![\"agricluture](\"http:\/\/sem.lamtech.sl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/agricluture-youths.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nDespite such grim statistics, the sector has huge potential. The World Bank estimates that African agriculture and agribusiness could be worth $1 trillion by 2030. For that to happen, there must be improvements in electricity and irrigation, coupled with smart business and trade policies. An agribusiness private sector working alongside government could link farmers with consumers and create many jobs.<\/p>\n
Jobs for young people<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\nFast-growing economies that can cut poverty and create meaningful jobs, particularly for youths, require political will from leaders and huge injections of investment in agriculture, according to professor Mandivamba Rukuni, a Zimbabwean researcher and land policy analyst. “Africa is still on average 60% rural in population. The African Union has defined the immediate future around agriculture as the main force in social and economic transformation of the continent,” says professor Rukuni, who has published widely on African agriculture.<\/p>\n
“Africa\u2019s economies have been growing sustainably since 1999; agriculture has also been growing, but at a slower rate,\u201d he says, adding that the continent has been the slowest region in its efforts to eradicate poverty. He emphasizes the need for governments to focus on adding value to agriculture and to form partnerships with the private sector and set joint targets. On how governments and the private sector could work together, Professor Rukuni says, \u201cLook at China, India and Brazil: there is no distinction between government and private sector.”<\/p>\n
Africa\u2019s lack of competitiveness in agriculture is a drag on efforts to boost employment in this sector. Professor Rukuni describes competitiveness as involving \u201cwhat the government is prepared to do to support its producers to gain access to their markets.” His solutions include boosting rural development through a chain of activities that add value to agricultural products, providing necessary infrastructure to stem urban migration and empowering women and youths to run small businesses.<\/p>\n
Huge potential in rice production<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\nMarco Wopereis, deputy director general at the Cotonou-based Africa Rice Centre in Benin, says innovations in agriculture could unlock vast employment opportunities. The rice sector alone has the potential to employ many of the 17 million young people who enter the job market in sub-Saharan Africa each year. With financial support and training programmes, young rice farmers could boost rice production and add value to it, said Mr. Wopereis in an interview with Africa Renewal<\/i>. \u201cWith so many people without a job, the rice sector in Africa is a golden opportunity to provide jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many experts have expressed alarm over Africa\u2019s growing youth unemployment. Ibrahim Mayaki, chief executive officer of the New Partnership for Africa\u2019s Development (NEPAD), the African Union\u2019s development agency, calls youth unemployment a \u201ctime bomb.\u201d Sub-Saharan Africa\u2019s youth population is increasing rapidly, with the 15- to 24-year-old age group at 200 million, a figure that is expected to double by 2045, according to population experts. But agriculture could potentially provide enough food and jobs.<\/p>\n
Marco Wopereis, deputy director general at the Cotonou-based Africa Rice Centre in Benin, says innovations in agriculture could unlock vast employment opportunities. The rice sector alone has the potential to employ many of the 17 million young people who enter the job market in sub-Saharan Africa each year. With financial support and training programmes, young rice farmers could boost rice production and add value to it, said Mr. Wopereis in an interview with Africa Renewal<\/i>. \u201cWith so many people without a job, the rice sector in Africa is a golden opportunity to provide jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many experts have expressed alarm over Africa\u2019s growing youth unemployment. Ibrahim Mayaki, chief executive officer of the New Partnership for Africa\u2019s Development (NEPAD), the African Union\u2019s development agency, calls youth unemployment a \u201ctime bomb.\u201d Sub-Saharan Africa\u2019s youth population is increasing rapidly, with the 15- to 24-year-old age group at 200 million, a figure that is expected to double by 2045, according to population experts. But agriculture could potentially provide enough food and jobs.<\/p>\n