Youth Enterprise Support - The story so far
The Youth Enterprise Support (YES) that was set up by President John Dramani Mahama in August 2014 has brought significant changes in the lives of beneficiaries and their communities.
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For those who have benefited from the intervention, running their own businesses has helped them as young entrepreneurs to achieve economic independence, reducing their reliance on the state and family and helped them to create additional jobs.
A total of 107 beneficiaries took advantage of the intervention, with 74 of them going into agriculture and agribusiness, 14 going into manufacturing and the remaining 19 in the services.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of YES, Mrs Helga Boadi, told the Daily Graphic the YES initiative supported beneficiaries to possess the requisite skills necessary to guarantee business sustainability and growth prior to funding.
“With a greater number of beneficiaries in the agriculture/agribusiness domain, it became imperative to offer additional training in agriculture entrepreneurship. It is in this vein that some beneficiaries underwent intensive training in poultry and livestock production as well as greenhouse training”, she recounted.
The training in modern practices, she explained, was a collaborative effort between YES and the University of Ghana through the Livestock and Poultry Research Centre (LIPREC) and Forest and Horticultural Crops Research Centre (FOHREC).
• The Chief Executive Officer of YES, Mrs Helga Boadi
Job creation
Mrs Boadi said YES encouraged its beneficiaries to employ other youth within the same age bracket of 18-35 years in their businesses.
Currently, a total number of full-time direct jobs created across the country by YES beneficiaries for other young people is estimated at a minimum of 428 over the past 12 months, while a minimum of 2,140 indirect jobs have also been created.
Regional representation
Sixty-three beneficiaries, who are scattered across the various geographical areas of the country, Mrs Boadi said, had been given direct financial support in predominantly agricultural areas, with a few going into the manufacturing sector.
Those in poultry and guinea fowl production are currently doing 36,250 broilers every six to eight weeks while grasscutter production stands at 80.
Four persons doing piggery are producing a total of 132 pigs over a six-month period, while one person, who is into rabbit production, is turning out 473 rabbits in a cycle.
In the aquaculture sector, two subjects of the programme are producing 93,000 tilapia in a 10-month cycle while two others are at advanced levels of the construction of cages and other facilities for the production of tilapia.
The two, when completed with their setup, are expected to add an additional 40,000 tilapia per cycle.
Women involvement
One unique aspect of the YES programme is the active involvement of women who are doing extremely well by all standards.
Sherifatu is in Accra and used to rear 80 cattle but with support from the programme, she is currently doing 210 cattle.
Eunice is in the Ashanti Region and her specialty is the extraction and packaging of fresh fruit juice. She is currently supplying her produce to two major health institutions in the region, including the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.
Luyusa is in the Eastern Region and working on producing tilapia while Rafiatu is making beads and other handicrafts in the Upper East Region.
In the Northern Region, Ayisha is making exploits in shea butter processing for the hair, body and for babies. She also produces coconut oil-infused black soap.
Regional distribution
In the Volta Region, a beneficiary is engaged in yam production at Kpassa in the Nkwanta North District, while other beneficiaries can be found at Battor, Likpe-Bakua, Vane and Ho.
Apart from Ayisha, who is into sheabutter processing in the Northern Region, another person is into poultry production at Tacheku while in the Western Region, some are doing printing and publishing, grasscutter and tilapia production in areas such as Juaboso, Eliukrom and Yametwa.
Hundred acres of land have been put to rice production in the Tolon Irrigation Project Area and another beneficiary is providing laboratory services at Kintampo in the Brong Ahafo Region.
Guinea fowl and poultry farming are taking place in Wa in the Upper West Region while Sritoese on the Kumasi-Bibiani road, Dida in the Atwima-Kwanwoma area, Kumasi, Ejisu and Onwe are areas in the Ashanti Region where beneficiaries are stationed and working.
Lessons learnt
Mrs Boadi said following the first call and interactions with applicants, YES identified two key areas for which further attention needed to be given, adding that partnership from relevant agencies would be welcomed.
The focus will be on enhancing rural entrepreneurship and promoting early entrepreneurship among university students and graduates.
Outlook for the future
Mrs Boadi looks into the future of the Ghanaian youth with untamed optimism. Her conviction is based on what she terms “the can-do spirit of the Ghanaian youth.”
According to her, based on what has been so far achieved, there is every possibility that the initiative is capable of delivering the much needed jobs for the youth, a possibility that has been accentuated by President Mahama’s promise of increasing the capital of YES to GH¢25 million as captured in the 2016 budget statement.
For her, the economic prosperity of Ghana lies in the guidance, resourcing and encouragement that can be provided to the youth of today to launch out and take their destinies into their own hands.
“That is the vision that informed the setting up of the programme by President Mahama and YES, the youth can,” she said.
