the CAADP Compact.

FAO actively supports NEPAD's goals and has assisted in writing the FAO/NEPAD

joint CAADP report, the adoption of which is an important step towards ensuring

agricultural stability and economic development in the region. The CAADP, drafted with

the participation of African Ministers of Agriculture, Regional Economic Organizations and

Financing Institutions, the UN Economic Commission for Africa and other regional and

sub-regional stakeholders, and with the technical collaboration of FAO, seeks to respond

to the immediate crisis situation facing African agriculture while building upon the long-

term conditions for development.

4. Youth and gender sensitive capacity development

approaches

Successfully addressing the youth employment challenge requires a coherent and

integrated response that recognizes the particularities of Africa, especially the very large

share of rural youth population.

In many countries interventions have focused on programs that are narrow in

scope, limited in time, and tailored more to urban areas. There is also a throughout

recognition of the need to work in partnership, in a transparent multi-stakeholding

mechanism hence coherence, coordination and cooperation are needed across different

national government institutions and agencies, at central and local levels and UN

agencies.

As mentioned in chapter 2, dialogue is key for a good multi-stakeholding process

and all types of stakeholders need to be involved in the decision process. There are many

forms of stakeholder engagement although certain basic principles and dimensions

should be adopted44:

o Inclusion – All the stakeholders should be included in the dialogue process.

o Openness – Dialogue should be open so that all stakeholders have a chance to say

their opinions.

o Tolerance – One opinion should not take precedence over others.

o Empowerment – Stakeholders should feel that they have the ability to affect the

structure, process, and outcomes of the process.

o Transparency – All the stakeholders involved should be given the information needed

to make sound decisions.

Initiatives/programmes to be included in the aforementioned partnership under

the Rural Futures and potentially for inclusiveness in the AIPs of the national

Governments should be selected for their adaptability to multi-stakeholding as well as for

their integrated and holistic approach, here below some youth friendly and gender

sensitive ones, tested and implemented either jointly or individually by UN agencies and

civil society.

44 Pedersen 2006

21

More info:

http://www.ilo.org/images/empent/static/seed/

SYBfs0307.pdf

More info: http://www.fao-ilo.org/fao-ilo-

youth/fao-ilo-jffls/en/

Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools (JFFLS)

Facebook group

https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/1650238

83567084/

FAO - Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools (JFFLS)

To address the specific challenges

faced by youth in rural areas, FAO initiated

the Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools

(JFFLS) approach in 2004 which to date has

been expanded to 16 countries in Africa,

Asia and the Middle East.

The JFFLS took inspiration from the

Farmer Field Schools (FFS)45 and has been adapted in a gender sensitive and youth

friendly way to young people and their needs combining support to vocational

educational training opportunities with employment promotion and access to markets

through the facilitation of inclusion in Farmers‘ Organizations and Federations while

benchmarking the creation of rural decent jobs in national employment programmes.

They are a concrete manifestation of the important linkages that exist between rural

employment, poverty reduction and food security.

The high adaptability of the learning approach to different countries‘ needs makes

it suitable to address different contexts (conflict, post-conflict, in transition, high

incidence of unemployment, food insecurity, poverty or HIV) and populations. It has been

included as one of the main activities in various United Nations Joint Programmes (UNJP)

for Youth Employment and Migration as well as emergency projects and Technical

Cooperation Programmes (TCPs) sponsored bilaterally by FAO and national Governments.

Field evaluations have shown that the approach has supported the development of

entrepreneurial and agricultural skills of the youth as well as their self-esteem, helping

them become healthy and positive young adults. Further, it strengthened national

institutions capacities to address rural youth employment at both operational/programme

and policy levels.

Main partners in the countries involved in the JFFLS are: Ministries of Agriculture,

Education, Labour, Youth, and Trade, Producers‘ and Farmers‘ Organizations and Unions,

Trade Unions, Fair Trade and Youth Organizations as well as UN agencies such as ILO,

UNEP and UNIDO. To date, approximately 20,000 young girls and boys have graduated

from the schools and 2,000 facilitators have been trained in the methodology.

ILO – Start Your Business (SYB)

The ILO‘s Start Your Business (SYB)

programme is a system of inter-related

training packages and supporting materials

for small-scale entrepreneurs in developing

countries and economies in transition.

