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1. Youth, Decent Employment
and the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture
Development Programme (CAADP)
FAO-ILO4NEPAD
Francesca Dalla Valle, Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) 1
and Andreas Klemmer, International Labour Organization of the UN (ILO)2
in collaboration with Estherine Fotabong (NEPAD)3
September 12, 2011
Draft for discussion
1
Francesca Dalla Valle, Youth Employment Specialist, FAO (francesca.dallavalle@fao.org)
2
Andreas Klemmer, Senior Enterprise Development Specialist, ILO (klemmer@ilo.org)
3
Estherine Fotabong, Director for Policy Implementation and Coordination, NEPAD (estherinef@nepad.org)

2. ‗‘Youth should be given a chance to take an active part in the decision-making of local, national and
global levels‘‘
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
2

3. Table of contents
Acknowledgments 4
Executive summary 5
Introduction 6
1. Rural youth situation analysis 8
2. Towards more decent and green jobs for the youth – FAO-ILO4NEPAD 13
partnership and technical cooperation
3. Institutional aspects – The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development 18
Programme (CAADP) and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD)
4. Youth and gender sensitive capacity development approaches 20
FAO – Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools (JFFLS) 20
ILO – Start Your Business (SYB) 21
UNIDO – Salima Agricultural Technology Trainings (SATECH) 22
The Songhai Model 22
5. Next steps 23
Objectives 24
Partnership activities 24
Participating countries 24
Implementation 25
6. Conclusions 26
Useful websites 26
Data of interest 26
Boxes
Box 1 – Incidence of poverty among youth (15-24) in % in sub-Saharan Africa 9
Box 2 – Typical African youth 10
Box 3 – NEPAD, FAO & ILO shared vision 13
Box 4 – Decent and green jobs 14
Box 5 – Sustainable businesses 15
Box 6 – Market system and web of interactions 16
Box 7 – Market systems development process 17
Box 8 – CAADP pillars 19
Box 9 – Youth and decent work integration in the CAADP process 23
Useful definition in footnotes
Decent work agenda 6
Youth 8
Employment, persons in employment 8
Child labour 9
Gender equality 10
Informal sector 11
Smallholder 12
Livelihoods 13
Rural employment 14
3

4. Acknowledgments
This issue paper has been developed by Francesca Dalla Valle, Youth Employment
Specialist of the Rural Employment Team within the Gender, Equity and Rural
Employment Division in FAO and Andreas Klemmer, Senior Enterprise Development
Specialist of the ILO Pretoria Decent Work Team, in collaboration with Estherine
Fotabong, Director for Policy Implementation and Coordination of the NEPAD.
Special thanks for guidance and support in the development process of the issue
paper are given to Peter Wobst, Senior Economist and Rural Employment Team Leader
within FAO‘s Gender, Equity and Rural Employment Division; Martin Bwalya, Head of
CAADP in NEPAD and Tobias Takavarasha, Senior Agricultural Policy and Investment
Officer of the NEPAD.
Further acknowledgments for support and contributions go to the below
institutions and individuals.
In the African Union (AU), Vera Brenda Ngosi, Director of Director of the
Department in charge of the Human Resources, Science and Technology Department;
Raymonde A. Agossou, Head of the Human Resources & Youth Development Division and
Abebe Haile Gabriel, Director of the Rural Economy and Agriculture Department.
In the ACP–EU Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA),
Isolina Boto, Head of CTA Brussels office.
In FAO, David Phiri, Chief, Weldeghaber Kidane, Senior Agricultural Policy Officer
and Yasmeen Khwaja, Policy Officer of FAO‘s Policy Support Service (TCSP); Garry Smith,
Principal Adviser and Wadzanai Katsande, Economist of FAO‘s Investment Centre Division
(TCI); Elisenda Estruch, Economist from FAO‘s Gender, Equity and Rural Employment
Division; Maria Helena Semedo, Assistant Director-General and Diana Tempelman, Senior
Officer of FAO‘s Regional Office for Africa (FAORAF); Castro Camarada, Coordinator,
Maria Rizzo, Senior Policy Advisor (Agriculture) and Emmanuelle Guerne Bleich, Livestock
Officer of FAO‘s Sub-regional Office for Eastern Africa (FAOSFE).
In ILO, Jürgen Schwettmann, Deputy Regional Director and Judica Amri-Lawson,
Senior Advisor External Relations and Partnerships from the ILO Regional Office for Africa
in Addis Ababa and Martin Clemensson, Director of ILO's Country Office for Zambia,
Malawi and Mozambique.
In NEPAD, Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NEPAD
Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA).
4

5. Executive summary
In Africa, 200 million people are aged between 15 and 24 years, comprising more
than 20% of the population and finding productive employment for this cohort is one of
the continent‘s major challenges. At present, three out of every four youth live on less
than US$ 2 per day—lacking the resources and skills to be competitive.
Agriculture in Africa is one of the largest contributors to national GDPs and the
sector has the potential to provide employment for the growing numbers of unemployed
youth while increasing food security and rural income levels. Given the support and the
opportunity for employment, young people have the potential to play a significant role in
rural development.
The Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU)
declared, during its last Executive Council held in January 2009 in Addis Ababa, the years
2009-2019 as the Decade of Youth Development in Africa. Consultations with rural youth
and their organizations have been undertaken by the Food and Agriculture Organization
of the UN (FAO) in the past couple of years while designing rural employment
programmes for them and taken forward jointly by FAO and International Labour
Organization of the UN (ILO) during the pre-AU Summit events held in Addis Ababa (1-6
April 2011)4. Youth representatives expressed their views and requests, as well as their
wishes to be actively involved in the contribution to the rural development of their
countries and to be formally involved and included through the Comprehensive Africa
Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) implementation programmes in the
growth of their countries.
It is to answer to those requests that FAO and ILO with the New Partnership for
Africa's Development (NEPAD) are partnering within the Rural Futures programme, in an
innovative pilot initiative using approaches and mechanisms that aims at leverage the
forces of globalization for the benefit of rural youth populations.
The aim of this paper is to analyse the rural youth situation in Africa and outlining
the joint cooperation in a coherent and integrated innovative mechanism and approach
based around the application of a people-centered market systems development
approach using youth and gender sensitive angles towards the promotion and green and
decent jobs. While at the same time, taking into account that the transformation of rural
areas in Africa is slowly happening but in a context of rapid globalization making any
change in an individual national economy potentially, if given the appropriate support,
interactive with the rest of the world opening new markets and therefore country-specific
transformation policies should be tailored to respond to both the domestic and
international trends while looking at their youth cohorts.
4
http://au.int/en/summitfr/sites/default/files/AYF%20-%20recommend-Addis%202011Eng-Rev-1_0.pdf
5

