A four-day workshop took place from March 10 to 14 2020 in Lilongwe, Malawi aimed at developing the capacities of youth in the country to engage in responsible agricultural investment as per the CFS Principles for Responsible Investment in Agriculture and Food Systems (CFS-RAI). The workshop included training for youth leaders with a focus on changing mind-sets for agriculture food systems in Malawi. The workshop was organized by FAO and Grow Africa, in collaboration with the Commercial Agriculture Support Services (CASS).

The workshop brought together 50 participants representing young agri-entrepreneurs, youth organizations, financial institutions, government institutions, development partners and NGOs providing services to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) led by young agri-entrepreneurs. This gathering provided an opportunity to strengthen the capacities of multi-stakeholder platforms to promote agricultural investment and facilitate the engagement of the private sector in such processes, especially young agri-entrepreneurs.

The need to increase investment and strengthen multistakeholder capacity

FAO estimates that at least USD140 billion of additional annual investments for agriculture are required in order to achieve the first two Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 – ending poverty and hunger. Of this, almost USD120 billion should be invested in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In this context, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which constitute 80% of the private sector in the region, can play a pivotal role in the much-needed transformation of the agricultural sector. The capacities of different stakeholders however need to be strengthened in order to leverage that potential and accelerate progress towards sustainable development.

The first day of the workshop focused on the assessment of youth capacities through the FAO Rapid Capacity Assessment Tool “Empowering youth to engage in responsible investment in agriculture and food systems” and its associated Guidance Notes. This tool has been specifically designed to carry out a multi-stakeholder assessment of existing and needed capacities to engage and empower youth to carry out and benefit from responsible investment in agriculture and food systems.

The second and third day saw the participation of youth organizations and young agri-entrepreneurs and was dedicated to capacity development through a training of trainers course for the youth leaders in setting up and management of Innovation Platforms for Agro-businesses and on changing mindsets for agricultural food systems in Malawi. The training will focus on the areas of climate action, e-agriculture, and business waste management.  

This workshop will be followed by other activities including the mapping of agri-business stakeholders in Malawi, the creation of a SMEs value chain multistakeholder platform with a focus on youth and delivering capacity development for the different actors.

Country Agribusiness Partnership Framework (CAP-F)

This project has been conceived in the context of the Country Agribusiness Partnership Framework (CAP-F) a multi-partner initiative that aims at stimulating agri-business and investments through supporting the identification of policy issues and facilitating coordination among stakeholders at country level. During the roll-out of the CAP-F, the need for capacity development of multistakeholder platforms was identified and is now being addressed by this FAO and Grow Africa joint work.

The overall project is pivotal to unlocking the potential of youth entrepreneurs, who could be a driving force for development if provided with the opportunities they need to thrive. Youth employment in agriculture is particularly important in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the agriculture sector is the largest employer and the most immediate means of catalyzing economic growth and employment for young people.

See photos of the workshop here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/faooftheun/albums/72157714066642152/