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1Abdul-Halim Abubakari, 2M.R. McDonald, 2D. Ceplis, 1K.G. Mahunu, 2J. Owen, 1I.A. Idun, 1P. Kumah, 2M. Pritchard, 1G. Nyarko and 1F. Appiah
1Ghana Institute of Horticulturists, 2Canadian Society for Horticultural Science
FOSTERING SUSTAINABLE ENGAGEMENT OF THE YOUTH IN THE AGRI-FOOD SECTOR:
Opportunities and challenges for youth employment in Ghana
Outline of presentation
Background, demography of youth and the agri-food sector
Ghana Institute of Horticulturists (GhIH) project on youth training and mentoring in the agri-food sector
Lessons and opportunities for the engagement of the youth in the agri-food sector
In a country of 25.2 million, youth, aged 15 to 35 years, comprise 33% of Ghana’s population {Ghana Living Standards Survey; (GLSS, 2008)}.
56% of Ghana’s work force is engaged in agriculture, mostly as small-holders. Many are youth, rural or peri-urban and who have no formal education
Of the 227,533 square kilometres of land in Ghana, 17.5% are arable lands while 9.2% are in permanent crops. (CIA 2012)
INTRODUCTION
The youth and agriculture in Ghana
The agri-food sector
The agri-food sector in Ghana consists of three main groups of producers.
Large group of small-holder primary producers
Small group of semi-skilled and medium-scale farmers
Large scale producers (Companies or individual)
Education, skills training and access to funds are critical in supporting young farmers to move beyond primary level
Since 2001, the Ghana Institute of Horticulturists (GhIH) has supported two key groups of youth in Ghana:
Young rural small scale vegetable producers in the Upper West Region (UWR)
Students enrolled in post-secondary institutions offering horticultural studies
Baseline studies in 2000 showed the need for intervention
The GhIH project
GhIH Project “Reach”
Dry season gardening project
GhIH Northern Zone
GhIH Middle Zone
GhIH South-Eastern ZoneGhIH South-
Western Zone
GhIH Northern Zone
GhIH Northern Zone
GhIH Middle Zone
GhIH Eastern Zone
South-Eastern Zone
GhIH South-Western Zone
GhIH Project sites in the Upper West Region
Objectives of the projectImproving household income and food security through increase production and marketing of vegetables.
Building farmers’ capacity to implement successful environmental practices.
Engaging the youth and women farmers as active participants and beneficiaries of horticultural interventions
Strengthening GhIH to impact positively on the national regulatory framework on horticultural development in Ghana
This paper discusses the methodologies and results achieved by GhIH in skills training and youth mentoring
GhIH trains young farmers on the principles of horticulture and Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) using Farmer Field Schools (FFS), Training of Trainers (ToT), and on-farm demonstrations.
GhIH mentor young horticultural professionals through networking, conferences, communication and professional exchanges
GhIH partners with the Canadian Society for Horticultural Science (CSHS), through the Support of Agriculture Institute of Canada (AIC), via CIDA (support ended in 2011)
Survey of farmers provided data for this presentation
METHODOLOGY
GhIH trains young rural farmers on the principles of horticultural production
Farmers and students learn the principles of entrepreneurship and value chain development
Location Direct beneficiaries Indirect beneficiaries
District Village Name of group No. males No. females Total
no.
Total no.
