A report by Heifer International, a global development charity, has revealed that only 23 percent of African youth engaged in farming, are using any form of agricultural technologies.
The report, which was released in Nairobi, Kenya on Thursday, said the youth in the continent had not tapped into technologies and innovations that could attract them to agribusiness.
The study titled, “The Future of Africa’s Agriculture: An Assessment of the Role of Youth and Technology”, was conducted based on survey of 30,000 youth in 11 African countries.
Released to mark the International Youth Day, it said “tackling the technology access gap, is ‘key to incentivise’ the continent’s youth to take up farming as a full-time vocation.”
According to the report, eliminating technological, financing, and capacity bottlenecks would ensure this demographic is part of agricultural transformation in the continent.
“The best way to engage youth in agriculture in Africa is through technological innovation and access to land and training will stimulate the growth of youth-owned agricultural enterprises in the continent.
The youth surveyed in the report said they were ready to engage in farming as a business if capital and digital tools that predict weather are available.
Senior vice-president for Africa Programmes at Heifer International, Adesuwa Ifedi said that access to digital tools will ensure the continent’s youth are an integral part of an agrarian revolution that promises food security and rural growth.
“Youth engagement in agriculture will be essential to recovering from the economic impacts of the pandemic, both to rejuvenate the continent’s agri-food systems and develop economic opportunities for young Africans,” he Ifedi.