6. Introduction
The numbers of young people are growing fast in developing countries. This is
especially evident in sub-Saharan Africa where, in some countries, more than 60 per cent
of the population is less than 25 years old5. A large and increasing youth cohort poses
significant pressure on the labour market. The consequences of failing to provide job
opportunities for young men and women can be far-reaching. Under-employed rural
young people, particularly those who are frustrated and idle because they have failed to
find decent jobs after migrating to urban centres, potentially contribute to social unrest,
crime and even armed conflicts. Initiatives that improve the opportunities for young
people to take part in decent agricultural and non-agricultural work provide large benefits
for social harmony, as well as for poverty reduction and food security. Indeed with the
right policies the influx of young job seekers can become a key asset in the development
process as rising labour supply provides an
opportunity for enhanced long-term growth.
Moreover, since 2005, the first Millennium
Development Goal to “eradicate extreme poverty MDG Target
and hunger” includes target 1.B that encourages 1.B
the achievement of full and productive
employment and decent work 6 for all including
women and young people7. This target ―Achieving full and productive
acknowledges the centrality of employment employment and decent work for all
including women and young people‖
promotion for the achievement of food security
and poverty reduction. Today, some 300 million Target 1B indicators:
young people worldwide work for less than US$ 2
a day8. 1.4 Growth rate of GDP (gross
domestic product) per person
employed (labour productivity)
The Food and Agriculture Organization of 1.5 Employment-to-population
the United Nations (FAO)9 leads international ratio
efforts to alleviate hunger and mitigate poverty. 1.6 Proportion of employed people
FAO serves developed, transitioning, and living below (US) $1 (PPP) per
day (working poor)
developing countries. Achieving food security for 1.7 Proportion of own-account and
all is at the heart of FAO's efforts, that is, to make contributing family workers in
sure people have sustained access to enough total employment (vulnerable
employment rate)
high-quality nutritive food to lead active, healthy
lives. To this end, agriculture plays a pivotal role
in the rural economy of most developing countries. Support to rural youth and young
farmers has been part of FAO‘s work for the last four decades. This has occurred in the
form of strengthening and expanding young people‘s capacities, knowledge, and skills
through education and training. FAO recognizes that the multidimensional issues facing
young people in rural areas are interwoven but also recognizes that young people are
well suited and keen to contribute to national economic development. In order to enable
5
UNDESA World Population Prospects – 2010 Revision
The ILO Decent Work Agenda is the balanced and integrated programmatic approach to pursue
6
the objectives of full and productive employment and decent work for all at global, regional,
national, sectoral and local levels. It has four pillars: standards and rights at work, employment
creation and enterprise development, social protection and social dialogue.
(http://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/decent-work-agenda/lang--en/index.htm)
7
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/poverty.shtml
8
World Bank 2009
9
http://www.fao.org/
6

7. the rural youth to become active partners in the achievement of economic and social
goals they must receive adequate support and access to resources that allow them to
reach their full potentials. FAO is supporting the implementation of the Comprehensive
Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP)10, the strategic agricultural
framework of the African Union (AU)11 and the New Partnership for Africa‘s Development
(NEPAD)12. CAADP is an African-owned programme that strives to increase economic
growth in Africa through agriculture-led development and agricultural reform. With the
objective of increasing public investment in agriculture to a minimum of 10 percent of
national budgets, CAADP aims at achieving an annual agricultural growth rate of 6
percent by 2015. A key principle of the CAADP framework is the emphasis on African
ownership, which calls for national capacity building. The national CAADP implementation
processes and the Agriculture Investment Plans (AIPs) present an important instrument
and opportunity to practically and concretely integrate objective and evidence-based
mechanisms and programmes to address youth and decent employment in a gender
sensitive manner.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) 13 is the UN specialized agency which
seeks the promotion of social justice and internationally recognized human and labour
rights. The ILO formulates international labour standards in the form of Conventions and
Recommendations setting minimum standards of basic labour rights: freedom of
association, the right to organize, collective bargaining, abolition of forced labour,
equality of opportunity and treatment, and other standards regulating conditions across
the entire spectrum of work related issues. It provides technical assistance primarily in
the fields of vocational training and vocational rehabilitation; employment policy; labour
administration; labour law and industrial relations; working conditions; management
development; cooperatives; social security; labour statistics and occupational safety and
health. It promotes the development of independent employers' and workers'
organizations and provides training and advisory services to those organizations. Within
the UN system, the ILO has a unique tripartite structure with workers and employers
participating as equal partners with governments in the work of its governing organs.
Consultations with rural youth and their organizations have been undertaken by
FAO in the past couple of years while designing rural employment programmes for them
and during the pre-AU Summit events held in Addis Ababa (1-6 April 2011)14 in which
both FAO and ILO were part of the steering committee members. Youth representatives
expressed their views and requests, as well as their wishes to be actively involved in the
contribution to the rural development of their countries and to be formally involved and
included through the CAADP implementation programmes in the growth of their
countries. It is further to the youth organizations and representatives requests that the
FAO and ILO are partnering with the NEPAD under the Rural Futures Programme15 and
within the CAADP process. The partnership focuses on one major key challenge, namely
how rural youth can access and benefit from decent and productive employment
opportunities and access markets. Furthermore, the Assembly of Heads of State and
Government of the African Union (AU) declared, during its last Executive Council held in
January 2009 in Addis Ababa, the years 2009-2019 as the Decade of Youth Development
10
http://www.nepad-caadp.net/
11
http://www.au.int/
12
http://www.nepad.org/
13
http://www.ilo.org/global/lang--en/index.htm
14
http://au.int/en/summitfr/sites/default/files/AYF%20-%20recommend-Addis%202011Eng-Rev-1_0.pdf
15
http://www.nepad.org/foodsecurity/knowledge/doc/1736/rural-futures-programme
7

8. in Africa16. The decade is an opportunity to advance the agenda of youth development in
all member states across the AU, to ensure effective and more ambitious investment in
youth development programmes and increased support to the development and
implementation of national youth policies and programmes and facilitate the
implementation of the African Youth Charter (AYC)17.
1. Rural youth situation analysis
Youth18 is a time of transition: from childhood to adulthood; from dependency on
others to independence through paid employment19. In poor rural settings, this transition
seems particularly problematic, as evidenced by extensive periods of job search. Several
factors can be identified for this situation, including insufficient or inadequate education
and vocational training; a lack of access to productive resources; and limited support
from networks, such as producer organizations
and cooperatives. Young people also typically find
it harder than older adults to gain access to credit,
due both to missing collateral and reliability in the MDG 2
eyes of potential lenders. This limits their ability
to invest in their economic activities or start a new
business. For those wishing to stay in the
agricultural sector, the lack of new arable land
Achieve Universal Primary
often results in marginal and unsuitable land
Education
being used for cultivation. Insufficient access to
support networks is a common obstacle for rural Target 2a: Ensure that all boys and girls
complete a full course of primary
youth to establish or expand a business and schooling
access markets. Support from producer
organisations and cooperatives can also help Target 2A indicators:
improve the bargaining position in more vertically
2.1 - Net enrolment ratio in primary
integrated production and distribution processes. education
2.2 - Proportion of pupils starting
Although improving, educational grade 1 who reach last grade of
primary
attainment still lags behind internationally agreed 2.3 - Literacy rate of 15-24 year-olds,
objectives such as Millennium Development Goal women and men
220. Many countries in Africa have not yet
reached universal primary schooling, and literacy
16
http://www.au.int/en/summit/sites/default/files/Final%20African%20Youth%20Decade%202009-2018.pdf
17
http://www.africa-union.org/root/ua/conferences/mai/hrst/charter%20english.pdf
18
The United Nations defines youth, as those persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years, (without prejudice
to other definitions by Member States). Children are those persons under the age of 14. It is worth noting that
Article 1 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines ‗children‘ as persons up to the age
of 18, the age overlap was intentional, as it was hoped that the Convention would provide protection and rights
to as large an age-group as possible and because there is no similar United Nations Convention on the Rights of
Youth. Employment must comply with the Minimum Age Convention adopted by the ILO in 1973. The
convention has adopted minimum ages varying from 14 to 16 and requires ratifying states to pursue a national
policy designed to ensure the effective abolition of child labour and to raise progressively the minimum age for
admission to employment or work (http://social.un.org/index/Youth/FAQ.aspx)
19
Persons in employment comprise all persons above a specified age who during a specified brief period,
either one week or one day, were in the following categories: i) paid employment, ii) self employment. Context:
persons who during a specified brief period such as one week or one day, (a) performed some work for wage or
salary in cash or in kind, (b) had a formal attachment to their job but were temporarily not at work during the
reference period, (c) performed some work for profit or family gain in cash or in kind, (d) were with an
enterprise such as a business, farm or service but who were temporarily not at work during the reference
period for any specific reason. (ILO Resolutions Concerning Economically Active Population, Employment,
Unemployment and Underemployment Adopted by the 13th International Conference of Labour Statisticians,
October 1982, para. 9).
20
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/education.shtml
8

