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Promenez-vous dans n’importe quelle ville d’Afrique et vous ressentirez l’énergie d’un continent jeune. Près de 60% de la population africaine a moins de 25 ans: un véritable dividende démographique. Selon la Banque africaine de développement (AfDB), entre 10 et 12 millions de personnes arrivent chaque année sur le marché du travail. Cette dynamique offre des perspectives immenses de transformation. Mais derrière ces opportunités subsistent de profondes inégalités, en particulier pour ceux qui dépendent de l’agriculture. Aujourd’hui, 67% des agriculteurs africains n’ont pas accès aux intrants, outils, terres ou financements nécessaires.

Malgré leur potentiel, les innovations agricoles portées par les jeunes peinent à attirer les financements et la reconnaissance qu’elles méritent. À peine 5% des financements totaux vont au secteur agricole. La AfDB estime le déficit de financement à près de 75 milliards de dollars pour les petits exploitants et leurs entreprises, laissant de nombreuses familles dans la pauvreté. Pour inverser cette tendance, il faut bâtir des structures concrètes et mesurables :

•       des stratégies alimentaires nationales qui intègrent pleinement la jeunesse ;
•       des budgets dédiés aux entreprises agricoles dirigées par des jeunes ;
•       des données accessibles au public permettant de suivre:

o   le nombre d’entreprises agricoles financées et fondées par des jeunes ;

o   le nombre d’hectares cultivés en agriculture « intelligente face au climat » ;

o   la couverture des services d’appui priorisant la jeunesse.

C’est ainsi que les jeunes passeront de bénéficiaires à architectes de la transformation – en gardant à l’esprit que tout architecte suit des plans en constante évolution. Cette évolution peut s’inspirer des mécanismes de quotas de jeunesse en politique, qui garantissent un financement adapté, réduisent les risques, facilitent l’accès à la terre et renforcent les conseils consultatifs menés par des jeunes.

Les politiques doivent utiliser le numérique –  plateformes en ligne, formations mobiles et tableaux de bord conçus avec les jeunes – pour réduire les écarts d’information et d’accès. Imaginez un groupe de jeunes ruraux lançant une entreprise agroalimentaire après une formation gouvernementale suivie sur mobile: inclusion et responsabilisation deviennent réalité. Ce sont ces investissements d’aujourd’hui qui construiront l’Afrique de demain.

Le secteur privé et les organisations de développement ont un rôle essentiel dans cette transition. Plusieurs initiatives prouvent déjà l’impact possible lorsque les jeunes sont placés au cœur de la transformation alimentaire. L’ UNDP (United Nations Development Programme), avec son projet « Building Resilient Agricultural Finance and Insurance Markets in Ethiopia », montre comment des systèmes financiers ruraux inclusifs réduisent les risques pour les petits exploitants et ouvrent la voie aux entreprises agricoles dirigées par des jeunes. De son côté, l’ICIPE (International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology) élargit les opportunités avec son programme « Mass Youth Employment in Apiculture » (MaYEA), qui crée des milliers d’emplois dans l’élevage d’insectes et les chaînes de valeur. La Fondation Rockefeller, quant à elle, réinvente les chaînes de valeur grâce à son programme Regenerative School Meals, reliant agriculteurs locaux et écoles pour offrir des repas nutritifs et respectueux du climat. Ces approches améliorent la nutrition des enfants tout en créant des marchés stables pour les entreprises agricoles de jeunes, démontrant que l’innovation et les moyens de subsistance peuvent aller de pair.

Coup de projecteur : Construire des futurs agroécologiques grâce au programme YEFFA

À travers le continent, des initiatives comme le programme Youth Entrepreneurship for Food and Agricultural Transformation (YEFFA) de la Fondation Mastercard et AGRA aident les jeunes Africains à transformer leurs idées en entreprises agricoles florissantes. Le programme YEFFA offre aux jeunes des formations pratiques, du mentorat et des opportunités de financement pour favoriser des systèmes alimentaires durables.

L’une de ses réussites les plus inspirantes vient du Burkina Faso, où le Wendinkonte Consortium redéfinit l’entrepreneuriat vert. Nous avons rencontré Djéneba Pilabré pour en savoir plus.

Entretien : Donner du pouvoir aux communautés grâce à l’agroécologie

À propos du Wendinkonte Consortium
Le Wendinkonte Consortium est une entreprise d’entrepreneuriat vert basée à Ouahigouya, au Burkina Faso. Nous développons un modèle agroécologique intégré combinant agriculture, aviculture, pisciculture, production de biofertilisants et charbon écologique.

Notre objectif est de protéger la terre tout en nourrissant durablement les communautés. Au-delà de la production, nous soutenons la réinsertion sociale et économique des femmes et des jeunes déplacés internes en leur offrant des formations et des opportunités d’emploi. Cet engagement a contribué à améliorer la sécurité alimentaire locale, à renforcer la résilience des familles et à réduire la pression environnementale liée à l’utilisation du bois de chauffe et des engrais chimiques.

