The Former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Mr Olusegun Obasanjo, has urged African leaders to create the enabling environment to make agricultural more attractive to the youth.
According to him, such a move will help solve some of the unemployment challenges being experienced by the present youthful population on the African continent.
Mr Obasanjo made the call at a media interaction before the launch of the African Food Prize Award.
He said the agricultural business was one area that the youth could be engaged in because it was not capital intensive, yet very rewarding.
He said it was also necessary to reduce the current food shortage that was being experienced in many countries on the continent.
“There should be no food shortage in Africa but that is not what we see now, as climate change determines farming patterns,” he said.
The African Food Prize
The Africa Food Prize is to celebrate Africans who are taking control of the continent’s agricultural agenda and changing the reality of farming in Africa from a “struggle to survive to a business that thrives.”
It comes with a prize money of US$100,000 and puts a spotlight on bold initiatives and technical innovations that can be replicated across the African continent.
The African Food Prize began as the Yara Prize, which was established in 2005 by YARA International ASA in Norway, to honour achievements in African agriculture.
The Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and YARA have established a secretariat for the award and would continue to fund and support the prize.
Mr Obasanjo, who chairs the committee for this award, launched the award during the opening of the 12th Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) platform and said that the award would celebrate individuals and institutions.
“We want to celebrate individuals and institutions that are changing the reality of farming in Africa,” he noted.
How to nominate
Individuals, academic or research institutions, private or public organisations, corporate entities or government institution scan submit a nomination the African Food Prize.
The President of AGRA, Mrs Agnes Kalibata, said the initiative showed how AGRA was committed to the well-being of agro business on the continent.
He said many award schemes only focused on those at the top, but the African Food Prize was open to anybody who was in the agric business.
“I believe this award scheme would motivate the people in the agric industry to work hard and come up with new ideas that can grow the industry,” she noted.