9. rates remain alarmingly low in many rural areas, especially among young girls. Rural
youth are among the most disadvantaged groups as they often have limited access to
educational programmes that address their specific situations and needs. This results in
high dropout rates at an early age. Curricula are often geared more toward academic
accomplishments and to urban-focused studies than to (learning) useful skills that
enhance rural livelihoods. The resulting low enrollment
rates, coupled with low completion rates, have Box 1 - Incidence of
contributed to the difficult transition into quality poverty among youth (15-
employment. As a compounding factor, education can 24) in % in Sub-Saharan
Africa
be cost prohibitive and sometimes viewed as
unnecessary in an agricultural society that is Uganda 93.8
dependent upon farm work. Therefore, most rural Nigeria 92.9
Zambia 86.3
youth remain poor—three out of every four live on less
Burundi 85.7
than US$ 2 per day—lacking the resources and skills to Mozambique 75.4
be competitive (Box 1 - Incidence of poverty among Ethiopia 70.7
youth - 15-24 - in % in Sub-Saharan Africa). Sierra Leone 68.0
Ghana 66.5
21 Malawi 66.3
Child labour also poses an additional
Kenya 54.5
challenge. Apart from harming the physical and mental Côte d‘Ivoire 46.5
development of children, excessive work in generally
Source: World Bank survey-
low quality and sometimes even hazardous activities is based harmonized indicators
often associated with premature school leaving or
indeed with never going to school. Worldwide, 60
percent of child labour can be found in agriculture22.
The ILO estimates that there are globally 215 million child labourers between 5 and 17
year old, just over half of these children, 115 million, are estimated to work in the worst
forms of child labour, in sub-Saharan Africa, one quarter of all children aged 5-15 are
estimated to be working. Almost 50 percent of all employed youth in the age-group 15-
17 are involved in the worst forms of child labour, often in the agricultural sector 23.
As a way to escape poverty, many youth look for better opportunities through
migration. Urban and rural poverty are very much interlinked and urban work or
prospects of work often encourage migration from the rural areas to the cities. It
therefore seems intuitive to address rural poverty in order to make sustainable progress
also as regards urban poverty. Today, the needs and challenges of rural young people
are greater than ever, but, at the same time, the demand and opportunities for talented
professionals are numerous. Several studies have highlighted the importance of
agricultural and rural development for economic growth and poverty reduction 24. Rural
21
The term child labour is often defined as work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and
their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development. It refers to work that: 1) is mentally,
physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children; and 2) interferes with their schooling by: i)
depriving them of the opportunity to attend school; ii) obliging them to leave school prematurely; or iii)
requiring them to attempt to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work. In its most
extreme forms, child labour involves children being enslaved, separated from their families, exposed to serious
hazards and illnesses and/or left to fend for themselves on the streets of large cities – often at a very early age.
Whether or not particular forms of ―work‖ can be called ―child labour‖ depends on the child‘s age, the type and
hours of work performed, the conditions under which it is performed and the objectives pursued by individual
countries. The answer varies from country to country, as well as among sectors within countries (ILO
definition).
22
ILO 2010
23
ILO 2010
24
Among others:
9

10. youth can play a central role in this process. For one, they are open to new and
innovative production techniques that will help raise agricultural productivity. They also
tend to be more flexible when adjusting to new income generating activities that continue
to become increasingly important in rural settings. Despite their potential, young people
face several challenges in finding employment. Those who find a job usually work in the
informal sector with bad pay, low job security and insufficient social protection.
Underemployment, i.e. working below ones capacities in terms of time and skills or
ability to generate a living wage, is also widespread among rural youth. Many jobs in the
agricultural sector, for example, have a strong seasonal component, hence work might
only be needed during certain times of the year.
The challenge of youth employment has also an important gender dimension 25.
The vast majority of
rural poor in Africa are
Box 2 - Typical African Youth
smallholders and the
majority of these Country Location Gender Age
smallholders are young
Burundi Rural 93.9% Female 54.9% 18
girls and women (Box 2
Côte Urban 46.8% Female 51.9% 19
– Typical African d‘Ivoire
youth). African farmers Cameroon Rural 56.4% Female 52.5% 19
struggle with many Kenya Rural 81.0% Female 51.9% 19
Mozambique Rural 76.9% Female 52.3% 19
constraints. Among
Uganda Rural 82.8% Female 51.3% 18
them are lack of access Zambia Rural 59.8% Female 52.8% 19
to modern technologies, Malawi Rural 87.4% Female 52.7% 19
capital investments and Sierra Rural 51.9% Female 52.4% 18
Leone
supportive research;
lack of participation in Median African Youth
decision making; and
Poor Rural Female Little Little job
vulnerability to
educated opportunities
ecological shocks.
Farmers who are young Source: World Bank survey-based harmonized indicators
women face the added
burden of juggling
multiple responsibilities and systematic prejudice in land rights and political
representation. To boost the agricultural sector and reduce poverty requires to
understand the specific issues facing young women farmers (and smallholder farmers in
general) and develop policies that enhance their rights and meet their needs. Young rural
women are generally the last to be hired and the first to be fired; they are
World Bank Agriculture, Rural Development, and Pro-poor Growth
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTARD/Resources/PPG_final.pdf and
http://go.worldbank.org/BR4VX141Q0;
DFID Agriculture, growth and poverty reduction http://dfid-agriculture-
consultation.nri.org/summaries/wp1.pdf;
OECD - Agricultural Transformation, Growth and Poverty Reduction
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/25/27/46767135.pdf
IFAD - Achieving the Millennium Development Goals: Rural Investment and Enabling Policy
http://www.ifad.org/events/gc/28/panel/e.pdf
FAO - SOFA 2010-2011 http://www.fao.org/publications/sofa/en/
25
Gender equality means that women and men have equal conditions for realizing their full human rights and
for contributing to, and benefiting from, economic, social, cultural and political development. Gender equality is
therefore the equal valuing by society of the similarities and the differences of men and women, and the roles
they play. It is based on women and men being full partners in their home, their community and their society.
Gender equality starts with equal valuing of girls and boys. (ABC of Women Worker‘s Rights and Gender
Equality, ILO, 2000 and http://www.un.org/womenwatch/osagi/conceptsandefinitions.htm).
10

