AfDB agric pact with Purdue varsity fires youths’ passions

Increasing youth engagement in profitable agriculture and agribusiness is critical for sustainable agricultural development.

For Miriam Ahuna Ofoeze, a young processor at the National Root Crops Research Institute in Umudike, Abia State, nothing now stands between her and her goal of becoming a successful agribusiness entrepreneur.
   
Thanks to an innovative training programme sponsored by the African Development Bank (AfDB) at Purdue University, Indianapolis, United States of America, as she is more convinced that she now has what it takes to become a future world food prize winner.

Interacting with conference attendees also increased my network, and I hope to collaborate with some of them soon,” she said.  
   
As part of its Empowering Novel Agri-Business-Led Employment Youth Program (ENABLE Youth), AfDB partnered Purdue University to expose seven young African agribusiness entrepreneurs to innovative opportunities to expand their technologies and agribusiness enterprises.
  
Enable Youth is a programme for young African people (18-35 years old) wanting to start a business in the agricultural sector, borne out of the Dakar High Level Conference on Agricultural Transformation in Africa.

It enjoys the support of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

ENABLE Youth is working to help launch 300,000 agribusinesses and create eight million jobs in some 30 African countries over the next five years.
 
“Above all, it is counting on young people to develop Africa’s agricultural future, an African agriculture that relies on innovation, technologies, and modernization of techniques and practices, as well as on the development of the value chain in the sector. Offering strong and strategic support to young agricultural entrepreneurs in Africa is in keeping with the High Five priorities the bank,” he added.
   
The ‘Scale Up Conference’, as the Indianapolis workshop was called, was a partnership between the AfDB and Purdue University, and focused on how sustainable agriculture technologies could be extended to millions of farmers to help feed the world’s growing population.
   
The mentorship programme involved a special ‘Firestarter’ at the Purdue Foundry, a business incubation hub, where Purdue professors provided useful insights on commercialising ideas and products. 
   
The group of seven selected from Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sudan and Zimbabwe, had interests spanning precision agriculture using drones, innovative nutrition solutions, seed production for indigenous crops, and mechanization in harvesting gum Arabica.

He noted that the training programme is designed to empower youth at each stage of the agribusiness value chain by harnessing new skills, technologies and financing approaches to help them establish viable and profitable agribusinesses.

Fregene added that the Scale Up Conference on innovation in agriculture helped participants gained better understanding of successful, sustainable large-scale implementation and best practices for expanding agricultural technologies.
   
Coordinator of the programme, Edson Mpyisi, said AfDB was working with African youth and women to catalyze entrepreneurship, facilitating access to technologies and networks.
   
“This will, in turn, create a thriving agribusiness sector in Africa, thereby increasing rural jobs and improving livelihoods while making agriculture attractive and profitable to youth,” he said.
  
For Elyse Habumukiza, a young entrepreneur, “Being a part of the Scale Up Conference helped me to expand my network of partners who will help me attain the mission of my agribusiness to eradicate the malnutrition problem.”
   
Commending the drive, passion and natural inclinations of the young entrepreneurs, Distinguished President, Fellow for Global Development at Purdue University, Carolyn Woo, said the foundry provided a systematic approach and discipline that would enable them to anticipate challenges and make critical decisions.