SYB has been developed by the ILO in response to requests from member States

for a relevant, low-cost and effective business creation and management training

package that is suitable for the environment of developing countries. It assists in

meeting the employment challenge by contributing to the creation of quality jobs in the

small-scale enterprise sector through improved business performance. SYB is essentially

a training instrument, with integrated components for counseling, networking, promotion

45 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmer_Field_School

22

More info:

http://www.unido.org/fileadmin/import/82870_

malawi_FactsheetGC.pdf

of service institutions and policy dialogue. This very interactive training can be organized

flexibly according to clients‘ needs, takes approximately 5 days and is taught using

advanced adult training methodologies. The objective of SYB training is to enable

potential entrepreneurs to develop concrete, feasible and bankable business ideas to

start their own small business. By the end of the training course, these potential

entrepreneurs will have completed a basic business plan. The business plan will serve as

a blue print for the entrepreneur in starting up the business. SYB training is customized

for potential entrepreneurs who want to start micro- or small-scale businesses. To benefit

fully from SYB training, the potential entrepreneurs should be able to read and write.

Furthermore, they should have developed a concrete and feasible business idea prior to

SYB training.

SYB training is equally suitable for men and women in rural and urban areas, both

young and old. A standard SYB training course takes five days of classroom based

training plus at least one group counselling session after training. The counselling session

is preferably delivered within four weeks after training. After the counselling session, the

SYB trainer will link their clients to other relevant business development services and,

where applicable, to IYB business management training to consolidate the business

operations after the start-up. The SIYB programme has been implemented in over 90

countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The SYB component was added in 1991 and

an outreach study conducted in 2002 showed that SYB was the main training product

used in the SYB portfolio throughout the world.

UNIDO – Salima Agricultural Technology Trainings (SATECH)

For securing the socio-economic

foundation necessary for livelihood recovery

in rural communities, UNIDO has developed

the Salima Agricultural Technology

(SATECH) programme activities training in

collaboration with Malawi‘s Ministry of

Agriculture.

Workshops are conducted to identify economic interest groups in the target

villages, this allows stakeholders to determine some suitable labour-saving and income-

generating technologies that will help to support livelihood recovery. These include those

for agricultural productivity enhancing, animal draught implements, small-scale trades,

agricultural-related hand tools, and postharvest and food processing equipment. UNIDO

uses participatory project planning to identify existing traditional village structures and

organizations as key stakeholders for activities ownership.

SATECH disseminates gender-responsive technologies, reducing the labour burden

on female villagers. For example, village boreholes contributed to reducing time

consumed in fetching water and ensured access to clean and safe drinking. SATECH also

strengthens the participatory capacity of community-level grassroots organizations. Skills

and knowledge training sessions are creating trades people who are critical to community

reconstruction and development. The technical capacities of local artisans and their

associations are also assessed to identify potential for local manufacturing of the labour-

saving technologies provided. Local blacksmiths were subcontracted to make and repair

tools, further contributing to strengthen local economies. The SATECH trainings have

been successful in putting income generating resources and assets on the ground in

23

More info:

http://www.songhai.org/english/index.php?optio

n=com_content&view=article&id=70:songhai-

model&catid=47:songhai-model

vulnerable communities, and enabling poor, female headed households, orphan guardian

families, and the youth to use technology, to diversify and to increase agricultural and

non-agricultural income creating activities.

UNIDO‘s efforts to promote such labour saving implements in targeted

communities have helped to relieve the exhausting tasks in agricultural production and

as a result, communities and households are expanding the land under cultivation and

are directly addressing food security in the villages.

The Songhai Model

The Songhai model (and centre) was

founded in 1985 in Porto Novo, Benin

Republic, by Dr Godfrey N‘Zamujo, a

Dominican Father from Nigeria.

Songhai‘s main objective is to train

young agricultural entrepreneurs. Beside its training activities, Songhai aims to develop a

sustainable agricultural production system based on agrobiology.

The main achievements of the last two decades can be summarized as: i) More

than 200 students at any time attending 18-month training programmes in the sites of

Porto-Novo, Savalou, Parakou and Kinwédji, ii) More than 500 farms established and

managed by young people trained in Songhai centers, iii) More than 300 participants

from various backgrounds and countries taking part in different training courses each

year, iv) More than 40 partners from public and private institutions, NGOs and

international institutions (FAO and ILO with support from UNIDO will partner with their

training approaches within the Songhai Centre in Sierra Leone under the umbrella of the

UNJP for youth employment and empowerment).

The Songhai model has developed new approaches and farming system that rely

heavily on the combined inputs from local experiences, indigenous knowledge base on

one hand and business communities and research institutions on the other hand. Today,

the result is a robust, zero waste, integrated agro allied model promoting rural growth

through training, technology adoption and strong business and commercial strategy.

24

Box 9 – Youth and decent work integration in the CAADP Process

RE – Rural Employment

DW – Decent Work

5. Next Steps

FAO and ILO with the NEPAD are presently screening potential AIPs to start

implementing activities under the Rural Futures initiative and the inclusiveness of youth

and decent employment in the CAADP process could follow the path visualized in the

below graph (Box 9 – Youth and decent work integration in the CAADP process).

The strategic partnership under the Rural Futures programme focuses on one key

challenge, namely how rural youth can access and benefit from decent employment

opportunities and access markets.