11. overrepresented in the share of informally and/or temporarily employed; and often face
the harshest and most hazardous working conditions. While the global gender gap in
youth unemployment is relatively small (at 0.3 percent)26, it might disguises the true
level of labour market discrimination. Inequalities are also particularly striking in areas
where cultural traditions push women into unpaid family work. Closing the gender gap in
agriculture could reduce the number of hungry people in the world by 12-17 percent,
thereby reducing the number of hungry by at least 100 million people, according to
FAO27. Official statistics indicate that youth unemployment is about three times higher
than in other age groups, the true number of young people without a job might even be
higher as the dire situation on the labour market will discourage many to even look for
employment.
Those that find a job usually work in the informal sector28 with bad pay, low job
security and insufficient social protection. In sub-Saharan Africa an estimated three
quarters of jobs held by people aged 15 and above are considered vulnerable
employment29. Evidence suggest that the resulting underemployment is particularly
prevalent among young people. As a result, many young people seek employment
opportunities out of rural areas (in cities or abroad). More than one third of all migrants
in developing countries are between 15 to 24 years old, and rural youth are 40 percent
more likely to move to urban areas than other age groups30. Many rural communities are
ageing precisely because, in the absence of incentives to remain there, young women
and men are leaving rural areas to seek opportunities elsewhere. Rural-urban migration
can have positive effects – e.g. through remittances, a potential skill transfer, and an
increase of human and financial capacities when the migrants return home.
Today‘s generation of young people is the largest in history. In developing
countries, young people make up on average 20 percent of the population31, and as such
they represent a huge potential resource to those countries. Yet ironically, rural areas are
not benefiting fully from this resource. Young women and men who live in rural areas are
the world‘s future farmers, entrepreneurs and leaders. The challenges of meeting future
food demand, developing vibrant rural centres and promoting broad-based economic
growth in developing countries depend on them. These are compelling reasons to place
rural young people and smallholder agriculture at the forefront of global strategies for
food security, poverty reduction and income growth. Consequently, the main objective of
a sustainable development strategy should be to integrate qualified young people into
rural labour markets where youth can contribute to building the foundations of long-term
economic growth. Responding to the challenges of enhanced agricultural productivity and
rural economic growth demands at least the following: i) investment in social and
economic infrastructure in rural areas; ii) the provision of expanded opportunities for
young men and women to build the capacity and skills that they need to take advantage
of these opportunities, especially if rural-urban linkages are leveraged; and, iii) the
26
World Bank 2010
27
FAO - The State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA) 2010-2011, Women in Agriculture – Closing the Gender Gap
http://www.fao.org/publications/sofa/en/
28
The term informal sector describe the activities of the workers who are working but not recognized,
recorded, protected or regulated by the public authorities (ILO International Labour Conference 90 th Session
2002, Report VI – Decent Work and the Informal Economy).
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/relm/ilc/ilc90/pdf/rep-vi.pdf
29
ILO Global Employment Trends, 2011
30
UNDESA 2010
31
UNDESA 2010
11

12. creation of remunerative economic opportunities for young people in agriculture and in
the rural non-farm economy.
The global population is projected to increase from the current 6.9 billion to 9.2
billion by 205032. Projections show that global food production will have to increase by 70
percent to sustain this growing population. Agriculture in developing countries will need
to play a much greater role than it does today in contributing to global food security (and
distribution). Smallholder agriculture is not only vital in helping to feed a growing global
population, it also forms the basis of rural economic development and can promote pro-
poor growth, which benefits both the non-rural economy and the rural one. If smallholder
agriculture in developing countries is to thrive in the coming years, it will have to deal
with a number of important challenges.
Smallholder farmers33 will need to increase their productivity, exploit new trade
opportunities, and link up better to national and global markets. They will need to
commercialize their production systems using the most appropriate farming methods and
technologies and, increasingly, farm ‗as a business‘. However, the resources on which
their livelihoods depend have become degraded due to population growth, unsustainable
patterns of use (such as inappropriate use of agrochemicals, overexploitation of water
sources, deforestation, overgrazing and overfishing), and ineffective policies and
institutions. While smallholder farming must become more productive, it must also
become more environmentally sustainable. Moreover, natural resource degradation is
compounded by climate change, and smallholder farmers will face growing climatic
uncertainty and stress. Agriculture has to become more resilient to the shocks that are
already becoming ever-more frequent. Food price volatility a major threat to food
security34 is another major challenge smallholders are facing, among the root causes of
volatility identified by experts, there are, insufficient information on crop supply and
demand, poor market transparency, unexpected changes triggered by national food
security situations, panic buying and hoarding, as well as a decline in national
investments in agriculture35. In order for smallholder agriculture to respond to these
multiple challenges, it will need to be more innovative and knowledge-intensive than it is
today. The next generation of farmers will be at the forefront of this knowledge-intensive
agriculture: substantial and sustained investments in that generation are essential if their
energies and ambitions are to be harnessed.
In the past years several training programmes have started to adopt holistic
approaches, confirming the benefits of combining support to school and vocational
training with employment promotion. Programmes seem particularly successful if they
32
UN DESA
33
The concept of small farms can be approached from a variety of angles. Small-scale agriculture is often,
albeit not always appropriately, used interchangeably with smallholder, family, subsistence, resource-poor,
low-income, low-input, or low-technology farming (Heidhues and Brüntrup 2003). Examples of definitions: i)
The World Bank‘s Rural Strategy defines smallholders as those with a low asset base, operating less than 2
hectares of cropland (World Bank 2003);ii) FAO defines smallholders as farmers with ―limited resource
endowments, relative to other farmers in the sector‖ (Dixon, Taniguchi, and Wattenbach 2003); iii) Narayanan
and Gulati characterize a smallholder ―as a farmer (crop or livestock) practicing a mix of commercial and
subsistence production or either, where the family provides the majority of labour and the farm provides the
principal source of income‖ (2002).
34
Food security exists when all people, at all times, have physical, social and economic access to sufficient,
safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life
(http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/y4671e/y4671e06.htm#TopOfPage).
35
2011 - Committee on World Food Security – High Level Panel of Experts
http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/hlpe/hlpe_documents/HLPE-price-volatility-and-food-security-
report-July-2011.pdf
12

13. are tailored to the local situation, address the specific needs of young women, and are
targeted to low income/poorly educated young people. Improving labour market
information systems, building on community involvement, and promoting the
development of youth associations are other factors that determine the success of
interventions.
2. Towards more decent and green jobs for the youth
FAO-ILO4NEPAD partnership and technical cooperation
Despite tangible economic progress over the past 20 years, Africa needs to lift
over 400 million people out of poverty while employing the additional 215 million young
men and women expected to join the labour force in sub-Sahara Africa over the next
decade – 130 million in rural areas. With 70 percent of Africans that still will continue to
rely on the rural
sector for their Box 3 – NEPAD, FAO & ILO shared vision
livelihoods36, rural
development must be
recognized as a critical
component to the
development agenda.
The framework
of technical
cooperation proposed
in the following
responds to this call
from the African Union
while addressing also
the requests of rural
youth organizations. It
outlines an innovative
approach for rural
economic
development jointly
developed by the ILO
and the FAO, with a roadmap for piloting its first application in selected African countries
(Box 3 – NEPAD, FAO and ILO shared vision).
The challenge to be addressed through the technical cooperation between NEPAD,
FAO and ILO is the promotion of decent and green jobs for youth in African rural
economies through the development of sustainable businesses.
The Rural Futures Initiative37 launched by the AU and the NEPAD seeks to
promote this debate on rural economic development by way of exploring alternative
development models that ―promote broad-based rural economic development and
36
Humans inherently develop and implement strategies to ensure their survival. A livelihood comprises the
capabilities, assets (including both material and social resources) and activities required for a means of living. A
livelihood is sustainable when it can cope with and recover from stress and shocks and maintain or enhance its
capabilities and assets both now and in the future, while not undermining the natural resource base. (Chambers
& Conway, 1991)
37
http://www.nepad.org/foodsecurity/knowledge/doc/1736/rural-futures-programme
13