Mon expérience avec le programme YEFFA de la Fondation Mastercard
Participer au programme YEFFA a été un moment décisif dans mon parcours. J’ai non seulement renforcé mes compétences entrepreneuriales, mais j’ai aussi élargi mon réseau à travers des échanges inspirants avec d’autres jeunes leaders africains. Ce programme m’a donné confiance en mon potentiel, tout en m’équipant des outils nécessaires pour structurer et mieux valoriser mon modèle agroécologique.

Mon conseil aux jeunes qui souhaitent bâtir un avenir dans l’agriculture
Je leur dirais que l’agriculture n’est pas seulement une profession traditionnelle — c’est une opportunité d’innovation et de transformation. C’est un domaine qui ouvre la voie à la résilience, à la création d’emplois et à la sécurité alimentaire. Avec passion, persévérance et vision durable, les jeunes peuvent créer des solutions innovantes qui répondent aux défis d’aujourd’hui tout en préparant l’avenir.

Voici les possibilités qui seront débattus à l’Africa Food Systems Forum (AFSF) 2025. 

Le thème? Jeunesse africaine: Fer de lance de la collaboration, l’innovation et la transformation des systèmes.

L’objectif? C’est un appel à l’action. Il ne s’agit plus seulement d’inclure les jeunes, mais de créer des systèmes qui leur donnent la barre.

L’Afrique est à un tournant: soit elle laisse des millions de jeunes au chômage, soit elle leur fournit financements, outils et voix pour transformer en profondeur nos systèmes alimentaires. Le choix est clair: emprunter la deuxième voie.

À Dakar, au Sénégal, dès le 31 août, nous discuterons du changement quantifiable, et les mesures telles que;

•     La politique idéale pour la croissance des entreprises menées par les jeunes
•     Les revenus montants des jeunes ruraux
•     La diminution de jeunes NEET (sans éducation, emploi, formation).

Les données seront là, tout comme les leaders. Ensemble, transformons ces données en législation, nos jeunes leaders en décideurs, et les engagements en résultats tangibles.

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– 

By Boaz Blackie Keizire 

The General debate of the seventy-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly UNGA closed on September 26, 2023, in New York marking a crucial milestone in the journey towards achieving the 2030 Agenda. Hopping from meeting to meeting, I carefully listened to global policy and business leaders gathering in New York where they shared experiences and progress on attaining global sustainable Development goals.  As the implementation of these SDGs hit the halfway mark, steps being made towards food and agriculture-related targets have stagnated or reversed, compounding challenges in eradicating poverty and hunger, improving health nutrition, and combating climate change.

As we enter the second half of the SDGs’ countdown to 2030, we face formidable challenges that demand a redoubling of our efforts. The most recent data from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) underscores that many of the SDG targets related to food and agriculture remain distant goals. The enduring repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with other crises like climate change and armed conflicts, exert far-reaching influences across all facets of the 2030 Agenda, encompassing poverty, food security, nutrition, health, and the environment.

The 2023 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report by the FAO has revealed that in 2022, global hunger figures ranged between 691 million and 783 million people. These statistics illustrate a disheartening trend: since 2015, the increase in the number of undernourished individuals worldwide has effectively reversed nearly all the progress achieved over the preceding decade. Furthermore, food insecurity has witnessed a significant rise, surging from 25.3 percent of the global population in 2019 to 29.6 percent in 2022.

During the UN Food Systems Stocktaking Moment, convened by the UN Secretary-General and hosted by Italy last July in Rome, there was unanimous acknowledgement of the challenges facing our failing food systems. There was also recognition of the powerful role of sustainable, equitable, healthy, and resilient food systems in getting the world back on track to achieve the SDGs and the Paris Agreement. They committed to mobilizing all efforts towards the transformation of food systems to ensure a better future for everyone.

Sustainable food systems cut across the achievement of all the SDGs. However, current agricultural practices and systems are depleting our natural resources. Agriculture is the largest consumer of the world’s freshwater resources, one of the main contributors to greenhouse gasses, and more than one-quarter of the energy used globally is consumed on food production and supply.

During the Africa Food Systems (AFS) Forum in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in early September, there was unanimous agreement that key solutions that exist must be scaled up to accelerate food systems transformation in Africa. We need to redouble our efforts to boost agricultural yields through sustainable agricultural practices to enhance food security while minimizing negative environmental impacts.

This is because our global food systems are the source of nearly one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, food systems are, and will be, among the hardest hit by climate change, thus, food systems transformation requires integration with our efforts to address climate change. This implies that, working towards the adaptation of food systems to climate change.

In addition, we need to increase investments in building the resilience of agricultural systems and reduce the vulnerability of food producers who depend on natural resources. Also, we need to align the implementation of national food systems transformation pathways with the continuous updates of nationally determined contributions and national adaptation plans for climate action. We also need to develop and implement food systems strategies, plans and business cases as well as enforce coordination amongst multiple institutions that govern food systems. This will ensure the coherence and collaboration needed and reduce duplication and burdens on countries and communities.

To advance food systems towards SDG compliance, effective policies are required that coordinate actions by different public and private stakeholders, to navigate the interactions between material, behavioral, and other drivers of change such as urbanization, economic growth, climate change, information, and connectivity.

