Young Africa Works meeting - Knowledge from students

MasterCard Foundation hosted the inaugural summit of the African Young Works in 2015 in Cape Town, South Africa, October 29 to 30. The meeting focuses on preparing young people for employment and entrepreneurship in agriculture. Reuben KYAMA, of University World News, talked to Retag ROY, President and CEO of Toronto-based foundation, at the end of the summit.

UWN: What do you think came out of the summit in terms of new ideas on the theme of the summit and develop strategies for employment, sustainable youth?

Roy: The meeting was really meant to have practical examples of new thinking about ways young people can make the transition into employment, particularly employment in the agricultural sector, which is so big and yet so critical for the transformation of the continent economically and socially.

I think the first thing that came out of the summit is high energy; this is what I have heard, because we put young people at the center of the work of the summit. We saw some very obvious examples of how young people have already taken action.

We heard from a young entrepreneur who started Rabbit Centre for Africa when she was 14 years old and we learned yesterday that each female rabbit can generate income amounting to US $ 1,000 per year, which is a remarkable statistic.

We saw an example of financial services through technology and information - again, started by young entrepreneur, a woman who grew up in her farm. It's called Farm Girl! Today, it is what we would call an agricultural entrepreneur supported by data and technology.

So I think that's the first thing. We show that there are models out there that are innovative, fasting moving and at the same time, many of the agricultural sector. So, it is presenting a new alternative vision of what is possible.

Second, I think we are getting to the real issues around access to finance. What are some of the limitations of financial institutions? What are some restrictions for young people?

Yet at the same time, what are some of the solutions to overcome these limitations - whether to provide financial education group model for group finance, ways to send Finance through mobile technologies - this is one of the Larger problems.

We heard about the role of the private sector can play in terms of response and the establishment of market demand.

I just came from one of the sessions of the organization called Harames, which is right here in South Africa, a very unique model that is all about understanding where demand in the economy.

They showed in-depth analysis of how they could map 680,000 jobs in South Africa in the agricultural sector and the majority of these jobs are for students or young people who do not even need a basic degree. So, what reveals that there is an opportunity - an opportunity that we can not see now, but it is here.

UWN: What is the role of higher education in skills in the field of agriculture and in particular? Is there a need for a significant expansion of agricultural training or other ways in which higher education could support the development of skills in this area?

Roy: I think that higher education has a very powerful role on several levels.