14. reduction of poverty and inequality including securing decent jobs and sustainable
livelihoods‖; these models should reflect an ―inclusive multi-dimensional approach to
socioeconomic transformation‖ that ―encompasses micro-, meso and macro-level policies
and interventions.‖38
The rural economy39, here, is defined as a distinct economic sub-system where
people seek to generate value added from the exchange of goods and services typically
related to the production of food and/or harvesting of raw materials like wood. 40
Decent work is defined as gainful and productive employment in conditions of
freedom, equity, security and dignity. Green jobs are defined as jobs that contribute
substantially to preserving or restoring environmental quality, including jobs that help to
protect ecosystems and biodiversity, reduce energy, material and water consumption
through high-efficiency strategies, de-carbonize the economy and minimize or altogether
avoid generation of all forms of waste and pollution (Box 4 – Decent and Green Jobs).41
Box 4 - Decent and Green jobs
38
Quoted from the Final Communiqué of the Rural Futures Strategic Briefing Meeting held in Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia, 25-26 May 2011, p2
39
While, Rural Employment refers to any activity, occupation, work, business or service performed by rural
people for remuneration, profit, social or family gain, or by force, in cash or kind, including under a contract of
hire, written or oral, expressed or implied, and regardless if the activity is performed on a self-directed, part-
time, full-time or casual basis. Rural employment is comprised of agricultural employment, which includes both
on-farm self-employment and wage employment in the agricultural sector, as well as non-agricultural
employment, which includes non-farm self-employment and wage employment.
40
The borderlines delineating this space from the non-rural economy are typically diffuse and the main
parameter for what constitutes value added (like satisfaction of physiological needs, social status and self-
actualization) are thought to be generic for both rural and urban folk, but the weight attributed to each
parameter by rural people is thought to differ – accordingly, the distinction between rural and non-rural
economy would need to be drawn along the benchmarks for at least satisfactory value added attributed by the
people interacting in the market place.
41
For more information on the terms and definitions underpinning green and decent work and sustainable
enterprises refer to ILO-UNEP 2007 Green Jobs report.
14

15. Sustainable businesses (Box 5 – Sustainable businesses) are social systems that
seek critical balance between the interests of people (people dimension) and their natural
environment (environment dimension).42 Businesses are considered sustainable if they
meet or surpass minimum thresholds set for a catalogue of dimension-specific key
performance measures (pressure points) that can consequently translate into key
performance indicators for private sector development.
Box 5 – Sustainable businesses
The proposed technical cooperation centers around the application of a people-
centered market systems development approach using youth and gender sensitive
angles. In this approach, businesses are treated as small systems being part of larger
economic sub systems that again are part of an economic system inextricably connected
42
In the people dimension, if the interests of people relate to the value added that each of them generates
from economic interaction, then the financial performance of a business (as an expression of the value added
for its owners) must be balanced with the financial performance of all other system stakeholders – in this view,
social equity and economic performance are flipsides of the same coin.
15

16. to both other social systems in the people dimension (like the education system and the
political system) and to its natural environment. Any economic sub-system - in theory
even the global economic system as such - can become the reference point for a market
systems development effort. In practice, though, fast escalating complexity at higher
system levels and resource constraints will tend to limit the scope of the development
effort to a local economic territory, a single sector, an industry, a value chain, a cluster
or other ‗smaller‘ sub-systems. The market system is constituted by people interacting to
generate economic value added from the exchange of goods and services, and people
representing the interests of the environment dimension and its non-human stakeholders
along the transaction process. In the model, these people are typically represented
through organizations (like unions, business associations, environmental pressure
groups, youth associations, farmers‘ federation, producers‘ associations, government
agencies etc.) but
pending the size of
Box 6 - Market system and web of interactions
the chosen sub-
systems - or the role
played by a given
person - they might
also be depicted as
individuals. These
organizations are
grouped according to
their core function
across three system
levels (Box 6 – Market
system and web of
interactions).
The web of
interaction between
organizations
(representing the
people making up the
social system) is
typically complex; the
connections between
these organizations
are multiple, some
organizations are
more connected than
others (they form
network hubs),
circular and the
relationships often cut
across system levels.
The aim of the
approach, therefore,
is not to mirror the actual complexity of the system, but to depict the principal actors and
the cause-effect relationships linking them across system levels. It thus paves the way
16

17. for analyzing the current system dynamics and next to foster, where necessary also
rewire or newly create connections between stakeholders for improved interaction. In the
process, and mindful of circular feedback loops linking people in any complex social
system, the web of economic interaction is considered as a closed sphere where
everything that ‗goes around eventually comes around‘ to stakeholders, including
externalized environmental costs and lack of regard for fundamental rights at work.
To develop the market system in practice, the sequence of steps visualized in Box
8 is advocated (Box 7 – Market systems development process). As indicated in the
graph, key emphasis is laid on the facilitation of dialogue among stakeholders in the
value chain, and collective action in support of doing sustainable business. Change is not
enforced top down by way of asymmetric power relations but facilitated through
collective action, ensuring in the process that all stakeholder are able to generate
sufficient value added to be willing to continue interacting.
Box 7 - Market systems development process
17

18. The proposed framework differs in a number of ways from the traditional
approach to private sector development.
Traditional approach to private sector Market systems development
development framework advocated by FAO-ILO
I. Sustainability equals profitability I. Sustainability equals critical
balance between the interests of
the people dimension and the
environment dimension
II. Product centered II. People centered
III. People are cost drivers III. People are the constituents of the
system
IV. The natural environment is IV. The natural environment ‗has a
regarded mainly as a source of voice‘ in the way business is done
production inputs – access is – access is finite
infinite
V. Assumes linear and mechanistic V. Assumes circular cause effect
cause effect relationships between relationships among people /
businesses stakeholders representing them
VI. Change is imposed in often VI. Change is facilitated by way of
asymmetric power relationships social dialogue / communication
between people
VII. Pipeline view of transactions VII. Transactions are treated as closed
(input-throughput-output) loops (―what goes around comes
around‖)
VIII. Modular view (focus on a single VIII. Systemic view (―connect the
dot) dots‖)
3. Institutional aspects - The Comprehensive Africa
Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) and the
New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)
In order to foster focused agricultural development in Africa, the African Union
(AU) and NEPAD have launched the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development
Programme (CAADP). Established by the AU assembly in 2003, CAADP focuses on
improving food security, nutrition, and increasing incomes in Africa's largely farming
based economies.
It aims to achieve this by raising agricultural productivity by at least 6 percent per
year and increasing public investment in agriculture to 10 percent of national budgets
per year. This has been endorsed by all Heads of State who have agreed to significantly
increase the share of national budgets allocated for agriculture and rural development.
18