It’s important to note that, the transformation of food systems entails deep shifts across production, storage, consumption, and disposal of food. These have the potential to generate multiplier effects, acting as catalysts for broader transformation across multiple systems and SDGs. By reimagining and redesigning our food systems, we can address pressing challenges and unlock opportunities for progress in other areas.

Equally, by building sustainable food systems, we can be able to eradicate poverty through the increase of nutritious food, enhance agricultural productivity, and create income-generating activities for our smallholder farmers, including women and youth.

In conclusion, as we approach 2030, there is urgency to build momentum, as well as embrace solidarity and speed up progress on the SDGs, Paris Agreement, and Africa Union Malabo Declaration on Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program. I wish to offer a few solutions, First, we need to bring Food Systems into the Climate Process. The government of United Arab Emirates UAE is leading efforts for COP28 and we congratulate them for picking up from the work started in Glasgow at COP26, continued in Sharm-el-Sheikh last year, to bring food systems transformation into the climate process. Second, we need to press ahead on the opportunities created by food systems transformation. Third, we need to solve the finance problem and change the global financing architecture to respond to the unique food systems transformation. We need to mobilize and direct financing in a coordinated manner.  Deploy financial incentives to induce change and increase investments in innovation and green technology to enhance resilience and productivity for small and medium producers. We can seize this moment to unite efforts to eliminate poverty and hunger, as we advance towards an inclusive and sustainable future. We need to keep in mind that food systems transformation is not just a goal, but a catalyst for achieving our climate goals and all the SDGs.

Boaz Blackie Keizire is the Head of Policy,Advocacy and Food Systems at AGRA and also a 2017 Fellow for the Aspen New Voices Fellowship. Boaz also Heads the Africa Food Prize Secretariat

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 17^th March 2023 – Her Excellency Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of the United Republic of Tanzania, has today officially launched Africa’s Food System Forum 2023, Africa’s premier platform for advancing the agriculture and food systems agenda on the continent, at State House, Tanzania.

The theme of this year’s Forum – Recover, Regenerate, Act: Africa’s Solutions to Food Systems Transformation – is anchored around building back better Food Systems and Food Sovereignty. It identifies three steps needed to achieve this transformation: Recovery: a call for decisive strategies and actions to help the continent recover and rebuild its food systems following multiple crises and shocks; Regenerate: which calls for the need to regenerate the natural resources, such as soil and water, which are essential for sustainable food production, and Act: which refers to the need to take urgent action to address food systems challenges, such as climate change, food waste, and food insecurity at only seven years before the 2030 SDG deadline.

The forum will spotlight the role of women and youth through a re-energized commitment in the food systems conversation, with a focus on regenerating interest in agriculture as a means of wealth creation for the continent.

Speaking at the launch in Dar es Salaam today, President Suluhu spotlighted the role of youth and women as critical to Africa’s food systems agenda

Speaking at the launch, H.E. President Samia Suluhu said:

“The hosting of the Africa’s Food System Forum 2023 is of importance to our nation where more than 25 percent of our GDP relies on the agricultural sector. For many years, Tanzania’s agriculture was based on subsistence farming. Today, the Government of Tanzania has intentionally made it a goal to prioritize this sector to create livelihoods for our people. We are doing this through various programmes borne out of our hosting and learnings of the 2012 AGRF Summit and our focus on ensuring that the youth are a priority in investment and agricultural reform in our country. It is my hope that the hosting of this forum in our country is one step forward and a good start to achieve the results we expect in our agricultural sector.

In addition, Tanzania as the host of this forum announces to the world that our country aims to become a food granary for Africa and the world in general. I would like to call on the international community, partners of Africa’s Food Systems Forum, the private sector and development partners to participate fully in the upcoming forum on the development of the agricultural sector to strengthen food systems in Africa.”

In his remarks, the Chair of the Africa Food Systems Forum H.E. Hailemariam Dessalegn highlighted the importance of the continent moving beyond planning to curb food insecurity, to executing and actualizing commitments, and called for innovation, partnership, leadership and home-grown solutions to respond to emergent agricultural and food systems challenges.

“Our challenges around food system challenges will only get worse unless we work together to drive meaningful change. The difference between the Africa we seek to see and the Africa we shall become by 2060 is all dependent on the decisions we as leaders make and the supporting infrastructure, investments and policies in transforming food systems to produce sufficient, nutritious food in the changing social, political and climatic conditions.

As we rally towards the next Africa’s Food Systems Forum, it is important that we deepen our efforts to scale up our homegrown solutions and partnerships.” He said.

The Africa Food Systems Forum will take place from September 5^th-8^th 2023 in Dar es Salaam Tanzania, with a pre-summit event scheduled for September 4^th 2023. Launch. The summit will bring together a diverse group of stakeholders, including leaders, policymakers, scientists, heads of governments and private institutions, farmers, and youth, to agree on practical actions and solutions. These discussions are crucial to driving Africa’s food security forward and creating better livelihoods for all.

ENDS

Catherine Ndungu- Senior Communications Officer, AGRF
+250 791 568 865 cndungu@edaudMedia contact – agrf-media@hudsonsandler.com Eugene Nganga – +254 703 516 173