About 300 young agribusiness entrepreneurs from across the country have gathered in Accra for a three-day National Youth Dialogue aimed at equipping them with the knowledge and tools to take advantage of opportunities under the African Agribusiness Youth Strategy (AAYS).
The meeting, which opened yesterday, also aimed to familiarise young people with the African Union's continental strategy and help them position their businesses for larger regional and continental markets.
The dialogue brought together policymakers, civil society organisations, development partners and government agencies to identify practical ways of integrating the AAYS into the country’s policies, programmes, budgets and institutional frameworks to create greater opportunities for young people in agriculture.
Dubbed “Domesticating the AAYS and the Youth in Agrifood Systems Performance Index (YAPI) in Ghana, it was organised by AGRA with support from the African Union, Mastercard Foundation and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
It was on the theme, “Bridging policy to practice for youth participation in regional and continental markets”
The strategy promotes inclusiveness by recognising the needs of women, persons with disabilities and young people from diverse educational backgrounds, while encouraging innovation, technology adoption and environmentally sustainable agricultural practices.
The Country Programme Lead for AGRA in Ghana, John Jagwe, explained that the strategy would expose young entrepreneurs to market requirements, available incentives and financing opportunities.
He said the dialogue formed part of AGRA’s implementation of the Youth Entrepreneurship for the Future of Food and Agriculture (YEFFA) programme, which focuses on creating an enabling environment for youth participation in agriculture, strengthening institutions that support young agripreneurs and ensuring that young people’s views influence decision-making.
He, however, urged young people to build resilient food systems in the face of climate change, population growth, and declining natural resources, citing floods and prolonged droughts, particularly in the northern parts of the country, as making sustainable agricultural production more critical than ever.
The Senior Specialist in charge of Continental and Regional Engagement at AGRA, David Adama, called on the government to move beyond symbolic references to youth in policy documents and to recognise them as contributors to national development, to help unlock their full potential and create sustainable jobs.
He also called on the government to create an enabling environment that allowed youth-led enterprises to thrive, proposing special regulatory and procurement arrangements for youth-owned agribusinesses, including faster product certification processes and preferential procurement windows under programmes such as the School Feeding Programme.
He indicated that Africa currently sees about 20 million young people enter the labour market each year, with about three million jobs created annually, leaving a gap that could be addressed through entrepreneurship and agribusiness.
He said governments needed to address that gap by domesticating the AAYS to ensure that national agricultural policies were designed with the specific needs of young people in mind, backed by dedicated budgets, clear implementation mechanisms and measurable outcomes.
The Country Director of AGRA, Dr Betty Anna, thanked Mastercard Foundation for its support, expressing AGRA’s commitment to transforming Africa’s food systems through partnerships and targeted interventions.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Minister of Youth Development and Empowerment, George Opare Addo, congratulated AGRA on launching the domestication of the AAYS and the YAPI in Ghana, and commended them for their longstanding partnership with the ministry.
He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to strengthening collaboration with stakeholders to implement the strategy and to promote agriculture as a key avenue for youth employment, entrepreneurship and innovation.