19. To achieve this goal, CAADP aims to stimulate agriculture-led development that
eliminates hunger and reduces poverty and food insecurity.
More specifically, the NEPAD vision for Africa holds that, by 2015, Africa should:
I. Attain food security;
II. Improve agricultural productivity to attain a 6 percent annual growth rate;
III. Develop dynamic regional and sub-regional agricultural markets;
IV. Integrate farmers into a market economy; and
V. Achieve a more equitable distribution of wealth.
The CAADP initiative takes a continent-wide view, but builds on national and
regional plans for the development of agriculture, it is entirely African-led and African-
owned and represents African leaders' collective vision for agriculture in Africa.
It contains a set of key principles and targets, in order to:
I. Guide country strategies
and investment
programmes;
Box 8 – CAADP Pillars
II. Enable regional peer
learning and review; and Pillar 1 Pillar 1 aims to extend the area under
Land & sustainable land management and
water reliable water control systems
III. Facilitate greater
management http://www.nepad-caadp.net/pillar-
alignment and 1.php
harmonization of
development efforts. Pillar 2 Pillar 2 aims to increase market access
Market through improved rural infrastructure
CAADP works on four access and other trade-related interventions
http://www.nepad-caadp.net/pillar-
thematic „pillars‟ (Box 8 –
2.php
CAADP pillars) that serve as
policy frameworks for national Pillar 3 Pillar 3 aims to improve risk
and regional programmes for Food supply management, increase food supply,
and hunger improve incomes for the poor and
investment and action in
reduce hunger and malnutrition
pursuing increased and http://www.nepad-caadp.net/pillar-
sustainable productivity in 3.php
agriculture, forestry, fisheries
Pillar 4 Pillar 4 aims to improve agricultural
and livestock management. Agricultural research, technology dissemination
These programmes at the research and adoption through strengthened
national and regional levels agricultural knowledge systems to
follow a specific process in a deliver profitable and sustainable
technologies that are widely adopted
‗round table‘ format that result by farmers resulting in sustained
in country and regional ‗CAADP agricultural growth
Compacts‘43. During the CAADP http://www.nepad-caadp.net/pillar-
4.php
country round tables key players
come together to assess the
43
CAADP Compacts http://www.caadp.net/pdf/investment.pdf
19

20. realities of their own particular situation and develop a road map for going forward. This
process leads to the identification of priority areas covering policy reforms and guiding
public and private investments and interventions through the CAADP Compact.
FAO actively supports NEPAD's goals and has assisted in writing the FAO/NEPAD
joint CAADP report, the adoption of which is an important step towards ensuring
agricultural stability and economic development in the region. The CAADP, drafted with
the participation of African Ministers of Agriculture, Regional Economic Organizations and
Financing Institutions, the UN Economic Commission for Africa and other regional and
sub-regional stakeholders, and with the technical collaboration of FAO, seeks to respond
to the immediate crisis situation facing African agriculture while building upon the long-
term conditions for development.
4. Youth and gender sensitive capacity development
approaches
Successfully addressing the youth employment challenge requires a coherent and
integrated response that recognizes the particularities of Africa, especially the very large
share of rural youth population.
In many countries interventions have focused on programs that are narrow in
scope, limited in time, and tailored more to urban areas. There is also a throughout
recognition of the need to work in partnership, in a transparent multi-stakeholding
mechanism hence coherence, coordination and cooperation are needed across different
national government institutions and agencies, at central and local levels and UN
agencies.
As mentioned in chapter 2, dialogue is key for a good multi-stakeholding process
and all types of stakeholders need to be involved in the decision process. There are many
forms of stakeholder engagement although certain basic principles and dimensions
should be adopted44:
o Inclusion – All the stakeholders should be included in the dialogue process.
o Openness – Dialogue should be open so that all stakeholders have a chance to say
their opinions.
o Tolerance – One opinion should not take precedence over others.
o Empowerment – Stakeholders should feel that they have the ability to affect the
structure, process, and outcomes of the process.
o Transparency – All the stakeholders involved should be given the information needed
to make sound decisions.
Initiatives/programmes to be included in the aforementioned partnership under
the Rural Futures and potentially for inclusiveness in the AIPs of the national
Governments should be selected for their adaptability to multi-stakeholding as well as for
their integrated and holistic approach, here below some youth friendly and gender
sensitive ones, tested and implemented either jointly or individually by UN agencies and
civil society.
44
Pedersen 2006
20

21. FAO - Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools (JFFLS)
To address the specific challenges
faced by youth in rural areas, FAO initiated More info: http://www.fao-ilo.org/fao-ilo-
the Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools youth/fao-ilo-jffls/en/
(JFFLS) approach in 2004 which to date has Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools (JFFLS)
been expanded to 16 countries in Africa, Facebook group
Asia and the Middle East. https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/1650238
83567084/
The JFFLS took inspiration from the
Farmer Field Schools (FFS)45 and has been adapted in a gender sensitive and youth
friendly way to young people and their needs combining support to vocational
educational training opportunities with employment promotion and access to markets
through the facilitation of inclusion in Farmers‘ Organizations and Federations while
benchmarking the creation of rural decent jobs in national employment programmes.
They are a concrete manifestation of the important linkages that exist between rural
employment, poverty reduction and food security.
The high adaptability of the learning approach to different countries‘ needs makes
it suitable to address different contexts (conflict, post-conflict, in transition, high
incidence of unemployment, food insecurity, poverty or HIV) and populations. It has been
included as one of the main activities in various United Nations Joint Programmes (UNJP)
for Youth Employment and Migration as well as emergency projects and Technical
Cooperation Programmes (TCPs) sponsored bilaterally by FAO and national Governments.
Field evaluations have shown that the approach has supported the development of
entrepreneurial and agricultural skills of the youth as well as their self-esteem, helping
them become healthy and positive young adults. Further, it strengthened national
institutions capacities to address rural youth employment at both operational/programme
and policy levels.
Main partners in the countries involved in the JFFLS are: Ministries of Agriculture,
Education, Labour, Youth, and Trade, Producers‘ and Farmers‘ Organizations and Unions,
Trade Unions, Fair Trade and Youth Organizations as well as UN agencies such as ILO,
UNEP and UNIDO. To date, approximately 20,000 young girls and boys have graduated
from the schools and 2,000 facilitators have been trained in the methodology.
ILO – Start Your Business (SYB)
The ILO‘s Start Your Business (SYB)
programme is a system of inter-related More info:
http://www.ilo.org/images/empent/static/seed/
training packages and supporting materials
SYBfs0307.pdf
for small-scale entrepreneurs in developing
countries and economies in transition.
SYB has been developed by the ILO in response to requests from member States
for a relevant, low-cost and effective business creation and management training
package that is suitable for the environment of developing countries. It assists in
meeting the employment challenge by contributing to the creation of quality jobs in the
small-scale enterprise sector through improved business performance. SYB is essentially
a training instrument, with integrated components for counseling, networking, promotion
45
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmer_Field_School
21

