The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) in
collaboration with the Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD)
hosting more than sixty young men and women, involved in diverse
agricultural value chains, at the FARA Secretariat in Accra. The
participants have been drawn from twenty-six countries across the region.
The three-day workshop is being organized as part of FARA’s
efforts to effectively scale up proven innovative technologies within the
Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT)’s ten tier one
countries and subsequently across the continent. This role is within the
context of the Capacity Development and Technology Outreach Enabler Compact
(CDTO) which is FARA’s commitment to TAAT.
TAAT is an initiative of the African Development Bank (AfDB)
aimed at improving the business of agriculture across Africa as part of the
Feed Africa Program.
The main objective of the youth workshop is to develop a set
of guidelines on strategic engagement and capacity development of youth focused
on agripreneurship and scaling of technologies for increased productivity.
Opening the workshop on behalf of the Executive Director of
FARA, Dr. Irene Annor-Frempong, Director for Research and Innovation urged the
participants to leverage the opportunities and platforms that the workshop
offers so that will be able to impact their communities when they return to
their home countries. She encouraged the participants to stay invigorated so
they will be able to achieve the set objectives.
Over the course of the workshop, participants will explore
the diverse youth engagement initiatives in the various countries, brainstorm
on ideas for a continental Youth Engagement Strategy, draft cases of experience
capitalization, be taken through TAAT value chains, Innovation Platforms and
Knowledge Management among others.
It is expected that deliberations at this workshop will lead
to the development of a practical and realistic action plan to strengthen youth
initiatives for technology deployment. This includes reinforcing activities of
the youth activities within the YPARD Africa network for example.
Also, the documentation of the capitalized experiences of
youth engaged in agri-preneurship will help identify opportunities for youth
employment. Youth and women-led enterprise development will also be identified
within the TAAT value chains through innovation platforms.
Eventually, the discussions are expected to validate the
existing draft framework on what will be more effective in building capacity
for agri-preneurship development within TAAT value chains, as well as key areas
to focus on, when developing Africa’s youth agri-preneurship strategy.
Sourced from: FARA Africa
