Agribusiness youth hubs across Africa have helped employ over 9,000 young people from rural areas in more than 2,225 enterprises across nine countries, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) of the United Nations has reported.
The youth outlets, financed via IFAD's Integrated Agribusiness Hubs program, give the rural youth an opportunity to obtain necessary skills for sustainable jobs and connect them to private companies and enterprises. The program is focused on working with companies that promote environmentally friendly initiatives in agriculture.
"Youth hubs are currently operating in 9 countries across the continent including Nigeria, Algeria and Cameroon. The agribusiness hubs play a vital role in tackling the huge issue of mass unemployment among young people in rural areas," Rahul Antao, IFAD’s technical specialist on youth, said.
He added that youth hubs "focus on building the capacity of entrepreneurial youth to either start up or expand an existing enterprise."
Tomilayo Hamzat, one of 5,500 people taking part in the Agrihub initiative in Nigeria, trained at the Soilless Farm Lab, where she learned how to grow vegetables using hydroponic methods, according to IFAD's website.
“When I learned about soilless farming, I thought this is actually different from what I learned in school and what I’ve been taught. This unique way of farming is one of the things that inspired me to continue in this line,” the participant shared.
Lionel Patrick Ateba from Cameroon struggled with finding a job after graduating, the website described.
“After my degree, my friends and I searched for jobs, but many businesses weren’t recruiting fresh graduates,” Ateba said.
However, he managed to join a youth hub, held by a "green" agribusiness Family Green Corp, which is funded by IFAD.
According to the UN, it is essential to develop green skills among the world's population in order to combat climate change and its effects. Therefore, the theme of International Youth Day, celebrated on Saturday, was "Green Skills for Youth: Towards a Sustainable World."