22. of service institutions and policy dialogue. This very interactive training can be organized
flexibly according to clients‘ needs, takes approximately 5 days and is taught using
advanced adult training methodologies. The objective of SYB training is to enable
potential entrepreneurs to develop concrete, feasible and bankable business ideas to
start their own small business. By the end of the training course, these potential
entrepreneurs will have completed a basic business plan. The business plan will serve as
a blue print for the entrepreneur in starting up the business. SYB training is customized
for potential entrepreneurs who want to start micro- or small-scale businesses. To benefit
fully from SYB training, the potential entrepreneurs should be able to read and write.
Furthermore, they should have developed a concrete and feasible business idea prior to
SYB training.
SYB training is equally suitable for men and women in rural and urban areas, both
young and old. A standard SYB training course takes five days of classroom based
training plus at least one group counselling session after training. The counselling session
is preferably delivered within four weeks after training. After the counselling session, the
SYB trainer will link their clients to other relevant business development services and,
where applicable, to IYB business management training to consolidate the business
operations after the start-up. The SIYB programme has been implemented in over 90
countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The SYB component was added in 1991 and
an outreach study conducted in 2002 showed that SYB was the main training product
used in the SYB portfolio throughout the world.
UNIDO – Salima Agricultural Technology Trainings (SATECH)
For securing the socio-economic
foundation necessary for livelihood recovery More info:
http://www.unido.org/fileadmin/import/82870_
in rural communities, UNIDO has developed
malawi_FactsheetGC.pdf
the Salima Agricultural Technology
(SATECH) programme activities training in
collaboration with Malawi‘s Ministry of
Agriculture.
Workshops are conducted to identify economic interest groups in the target
villages, this allows stakeholders to determine some suitable labour-saving and income-
generating technologies that will help to support livelihood recovery. These include those
for agricultural productivity enhancing, animal draught implements, small-scale trades,
agricultural-related hand tools, and postharvest and food processing equipment. UNIDO
uses participatory project planning to identify existing traditional village structures and
organizations as key stakeholders for activities ownership.
SATECH disseminates gender-responsive technologies, reducing the labour burden
on female villagers. For example, village boreholes contributed to reducing time
consumed in fetching water and ensured access to clean and safe drinking. SATECH also
strengthens the participatory capacity of community-level grassroots organizations. Skills
and knowledge training sessions are creating trades people who are critical to community
reconstruction and development. The technical capacities of local artisans and their
associations are also assessed to identify potential for local manufacturing of the labour-
saving technologies provided. Local blacksmiths were subcontracted to make and repair
tools, further contributing to strengthen local economies. The SATECH trainings have
been successful in putting income generating resources and assets on the ground in
22

23. vulnerable communities, and enabling poor, female headed households, orphan guardian
families, and the youth to use technology, to diversify and to increase agricultural and
non-agricultural income creating activities.
UNIDO‘s efforts to promote such labour saving implements in targeted
communities have helped to relieve the exhausting tasks in agricultural production and
as a result, communities and households are expanding the land under cultivation and
are directly addressing food security in the villages.
The Songhai Model
The Songhai model (and centre) was
founded in 1985 in Porto Novo, Benin More info:
http://www.songhai.org/english/index.php?optio
Republic, by Dr Godfrey N‘Zamujo, a
n=com_content&view=article&id=70:songhai-
Dominican Father from Nigeria. model&catid=47:songhai-model
Songhai‘s main objective is to train
young agricultural entrepreneurs. Beside its training activities, Songhai aims to develop a
sustainable agricultural production system based on agrobiology.
The main achievements of the last two decades can be summarized as: i) More
than 200 students at any time attending 18-month training programmes in the sites of
Porto-Novo, Savalou, Parakou and Kinwédji, ii) More than 500 farms established and
managed by young people trained in Songhai centers, iii) More than 300 participants
from various backgrounds and countries taking part in different training courses each
year, iv) More than 40 partners from public and private institutions, NGOs and
international institutions (FAO and ILO with support from UNIDO will partner with their
training approaches within the Songhai Centre in Sierra Leone under the umbrella of the
UNJP for youth employment and empowerment).
The Songhai model has developed new approaches and farming system that rely
heavily on the combined inputs from local experiences, indigenous knowledge base on
one hand and business communities and research institutions on the other hand. Today,
the result is a robust, zero waste, integrated agro allied model promoting rural growth
through training, technology adoption and strong business and commercial strategy.
23

24. 5. Next Steps
FAO and ILO with the NEPAD are presently screening potential AIPs to start
implementing activities under the Rural Futures initiative and the inclusiveness of youth
and decent employment in the CAADP process could follow the path visualized in the
below graph (Box 9 – Youth and decent work integration in the CAADP process).
The strategic partnership under the Rural Futures programme focuses on one key
challenge, namely how rural youth can access and benefit from decent employment
opportunities and access markets.
Box 9 – Youth and decent work integration in the CAADP Process
RE – Rural Employment
DW – Decent Work
Objectives
The partnership aims to:
o Strengthen the capacity of stakeholders in participating countries to analyze and
address youth and decent employment policy issues with a gender sensitive and
climate smart persective; and,
24

25. o Identify, test, and evaluate innovative policy, institutional, and programmes options
to improve rural youth employment opportunities and access markets.
Partnership Activities
The activities of the partnership will center on reviewing potential Agriculture
Investment Plans (AIPs) formulated under the CAADP process and identify joint
collaboration activities to be supported in capacity development, knowledge
management, development of innovation networks, and communications for rural youth
while strengthening their access to markets. The partnership will:
o Undertake an assessment of policies and regulations that affect rural youth
employment and access to markets that can support the sustainable improvement of
agricultural practices;
o Test innovative multi-stakeholding approaches and other institutional mechanisms for
increasing rural youth participation in agro-value chains;
o Develop and test best practices for evaluating the impact of rural youth inclusiveness
in market and government(s) failures and devising innovative approaches to reduce
their incidence;
o Identify demand constraints on given commodities and assess the governance factors
that influence market access for rural youth;
o Develop a scaling-up methodology based on agro-climatic and labour friendly and
market access
o Disseminate the identified options for improving market access for rural youth so that
they become incorporated into national policies and investment programs
o Synthesize the knowledge gained in a manual of best practices and an accessible
knowledge management system to facilitate access by AU national government for
replication in the various AIPs
Participating Countries
Participating countries for the implementing activities will be selected in a
transparent manner based on the following criteria aimed at maximizing the probability
of success:
o Status of CAADP compact in the country and status of AIP
o National priorities of the government towards rural employment and youth
o Presence of a supportive policy environment; and
o Ownership and engagement of national institutions, and various stakeholders
25

