Young Zimbabweans are poised to join their regional counterparts at the forthcoming Africa Agribusiness Youth Strategy (AAYS) Regional Dialogue, scheduled to take place in Malawi from August 1-2, 2024. This esteemed event is being organized by the African Union’s African Commission (AUC) in partnership with the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). The AAYS initiative seeks to foster an environment conducive to youth entrepreneurship, active engagement, and employment in agribusiness across the continent. This aligns with the SADC Industrialization Week’s resolutions, which emphasize the importance of youth participation in value chain industries and agribusiness.
*Pointers*
• Zimbabwean youths are encouraged to participate in the AAYS which serves as a continental framework that should be used at regional and national levels to develop context-specific youth agribusiness strategies that take into account all key elements. It is also expected to serve AU Member States as a reference tool that can be used to integrate youth agribusiness into National Agriculture Investment Plans, Youth Employment Strategies and Entrepreneurship Development Plans. Participation of Zimbabwean youths such as founder of Ash-Gric, Rukudzo Ashley Kavumbura, demonstrates the commitment that Zimbabweans are having in engaging in continental and regional programmes that lead to sustainable development.
• Given the increasing population, urbanization, and rising food demand, engaging youth in agribusiness is evidently an essential strategy to create employment and increase wealth for citizens in Africa. The programme underscores the need to increase awareness and uptake of the African Agribusiness Youth Strategy (AAYS) through the development, harmonization, domestication, and implementation of the strategy in the Southern African Region. This resonates well with the current wave of the Second Republic’s agricultural policy direction, aiming at retaining the bread basket status.
• In addition, it will identify challenges and opportunities in the domestication and implementation processes of the youth in agribusiness-related continental frameworks at the regional and national levels. The workshop provides a platform for the exploration of areas of collaboration and support needed to enable countries to domesticate and implement youth-focused programs that support youth in agribusiness. The Second Republic, through the Youth Service in Zimbabwe, has put in place youth specific programmes aimed at creating a live youth who is keen to participate in such regional and national developmental programmes.
• The dialogue is in recognition of the 2014 Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods. The Malabo Declaration calls for facilitating preferential entry and participation for women and youth in gainful and attractive agri-business opportunities. Zimbabwe expresses its firm commitment towards attaining an agrarian revolution in Africa, especially through creating job opportunities for at least 30% of the youth in agricultural value chains