Wa East Busa
Behii
Busa Water User’s Association
Behii Water User’s Association
25
6
33
3
58
9
200
70
Wa Siiru Siiru Water User’s Association - - - 70
Lawra Babile
Nandom
Babile Water User’s Association
Nandom Water User’s Association
18
7
5
5
23
12
70
50
Karni Karni
Piina
Karni Water User’s Association
Piina Water User’s Association
7
4
20
1
27
5
133
83
Total 67 67 134 676
Table 1. Profile of youth beneficiaries of GhIH project
RESULTS
Source: GhIH survey, 2010
Major crop
Gender
Male Female Total %
Amaranthus sp (Alefu) 0 1 2
Phaseolus vulgaris (Bean leaves) 0 1 2
Brassica oleracea var capitata (Cabbage) 1 0 2
Solanum melongena (White eggplant) 0 1 2
Capsicum spp (Sweet Green Pepper) 1 0 2
Arachis hypogaea (Groundnut) 1 1 4
Zea mays (Maize) 1 0 2
Pennisetum glaucum (Millet) 0 1 2
Abelmoscus esculentus (Okro) 2 5 14
Allium cepa (Onion) 1 4 10
Onion intercropped with Okro 0 1 2
Capsicum annum (Hot pepper) 6 1 14
Lycopersicum esculentum (Tomato) 15 6 42
Total 28 22 100
Table 2. Main crops grown by youth in GhIH project communities
Source: GhIH survey, 2010
Impact of GhIH project on farmers No. male No. female Percentage
Food and nutrition security 11 4 10
Income, employment & livelihood54 61 77
Environment 3 0 2
Rural community development 6 1 4.5
No response 3 7 6.5
Total 77 73 100
Table 3. Impact of the GhIH project on nutrition, employment and rural development
Source: GhIH survey, 2010
Table 4. Income levels young farmer trainees resulting from increased vegetable production
About 1/3 of the farmers have per capita income above the national average. See table 5
Majority of the young farmers have per capita income equivalent or little higher than the regional average. See Table 5
Gender Income level (Ghana Cedis)
No income 1-100 101-500 501-1000 1001-2000
Male 2 2 30 18 4
Female 0 6 26 10 2
Total 2 8 56 28 6
Source: GhIH survey, 2010
Regional average per capita income
Table 5. Mean annual per capita household income in Ghana, GLSS, 2008
National average per capita income
Region Mean annual household
income (Ghana Cedis)
Mean annual per capita
income (Ghana Cedis)
Western 1,222 393
Central 1,310 464
Greater Accra 1,529 544
Volta 913 272
Eastern 1,145 379
Ashanti 1,149 410
Brong Ahafo 1,202 443
Northern 1,452 296
Upper East 616 124
Upper West 606 106
Ghana 1,217 397
Source: GLSS, 2010
Challenges facing farmers No. male No. female Percentage
Access to agricultural inputs, 10 8
12.0
Start up funds and market8 6
9.3
Environment & water management12 4
10.7
Investment in time, skills and effort30 30
40.0
No major problem 9 13
14.7
No response7 13
13.3
Total 76 74 100
Table 6. Challenges facing young rural farmers in the GhIH project
Source: GhIH survey, 2010
Agricultural item Estimated no. of households
processing items in the last 12 months
Estimated value of sales (Gh cedis)
Cassava flour 58,510 50,000Cooking oil 82,249 130,000Flour from other grains 15,926 30,000Gari 20,804 100,000Groundnut paste 10,270 10,000Home brewed drink 32,448 30,000Husked/polished rice 4,984 No dataMaize flour 283,008 320,000Processed fish 76,617 290,000Processed meat 2,905 10,000Shea butter 7,938 10,000Cassava dough 76,416 70,000Corn dough 9,582 20,000Others (e.g. Vegetables*) 1,244 No dataAll 682,901 1,050,000
Table 8. Income estimates for household processing their own food (GLSS, 2008)
Source: GLSS, 2008
Opportunities for youth employment in the agri-food sector
Increasing domestic demand for safe and nutrition food as a result of increasing awareness created by NGO’s in the agri-food sector
Increasing demand in the international market for non-traditional agriculture commodities such as pepper and shea butter
Continue national and donor support for capacity building in value addition and enterprise training
Building on viable farmer groups with strong involvement of the youth results in better adoption of GAP
Training on GAP and Value addition can increase market access
Intervention linked to Universities in Ghana have proven to be cost effective and more sustainable
Strong partnership with the MoFA and community leaders is critical for project sustainability
Financing of innovative youth enterprises is the biggest challenge constraining sustainable employment of the youth in the sector
Lessons from GhIH project for the implementation of national youth policy in the agri-food sector
Fostering engagement of the youth in the agri-food sector requires comprehensive and long term agricultural interventions through:
Using PTD methods to work directly with the beneficiaries, and partnering with MoFA, other government departments, and community leaders
Support of public Universities and research institutions
Harmonising NGO’s interventions with national youth policies
Improved agricultural finance is central to youth engagement
The strategies, opportunities and challenges presented above need to be considered in implementing policies for sustaining the employment of the youth in the agri-food sector.
CONCLUSION
Thanks for your
attention
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