26. Implementation
Once the countries are selected, a round of consultations will take place to shape
the programme activities agenda and identify project sites and beneficiaries. The
agreements reached in each participating country will later be consolidated under an
umbrella memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the programme and the
concerned national institutions. During the program implementation period, other
potential stakeholders with ongoing field programmes in the participating countries may
be brought into the initiative.
6. Conclusions
As mentioned above, successfully addressing the youth employment challenge
requires a coherent and integrated response that recognizes the particularities of Africa,
especially the very large share of rural youth population.
In many countries interventions have focused on programs that are narrow in
scope, limited in time, and tailored more to urban areas. There is also a throughout
recognition of the need to work in partnership, in a transparent multi-stakeholding
mechanism hence coherence, coordination and cooperation are needed across different
national government institutions and agencies, at central and local levels and UN
agencies.
In the past few years, the political priority linked to youth employment has
brought policy-makers to recognize that achieving productive employment and work for
young people entails long-term action covering a range of economic and social policies
focusing on labor demand and supply while addressing both quantitative and qualitative
elements of youth employment. Governments, the social partners, civil society, the
international community, as well as the youth themselves, all have an important
contribution to give in order to address youth employment challenges. Finally, youth
specific policies need to be issued or revised to align them with other national policies
and priorities taking into account the national socio-economic contexts.
The national CAADP implementation process and the AIPs present therefore an
important instrument and opportunity to practically and concretely integrate objective
and evidence-based mechanisms and programmes to address youth and decent
employment in a gender sensitive manner.
26

27. Useful Websites
African Union
http://www.au.int/
CAADP
http://www.nepad-caadp.net/
FAO-ILO working together
http://www.fao-ilo.org/
Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN
http://www.fao.org/
International Labour Organization of the UN
http://www.ilo.org/global/lang--en/index.htm
International Movement of Agricultural Rural Youth (MIJARC)
http://www.mijarc.org/
NEPAD
http://www.nepad.org/
UNIDO
http://www.unido.org/index.php
TakingITGlobal
http://www.tigweb.org/
World Bank Youthink
http://youthink.worldbank.org/
Data of Interest46
Agriculture & Rural Development
Agricultural irrigated land (% of total agricultural land)
Agricultural land (% of land area)
Agricultural machinery, tractors per 100 sq. km of arable land
Agriculture, value added (% of GDP)
Agriculture value added per worker (constant 2000 US$)
Arable land (hectares per person)
Arable land (% of land area)
Cereal yield (kg per hectare)
Crop production index (1999-2001 = 100)
Employment in agriculture (% of total employment)
Fertilizer consumption (kilograms per hectare of arable land)
Food production index (1999-2001 = 100)
Forest area (% of land area)
Forest area (sq. km)
Improved water source, rural (% of rural population with access)
Land area (sq. km)
Land under cereal production (hectares)
Livestock production index (1999-2001 = 100)
Permanent cropland (% of land area)
Poverty gap at rural poverty line (%)
Poverty headcount ratio at rural poverty line (% of rural population)
Rural population
Rural population (% of total population)
Labor & Social Protection
Employees, agriculture, female (% of female employment)
Employees, agriculture, male (% of male employment)
Employees, industry, female (% of female employment)
Employees, industry, male (% of male employment)
Employees, services, female (% of female employment)
Employees, services, male (% of male employment)
Employment in agriculture (% of total employment)
Employment to population ratio, 15+, total (%)
46
World Bank Open Data http://data.worldbank.org/
27

28. GDP per person employed (constant 1990 PPP $)
Labor force, total
Labor participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15+)
Labor participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15+)
Labor participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15+)
Long-term unemployment, female (% of female unemployment)
Long-term unemployment, male (% of male unemployment)
Long-term unemployment (% of total unemployment)
Unemployment, female (% of female labor force)
Unemployment, male (% of male labor force)
Unemployment, total (% of total labor force)
Unemployment, youth female (% of female labor force ages 15-24)
Unemployment, youth male (% of male labor force ages 15-24)
Vulnerable employment, female (% of female employment)
Vulnerable employment, male (% of male employment)
Vulnerable employment, total (% of total employment)
Poverty
Income share held by fourth 20%
Income share held by highest 10%
Income share held by highest 20%
Income share held by lowest 10%
Income share held by lowest 20%
Income share held by second 20%
Income share held by third 20%
Poverty gap at $1.25 a day (PPP) (%)
Poverty gap at $2 a day (PPP) (%)
Poverty gap at national poverty line (%)
Poverty gap at rural poverty line (%)
Poverty gap at urban poverty line (%)
Poverty headcount ratio at $1.25 a day (PPP) (% of population)
Poverty headcount ratio at $2 a day (PPP) (% of population)
Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty line (% of population)
Poverty headcount ratio at rural poverty line (% of rural population)
Poverty headcount ratio at urban poverty line (% of urban population)
Education
Children out of school, primary, female
Children out of school, primary, male
Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above)
Literacy rate, youth female (% of females ages 15-24)
Literacy rate, youth male (% of males ages 15-24)
Literacy rate, youth total (% of people ages 15-24)
Primary completion rate, female (% of relevant age group)
Primary completion rate, male (% of relevant age group)
Primary completion rate, total (% of relevant age group)
Progression to secondary school, female (%)
Progression to secondary school, male (%)
Public spending on education, total (% of GDP)
Public spending on education, total (% of government expenditure)
Ratio of female to male primary enrollment (%)
Ratio of female to male secondary enrollment (%)
Ratio of female to male tertiary enrollment (%)
Ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education (%)
School enrollment, primary (% gross)
School enrollment, primary (% net)
School enrollment, secondary (% gross)
School enrollment, secondary (% net)
School enrollment, tertiary (% gross)
Environment
Agricultural methane emissions (% of total)
Agricultural nitrous oxide emissions (% of total)
Fish species, threatened
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29. Forest area (% of land area)
Forest area (sq. km)
GEF benefits index for biodiversity (0 = no biodiversity potential to 100 = maximum)
Mammal species, threatened
Marine protected areas (% of territorial waters)
Methane emissions (kt of CO2 equivalent)
Nitrous oxide emissions (thousand metric tons of CO2 equivalent)
Organic water pollutant (BOD) emissions (kg per day)
Organic water pollutant (BOD) emissions (kg per day per worker)
Other greenhouse gas emissions, HFC, PFC and SF6 (thousand metric tons of CO2 equivalent)
Plant species (higher), threatened
Water pollution, chemical industry (% of total BOD emissions)
Water pollution, food industry (% of total BOD emissions)
Water pollution, metal industry (% of total BOD emissions)
Water pollution, other industry (% of total BOD emissions)
Water pollution, paper and pulp industry (% of total BOD emissions)
Water pollution, textile industry (% of total BOD emissions)
Water pollution, wood industry (% of total BOD emissions)
Social Development
Adolescent fertility rate (births per 1,000 women ages 15-19)
Economically active children, female (% of female children ages 7-14)
Economically active children, male (% of male children ages 7-14)
Economically active children, study and work, female (% of female economically active children,
ages 7-14)
Economically active children, study and work, male (% of male economically active children, ages
7-14)
Economically active children, total (% of children ages 7-14)
Economically active children, work only, female (% of female economically active children, ages 7-
14)
Economically active children, work only, male (% of male economically active children, ages 7-14)
Labor participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15+)
Labor participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15+)
Life expectancy at birth, female (years)
Life expectancy at birth, male (years)
Prevalence of HIV, female (% ages 15-24)
Prevalence of HIV, male (% ages 15-24)
Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (%)
Ratio of female to male primary enrollment (%)
Ratio of female to male secondary enrollment (%)
Ratio of female to male tertiary enrollment (%)
Ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education (%)
Refugee population by country or territory of asylum
Refugee population by country or territory of origin
Share of women employed in the nonagricultural sector (% of total nonagricultural employment)
Unemployment, female (% of female labor force)
Unemployment, male (% of male labor force)
Vulnerable employment, female (% of female employment)
Vulnerable employment, male (% of male employment)
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