Mme Nawsheen Hosenally
I have over 6 years of experience in the agricultural sector, specifically focusing on the engagement of youth in agriculture through the use of ICTs. Currently, I am the co-Founder of Agribusiness TV, a web TV that features success stories of young agricultural entrepreneurs in Africa. Agribusiness TV aims to inspire youth to embrace agricultural jobs along the value chain. Based in Burkina Faso, the web TV covers 12 countries in Africa, and has so far produced over 70 videos, viewed over 3.7 million times. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Extension from the University of Mauritius, and a Master’s degree in Management and Information Systems from the University of Manchester. I strongly believe that if youth engagement in agriculture is strengthened, more jobs will be created, and food security will be enhanced.
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J'ai plus de 6 ans d’expérience dans le secteur agricole, en particulier en ce qui concerne la participation des jeunes à l’agriculture moyennant l’utilisation des TIC. Actuellement je suis la cofondatrice d’Agribusiness TV, chaîne de télévision par Internet qui présente les histoires de réussite de jeunes entrepreneurs agricoles en Afrique. Agribusiness TV cherche à pousser les jeunes à assumer des emplois agricoles tout au long de la chaîne de valeur. Basée au Burkina Faso, la chaîne de télévision web couvre 12 pays en Afrique et a produit jusqu’à présent plus de 70 vidéos, visionnées plus de 3,5 millions de fois. Je suis titulaire d’une licence en vulgarisation agricole de l’université de Maurice, ainsi que d’une maîtrise en systèmes de gestion et d’information de l’université de Manchester. Je crois fermement que la participation accrue des jeunes dans le secteur agricole contribuera à créer davantage d’emplois et à renforcer la sécurité alimentaire.
Mme Nawsheen Hosenally
My name is Nawsheen Hosenally, co-Founder of Agribusiness TV and Managing Director of Agribusiness Shop, based in Burkina Faso. Many thanks to FAO and partners for this online consultation to hear from us. Below are my responses to the questions set for this discussion.
1. Experience as a Youth in the Agriculture Sector
How would you describe your experience as an Africa youth engaged in the agriculture sector in your country? What motivated you to engage into the agriculture sector?
My first contact with agriculture was at University for my undergraduate degree in Mauritius. Like many other youth, I did not plan to get into this sector or had a vision that I want to be a researcher, extension officer or agripreneur someday – I did not even know about these jobs, since they were not enough promoted or valorized at that time. I just wanted to do something different and chose to study agriculture. My passion for agriculture grew during my practical classes, internships and jobs in different areas: research, extension, sales, marketing, facilitation etc. In the process, I got interested in ICTs and their application in the agricultural sector. I started a blog and was writing about the agricultural sector and my field trips in Mauritius. Then I won essay and blog competitions on youth in agriculture organized by CTA from 2010-2012. From that point, I knew that I have a passion in digital communications in agriculture and have been working in this area in different capacities since my graduation in 2011. My contribution for this consultation is focused on my experience with Agribusiness TV and Agribusiness Shop in Burkina Faso.
Agribusiness TV is a web TV which aims at using videos as a promotion tool to (re)valorise agriculture and make the sector more attractive to youth by showcasing success stories of young agricultural entrepreneurs and their innovations in Africa. The media was launched in May 2016, with the support of CTA. Agribusiness TV is available on its web and mobile applications in English and French versions.
Two years later, we created Agribusiness Shop, a physical and online shop whereby we market locally transformed agricultural products from young entrepreneurs and women associations from Burkina Faso, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire and Mali.
2. Major Achievements and Success Stories
What have been your major achievements? Do you have any experience or innovative ways that have helped you in your work that you would want to share? Do you have a success story – either your own or any other that you are aware of - of youth engaged in agriculture in your country? What is the story?
Major achievements for Agribusiness TV:
Another achievement was been the setting up of Agribusiness Shop through self-funding which is operational since April 2018. The initial products sold in the shop were from entrepreneurs that were showcased in videos produced by Agribusiness TV. The shop represents a new marketing channel for young entrepreneurs and women associations. It also brings locally transformed products closer to the consumers, who before had access to these products only during fairs and expos. Over 60 products are available currently at Agribusiness Shop and we are gradually increasing the number of products and suppliers.
3. What the Rwanda Youth Conference Should Address
If given an opportunity, what question would you ask the experts at the Rwanda Youth conference on each of the three sub-themes –
a). Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship,
With efforts from different stakeholders over the years, the issue of making agriculture more attractive to youth is slowly being addressed. From my own observation and experience, I see every day that youth have an interest to venture in agribusiness/agricultural entrepreneurship, but many of them don’t know where to start from and in which sub-sector to venture. How do we move from awareness raising to actually have enterprises created and upscaled in a sustainable manner? In my opinion, rather than aiming to support many small initiatives to get youth involved in agribusiness, it will be better to identify existing enterprises that have proved to be working and support these entrepreneurs to scale-up their business. In-turn, these entrepreneurs can mentor the new ones venturing in the sector. All these would require good coordination and collaboration among different stakeholders.
b). Digital Innovation to Overcome Agriculture Value-Chain Constraints
ICTs have huge potential to make agriculture more productive and profitable. However, over the years, many applications are being or have been developed through hackathons and other competitions, but very few of them are actually able to go beyond break-even point because their business models are flawed. How do we measure success from the ICT4Ag initiatives that currently exist? What should be the indicators? Who are those who are still operating without grants and funds from competitions? How did they make it? When it comes to digital solutions, we have to be careful about sustainability, which is currently a huge problem.
c). Future of Work in Rural Economy.
Rural areas have their own reality, but challenges exist even in cities. In entrepreneurship, it’s important to have a good business environment. When deprived from access to good roads, electricity, Internet, and services such as banks, you cannot be competitive on the market. Hence, these must be taken into account when the roadmap is made during the conference.
I'll end by thanking CTA and FAO for inviting Agribusiness TV to the conference. We'll contribute more at the event.
Best,
Nawsheen