Objectives

The partnership aims to:

o Strengthen the capacity of stakeholders in participating countries to analyze and

address youth and decent employment policy issues with a gender sensitive and

climate smart persective; and,

25

o Identify, test, and evaluate innovative policy, institutional, and programmes options

to improve rural youth employment opportunities and access markets.

Partnership Activities

The activities of the partnership will center on reviewing potential Agriculture

Investment Plans (AIPs) formulated under the CAADP process and identify joint

collaboration activities to be supported in capacity development, knowledge

management, development of innovation networks, and communications for rural youth

while strengthening their access to markets. The partnership will:

o Undertake an assessment of policies and regulations that affect rural youth

employment and access to markets that can support the sustainable improvement of

agricultural practices;

o Test innovative multi-stakeholding approaches and other institutional mechanisms for

increasing rural youth participation in agro-value chains;

o Develop and test best practices for evaluating the impact of rural youth inclusiveness

in market and government(s) failures and devising innovative approaches to reduce

their incidence;

o Identify demand constraints on given commodities and assess the governance factors

that influence market access for rural youth;

o Develop a scaling-up methodology based on agro-climatic and labour friendly and

market access

o Disseminate the identified options for improving market access for rural youth so that

they become incorporated into national policies and investment programs

o Synthesize the knowledge gained in a manual of best practices and an accessible

knowledge management system to facilitate access by AU national government for

replication in the various AIPs

Participating Countries

Participating countries for the implementing activities will be selected in a

transparent manner based on the following criteria aimed at maximizing the probability

of success:

o Status of CAADP compact in the country and status of AIP

o National priorities of the government towards rural employment and youth

o Presence of a supportive policy environment; and

o Ownership and engagement of national institutions, and various stakeholders

26

Implementation

Once the countries are selected, a round of consultations will take place to shape

the programme activities agenda and identify project sites and beneficiaries. The

agreements reached in each participating country will later be consolidated under an

umbrella memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the programme and the

concerned national institutions. During the program implementation period, other

potential stakeholders with ongoing field programmes in the participating countries may

be brought into the initiative.

6. Conclusions

As mentioned above, successfully addressing the youth employment challenge

requires a coherent and integrated response that recognizes the particularities of Africa,

especially the very large share of rural youth population.

In many countries interventions have focused on programs that are narrow in

scope, limited in time, and tailored more to urban areas. There is also a throughout

recognition of the need to work in partnership, in a transparent multi-stakeholding

mechanism hence coherence, coordination and cooperation are needed across different

national government institutions and agencies, at central and local levels and UN

agencies.

In the past few years, the political priority linked to youth employment has

brought policy-makers to recognize that achieving productive employment and work for

young people entails long-term action covering a range of economic and social policies

focusing on labor demand and supply while addressing both quantitative and qualitative

elements of youth employment. Governments, the social partners, civil society, the

international community, as well as the youth themselves, all have an important

contribution to give in order to address youth employment challenges. Finally, youth

specific policies need to be issued or revised to align them with other national policies

and priorities taking into account the national socio-economic contexts.

The national CAADP implementation process and the AIPs present therefore an

important instrument and opportunity to practically and concretely integrate objective

and evidence-based mechanisms and programmes to address youth and decent

employment in a gender sensitive manner.

27

Useful Websites

African Union http://www.au.int/ CAADP http://www.nepad-caadp.net/

FAO-ILO working together http://www.fao-ilo.org/ Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN http://www.fao.org/ International Labour Organization of the UN http://www.ilo.org/global/lang--en/index.htm International Movement of Agricultural Rural Youth (MIJARC)

http://www.mijarc.org/ NEPAD http://www.nepad.org/ UNIDO

http://www.unido.org/index.php TakingITGlobal http://www.tigweb.org/

World Bank Youthink http://youthink.worldbank.org/

Data of Interest46

Agriculture & Rural Development Agricultural irrigated land (% of total agricultural land) Agricultural land (% of land area)

Agricultural machinery, tractors per 100 sq. km of arable land Agriculture, value added (% of GDP) Agriculture value added per worker (constant 2000 US$)

Arable land (hectares per person) Arable land (% of land area) Cereal yield (kg per hectare) Crop production index (1999-2001 = 100)

Employment in agriculture (% of total employment) Fertilizer consumption (kilograms per hectare of arable land) Food production index (1999-2001 = 100) Forest area (% of land area) Forest area (sq. km) Improved water source, rural (% of rural population with access)

Land area (sq. km) Land under cereal production (hectares) Livestock production index (1999-2001 = 100) Permanent cropland (% of land area) Poverty gap at rural poverty line (%) Poverty headcount ratio at rural poverty line (% of rural population)

