Wanted! Young Men and Women: Transforming Agricultural Value Chains

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2 Wanted! Young Men and Women: Transforming Agricultural Value Chains Global Youth Economic Opportunities Summit 2015 October 7, 2015

3 SESSION AGENDA 11:35 11:40 AM Introduction-Katy Vickland 11:40 11:45 AM Context and Overview-Rekha 11:45 11:55 AM Empowerment and Livelihoods for Adolescents: A tenancy model focusing on intensive support in agricultural training and inputs in Uganda-brac 11:55 12:10 PM 12:10 12:25 12:25 12:35 Education for Income Generation holistic model focusing on training to increase agricultural productivity and raise rural incomes for disadvantaged youth in East Africa and Nepal- Winrock International Applyit! Activity Q & A

4 Why Young Men and Women? ½ of world s people below 30 years Most live in developing countries Critical need for employment Unemployment rates in youth are 3x as much as for adults Unemployment among women typically 3x as much as for men

5 Why Agriculture? Agriculture still employs 60-70% of workers overall Also biggest employer of women Critical to grow agriculture work, income, nutrition, food security

6 Why Agricultural Value Chains? A valuable tool to: Identify opportunities for young men & women to: Invest Learn and apply new skills Contribute to agricultural & economic growth Make women visible Integrate them in development programs

7 ) Honey Value Chain (Ethiopia): Opportunities for young men and women (Source: Mayoux & Mackie, ILO, 2008)

8 Make women visible

9 Leveraging Agricultural Value Chains Hear now from BRAC and Winrock Creating opportunities for employment and income in AVC Building skills Growing agriculture

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11 Empowerment and Livelihoods for Adolescents: A tenancy model focusing on intensive support in agricultural training and inputs

12 Background Uganda s population grows at 3.2% per year. 78% of the population is below age of 30 and 64% of the youth are unemployed (UBoS,2012) Agriculture remains key determinant in the country s effort to reduce unemployment(mofped,2011). This opportunity remain untapped by youth especially girls due to limited access to land, quality seeds and advisory services. BRAC with ELA is focusing on improving livelihood for young girls using different approaches like financial credit to young entrepreneurs With support from MCF, and Stockholm University, ELA program has been implementing tenancy model to support youth in the value chain. This has been done through provision of land, seeds and trainings to young girls increase participation in value chain

13 Tenancy approach to Agriculture value chain BRAC Tenancy Model Land for cultivation Improved seeds Trainings: cultivation, postharvest marketing Markets Young farmer

14 Approach RCT study on 2000 farmers from 400 villages in west, central and eastern Uganda for 2 years i.e Conduct follow up survey after every harvest for 4 seasons Villages selected randomly from areas under ELA Program Eligible young girls between years who are members of ELA clubs Provide ½ acre of land, training and seeds every growing season Share percentage of crop yield with BRAC after harvesting

15 Farmer partcipation (%) Finding 1:Farmer participation in the value chain activities 45% 40% 35% 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Value chain activities Providing seeds, land and trainings on cultivation and postharvest technologies to farmers enhances participation in the chain resulting into increase production. Low investment in fertilizers and pesticides is as result of limited access to agricultural credit, poor infrastructure development is key obstacle to developing value chain.

16 Finding 2:Farmer Access to Price information source Information sources vary, but the most efficient are the markets because of variety of transactions that take place with competitive prices. Price information is a key motivation for farmers to participate in markets and the entire production chain

17 Finding 3:Markets centers where farmers sell their produce farm gate and village markets are more preferred because they are within communities where farmers live. Cooperatives have low access because farmers are not organized in groups for stronger and collective marketing.

18 RESULTS The highest number of farmers involved in agronomic activities and postharvest handling during growing season Input and training support offered by the project to farmers 29% of the farmers sell their products in village markets in their respective local communities About 500 farmers aged 20 to 30 sell their product, 366 farmers aged 10 to 20 sale their product Agricultural production for sale is the main income generating activity of the farmers in the project

19 Policy recommendations Need to increase access to agricultural loans to boost investment in inputs, value added chain technology, and thus productivity Investment in infrastructure for both transport and market centers is necessary to facilitate access to rural farmers Mobile phone applications for prices and advisory information is necessary for easy and efficient technology dissemination Future research question: measure the impact of access to agricultural loans for smallholder farmers on productivity

20 USAID/Nepal Education for Income Generation Holistic model focusing on training to increase agricultural productivity and raise rural incomes for disadvantaged youth

21 EIG Value Chain-WINROCK Increase Production Train Entrepreneurs Farmers Organize Market Input Supply Chain EIG Linkages Government partnerships Public/private partnerships Market

22 The Youth Voice

23 New jobs along the value chain for which EIG provided training Agrovets Local service providers (hired by agrovets, sell on commission etc.) Nursery operators Water Harvesters Input distributors (drip irrigation, tractors, etc.) Traders Drivers Vegetable retailers Micro irrigation technicians Plastic house technician

24 How can we successfully engage youth in agriculture? Farming as a profitable business Access to quality inputs (seeds, fertilizer, pesticide, TA) coupled with access to stable prices Youth Producer Groups The power of group dynamics to foster interest, provide support, pool resources, and negotiate prices Harnessing peer success a catalyst to attracting more youth to agriculture Identifying other opportunities beyond farming for youth

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26 Applyit! Activity Please come up and select a value chain worksheet Write on the value chain how and where to incorporate youth into the selected value chains Summary discussion Short Q & A / Closing

27 Huge Thank you!