Webinar: Creating Jobs for Rural Youth
What is it?
In sub-Saharan Africa, the number of youth is expected to more than double by 2050 and reach almost 600 million by 2100, with most of them living in rural areas. Countries have to urgently create employment opportunities in rural areas to reap the demographic dividends of this ‘youth bulge’. Jobs potential for youth in rural development is presumed but little is known about specific strategies that turn this potential into actual job opportunities. In the webinar, it discussed strategies that work such as collaboration with the private sector, improving perceptions of agriculture among rural youth, and scaling activities by involving youth and through national and local partners.
The webinar also featured projects from African countries‒ Employment Promotion Programme (EPP III) Sierra Leone & Agricultural Value Chains for Sustainable Development (A4SD) to showcase their ‘integrated’ approaches, results, and critical success factors, including how they are adapting to COVID-19. The webinar recording can be found here. The presentation can be downloaded from here.