Rural population

Rural population (% of total population) Labor & Social Protection Employees, agriculture, female (% of female employment) Employees, agriculture, male (% of male employment) Employees, industry, female (% of female employment) Employees, industry, male (% of male employment)

Employees, services, female (% of female employment) Employees, services, male (% of male employment) Employment in agriculture (% of total employment) Employment to population ratio, 15+, total (%)

46 World Bank Open Data http://data.worldbank.org/

28

GDP per person employed (constant 1990 PPP $)

Labor force, total Labor participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15+) Labor participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15+) Labor participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15+)

Long-term unemployment, female (% of female unemployment) Long-term unemployment, male (% of male unemployment) Long-term unemployment (% of total unemployment) Unemployment, female (% of female labor force) Unemployment, male (% of male labor force) Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) Unemployment, youth female (% of female labor force ages 15-24)

Unemployment, youth male (% of male labor force ages 15-24) Vulnerable employment, female (% of female employment) Vulnerable employment, male (% of male employment) Vulnerable employment, total (% of total employment)

Poverty

Income share held by fourth 20% Income share held by highest 10% Income share held by highest 20% Income share held by lowest 10% Income share held by lowest 20% Income share held by second 20% Income share held by third 20%

Poverty gap at $1.25 a day (PPP) (%) Poverty gap at $2 a day (PPP) (%) Poverty gap at national poverty line (%) Poverty gap at rural poverty line (%) Poverty gap at urban poverty line (%) Poverty headcount ratio at $1.25 a day (PPP) (% of population) Poverty headcount ratio at $2 a day (PPP) (% of population)

Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty line (% of population)

Poverty headcount ratio at rural poverty line (% of rural population) Poverty headcount ratio at urban poverty line (% of urban population) Education Children out of school, primary, female

Children out of school, primary, male Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) Literacy rate, youth female (% of females ages 15-24) Literacy rate, youth male (% of males ages 15-24) Literacy rate, youth total (% of people ages 15-24) Primary completion rate, female (% of relevant age group) Primary completion rate, male (% of relevant age group)

Primary completion rate, total (% of relevant age group) Progression to secondary school, female (%) Progression to secondary school, male (%) Public spending on education, total (% of GDP)

Public spending on education, total (% of government expenditure) Ratio of female to male primary enrollment (%) Ratio of female to male secondary enrollment (%)

Ratio of female to male tertiary enrollment (%) Ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education (%) School enrollment, primary (% gross) School enrollment, primary (% net) School enrollment, secondary (% gross) School enrollment, secondary (% net)

School enrollment, tertiary (% gross) Environment Agricultural methane emissions (% of total) Agricultural nitrous oxide emissions (% of total) Fish species, threatened

29

Forest area (% of land area)

Forest area (sq. km) GEF benefits index for biodiversity (0 = no biodiversity potential to 100 = maximum) Mammal species, threatened Marine protected areas (% of territorial waters)

Methane emissions (kt of CO2 equivalent) Nitrous oxide emissions (thousand metric tons of CO2 equivalent) Organic water pollutant (BOD) emissions (kg per day) Organic water pollutant (BOD) emissions (kg per day per worker) Other greenhouse gas emissions, HFC, PFC and SF6 (thousand metric tons of CO2 equivalent) Plant species (higher), threatened Water pollution, chemical industry (% of total BOD emissions)

Water pollution, food industry (% of total BOD emissions) Water pollution, metal industry (% of total BOD emissions) Water pollution, other industry (% of total BOD emissions) Water pollution, paper and pulp industry (% of total BOD emissions) Water pollution, textile industry (% of total BOD emissions)

Water pollution, wood industry (% of total BOD emissions)

Social Development Adolescent fertility rate (births per 1,000 women ages 15-19) Economically active children, female (% of female children ages 7-14) Economically active children, male (% of male children ages 7-14) Economically active children, study and work, female (% of female economically active children, ages 7-14)

Economically active children, study and work, male (% of male economically active children, ages 7-14) Economically active children, total (% of children ages 7-14) Economically active children, work only, female (% of female economically active children, ages 7-14) Economically active children, work only, male (% of male economically active children, ages 7-14) Labor participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15+)

Labor participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15+)

Life expectancy at birth, female (years) Life expectancy at birth, male (years) Prevalence of HIV, female (% ages 15-24) Prevalence of HIV, male (% ages 15-24) Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%)

Ratio of female to male primary enrollment (%) Ratio of female to male secondary enrollment (%) Ratio of female to male tertiary enrollment (%) Ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education (%) Refugee population by country or territory of asylum Refugee population by country or territory of origin Share of women employed in the nonagricultural sector (% of total nonagricultural employment)

Unemployment, female (% of female labor force) Unemployment, male (% of male labor force) Vulnerable employment, female (% of female employment) Vulnerable employment, male (% of male employment)