A Youth-Powered Turn for Africa’s Food Systems
Walking through any African village or city, you’ll immediately sense that Africa is young.
With close to 60% of its people under 25, Africa stands on the threshold of a demographic dividend. Indeed, 10–12 million young people enter the continent’s workforce each year, according to the African Development Bank (AfDB), holding immense opportunities for transformation.
Yet beneath this opportunity exist many gaps, including a staggering 67% of Africans whose fortunes are tied to agriculture, but who remain locked out of inputs, tools, and land access. Additionally, as it stands, youth-led innovation in African agriculture, despite its promise, struggles for recognition and financing, with the entire agriculture sector attracting only 5% of bank credit. The AfDB estimates a financing gap of roughly $75 billion for farmers and agribusinesses, leaving families trapped in cycles of poverty.
The step-change that will shift the status quo is pegged on data-led accountability structures. Think of national food strategies that don’t just nod to the youth, but measure their involvement, and budgets that earmark funding for youth-led agri-businesses. These may be enhanced further by publicly tracked and published metrics covering, but not limited to, the number of youth-owned enterprises financed, hectares under youth-guided climate-smart farming, and reach of youth-centered extension services.
That’s the beginning point of transitioning young Africans from beneficiaries to architects of a transformation, even as we remain aware that “architecture” requires blueprints that evolve in real time. Guided by data, an evolution may be inspired by accountability propositions requiring every policy to embed youth quotas in decision-making bodies, funding for blended finance and guarantees that de-risk youth agribusiness, legislate land access for emerging young farmers, and empower youth-led advisory councils.
Meanwhile, policy must also constantly strive to bridge, including through digital tools that amplify both reach and evidence, existing agriculture industry gaps. Digital extension platforms, mobile training modules, and data dashboards, when designed in partnership with the youth and linking agritech training to employment metrics and business outcomes, could adequately illuminate what works, for whom, and where. A rural youth launching a small agro-processing unit after government-sponsored training delivered via smartphone, and whose output is tracked in real time, represents both inclusion and accountability in action.
The private sector and development organisations also have a defining role in the transition. Already, several partners are showing what is possible when youth are placed at the center of food systems transformation. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), through its Building Resilient Agricultural Finance and Insurance Markets in Ethiopia project, is demonstrating how inclusive rural finance systems can de-risk smallholder farmers, opening avenues for youth-led agribusinesses to thrive. Similarly, the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) is expanding opportunities through its Mass Youth Employment in Apiculture Programme (MaYEA) initiative, which creates thousands of jobs for young people in insect-based farming and value chains, proving that innovation and livelihoods can be mutually reinforcing. On a broader level, the Rockefeller Foundation is reimagining value chains through initiatives such as its Regenerative School Meals program, which connects local farmers to schools to supply nutritious, climate-smart meals. This approach not only improves child nutrition but also creates stable markets for youth-led farming enterprises, ensuring that agriculture delivers benefits across society.
Spotlight: Building Agroecological Futures Through YEFFA
Across the continent, initiatives like AGRA’s and Mastercard Foundation’s Youth Entrepreneurship for Food and Agricultural Transformation (YEFFA) programme are helping young Africans turn ideas into thriving agribusinesses. YEFFA equips youth with practical training, mentorship, and financing opportunities to drive sustainable food systems.
One of its inspiring success stories comes from Burkina Faso, where the Wendinkonte Consortium is redefining what green entrepreneurship can look like, we spoke with Djéneba Pilabré to find out more.
Q&A: Empowering Communities Through Agroecology
About Wendinkonte Consortium
Wendinkonte Consortium is a green entrepreneurship company based in Ouahigouya, Burkina Faso. We develop an integrated agroecological model that combines agriculture, poultry farming, fish farming, biofertiliser production, and eco-friendly charcoal production.
Our goal is to protect the land while sustainably feeding communities. Beyond production, we support the social and economic reintegration of internally displaced women and young people by providing them with training and job opportunities. This commitment has helped improve local food security, strengthen family resilience, and reduce environmental pressure linked to the use of firewood and chemical fertilisers.
My Experience with the Mastercard Foundation YEFFA Programme
Taking part in the YEFFA programme was a defining moment in my journey. I not only strengthened my entrepreneurial skills but also expanded my network through inspiring exchanges with other young African leaders. This programme gave me confidence in my potential while equipping me with the tools to structure and better showcase my agroecological model.
My Advice to Young People Aspiring to Build a Future in Agriculture
I would tell them that agriculture is not just a traditional profession — it’s an opportunity for innovation and transformation. It is a field that paves the way for resilience, job creation, and food security. With passion, perseverance, and a sustainable vision, young people can create innovative solutions that address today’s challenges while preparing for the future.
Such are the considerations that will be discussed at this year’s Africa Food Systems Forum (AFSF 2025), whose thematic headline is, “Africa’s Youth: Leading Collaboration, Innovation, and the Implementation of Agri-Food Systems Transformation.” This theme is a call to action that we can no longer just speak about youth inclusion and that we must design systems with youth at the helm. Indeed, Africa stands at a demographic crossroads, where we can either allow more young people to drift into underemployment or we can equip them with the tools, funding, systems, and voice to transform food systems from the inside out. We would rather pursue the latter.
In Dakar, Senegal, starting August 31, we will be eyeing measurable change, including the right policy environment for the growth of youth-led enterprises, rising rural youth incomes, and declines in youth NEET (not in education, employment, or training). The data exists, and so do the leaders; together, we will explore strategies for turning that data into law, the youth leaders into decision-makers, and commitments into capital.
–ENDS–
