Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

YOUTH EMPLOYMENT IN AGRICULTURE AS A SOLID SOLUTION TO ENDING HUNGER AND POVERTY IN AFRICA.

• It is one of the important aspects to boost the agriculture and food production to meet the food security, Nutritional security of developing country like Africa. Agriculture is a hard working and scientific time oriented occupation, so youth involvement is one of the most important points to make profit out of this.
• To make a bright future in agro-entrepreneur and improving and investing in the latest crop production, food processing technologies through intensive agriculture practices & sustainable production systems. One of the initiatives is the use of renewable energy to maximum extent. Reduce, Recycling, Reuse concept will be boosting the farm income regularly. In which a youth plays an important role to achieve this concept to greater extent. Besides this the youth involved in working on the root level in rural areas, as directly with farmers in rural communities, it will make challenges easy to farmer to tackle technically by scientific knowledge related to agriculture and allied sciences.
• Our main objective is to create Youth Entrepreneurs in rural areas using scientific food production and processing techniques. By encouraging the youth to come forward to get involved in one or more entrepreneurships will really help youths to make their future career as progressive.
• Train the youth with respect to Capacity building activities like training, workshops, brainstorming sessions, field visits, demonstration, awareness programs, exposure visits, farmers-scientists interactions, animal health camps etc.  Related to agriculture sector, in addition to this they should be trained for following new approaches to fight against climate change related problems to tackle and make some contingency planning to increase the crop production in dry areas. The youth should be involved in new approaches like Village climate risk management committee (VCRMC) in this process we have to identify few of the youth’s as a village leader in each village’s and in VCRMC there are many components are involved like; SEED BANK, FODDER BANK, COUSTAM HIRING (Farm Machineries & Equipments) etc.
• VCRMC are involved in reducing the risk of climate change & its impacts on crop production in dry areas and also help to boost the production & increases income of the farmers per unit area with low input costs. The role of youths in this approach is to transfer the technologies related to agriculture like: Timely sowing operations, Precision farming, recycling of crop residue, mulching with crop residues, rain water harvesting (In-situ & Ex-situ), Use of précised fertilizer/Pesticides, Organic farming with LEISA techniques and demonstrate them to other farmers of the villages.
• Youths of the Africa should Practice Integrated Farming System approach: It play a vital role in minimizing the risk of crop failure due to aberrant weather conditions. Cultivation of crops along with different components like Agro-Forestry, Dairy Farming, Goat/Sheep Farming, Poultry Farming, Aquaculture, Duck Farming, Sericulture and Honey Bee Farming will be a great source of generating continuous income per unit area, which will be a prominent in Youth Employment in Agriculture as a Solid Solution to ending Hunger and Poverty in Africa.
• Government sector & NGO'S should promote and encourage the Rural Employment Guarantee programs in agriculture sector which should give a minimum of 100 days daily wages in a year to farming community so that they earn money for their daily needs along with farming, which will be promising in Youth Employment in Agriculture as a Solid Solution to ending Hunger and Poverty in Africa.
• Promote, encourage the cottage & small scale industries in rural areas which is a huge income generating source in rural areas for eradicating extreme poverty. Examples of Small Scale industries in village level: Bamboo hand crafts, Sericulture (Silk Production), Small Scale Textile industries, Small Scale Fruit pulp manufacturing, dehydrated & frozen vegetables manufacturing, Pickle industry, Dry fruit processing industry, cheese making, Paneer making, ghee & butter making, Ice-cream making, Spices & condiments processing industry, manufacturing Soaps & detergents, manufacturing herbal hair oil, manufacturing handmade chocolates, cookies & biscuits, manufacturing, candles & waxes manufacturing, Pulses processing industries, Disposable plates manufacturing, wooden furniture, Arboriculture etc.
• Climate Resilient Agriculture Practices are adopted to reduce the impact of climate change on agriculture crop production by various measures like: a) Rain water harvesting. b) Development of Micro catchment Area (15-20 sqm) for water harvesting. c) Runoff collection. d) Contour bunding, Graded bunding, compartmental bunding for preventing runoff. e) Inter-cropping & mixed cropping. f) Mulching with crop residues to avoid Evapo-Transpiration losses. g) Spraying of Anti-Transpirants. h) Practicing Broad-Bed-Furrow irrigation & Furrow irrigated raised bed systems for water conservation. i) Planting Shelter-belts / wind break trees species around the field on bunds to prevent the high speed, hot & desiccating winds which destroy the crops to maximum extents. j) Prevent wind and water erosion & Plant the erosion restricting crops like Vitever grass. k) Practice Minimum tillage, Zero tillage & conservation tillage for moisture conservation in dry land areas.
•  As the African have huge youth population and have very less opportunity of jobs so self entrepreneurship is one of the excellent solutions to fight against the poverty and reducing the hunger. Food Revolution should take place in Africa to tackle hunger & poverty, for this the youth must be trained for self sustainable & also to produce much more for the rest of the people.
• Government Organizations, Agriculture universities, Research intuitions and NGO should help youth individuals by finding the best solution to tackle the problems & obstacle occur in the following process, such as market facilities for selling their produce to fetch good price, food processing techniques for fruits, vegetables and spices etc using fermentation & heat and good packaging methods.
• Youth play major role they can drive growth & development in the agriculture sector in Africa. Since many of them are unaware of engage in agriculture activates. The challenge is that they look agriculture only as 'farming', which they seem to be labor & hard work.
• Agriculture educational will also help to shape this perception to greater extent. Further, Agriculture research plays a key role to discover and monitor these perceptions. As it is important to invest in socio-economic research on youth and agriculture and support their engagement in different value chains.
• There are more opportunities in Africa, than the challenges as we focus on. Youth should engage in the agriculture sector as a commercial farmer and as a young professional. As a farmer looking at its potential in generating incomes and its significant contribution to wealth creation.
• Youth engage in agriculture as a professional working to help smallholder farmers in rural parts of the country increase their production capacities and improve food security as well as their livelihoods.

Mithare Prasad

Assistant Professor (Agronomy), Department of ILFC, Karnataka Veterinary Animal and Fisheries Science University, Bidar, Karnataka (India).