Youth

Lovin Kobusingye, the accidental entrepreneur

Sharing actionable knowledge helps to turn ideas into reality. The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) has seen powerful returns from bringing together young entrepreneurial thinkers and doers from all over Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

Youth entrepreneurship for next generation agriculture

The figures speak volumes – the world’s farmers are getting older, but the global population is getting younger. Nowhere is this truer than in Africa, where the average age of a farmer is now over 60. Worldwide, the number of people aged 15 to 24 is expected to increase to 1.3 billion by 2050 (UN DESA, 2011), most of whom will be born in developing countries in Africa and Asia, where more than half the population still live in rural areas.

Helping digital entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector to grow: insights from the CTA's AgriHack Talent initiative

In a sector as complicated as e-agriculture, supporting young innovators and entrepreneurs through mentoring and providing access to financing, is of particular importance.

Farm Credibly, a Jamaican start-up among the 2018 Pitch AgriHack winners

Visites d’études, échanges et réseautage en France pour les startups lauréates de Pitch Agrihack

Des jeunes entrepreneurs soutenus par le CTA participent à une rencontre internationale des start-ups e-agricoles, l'Agri-Start-up Summit, à la Roche-sur-Yon, en France, du 22 au 24 novembre 2017. La rencontre est organisée avec la collaboration du CTA par un groupe d’institutions comprenant Inf’Agri85, la Chambre d’agriculture de Vendée (France), Business France, AGRA’up, la Ferme Digitale. Ces journées « collabor’actives» ont pour objectif de promouvoir l’innovation du monde agricole grâce aux technologies ouvertes.

CTA at the 2018 AYA forum

Under the theme “Technologies and Innovations for Youth in Agribusiness”, the 2018 African Youth Agripreneur Forum (AYAF) and AgriPitch Competition will be held in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, on 9–13 April 2018. The events, organised by the African Development (AfDB), the Government of Côte d’Ivoire and with CTA’s collaboration, are expected to attract over 400 participants from across the continent, including young agripreneurs, agribusiness leaders, investors and development partners.

Bayseddo: a digital platform to boost agriculture in Senegal

In 2016, Mamadou Sall, working with Thierno Souleymane and other young Senegalese entrepreneurs, launched Bayseddo, a networking platform for farmers and investors in Senegal, aiming to optimise agriculture through digital technology. The start-up won the CTA’s Pitch Agrihack 2017 competition, and its first results are already beginning to show.

Supporting young e-agriculture start-ups

During the last quarter of 2016, Pitch AgriHack’s 25 finalists – selected from a competitive group of 152 e-agriculture start-ups from across Africa and the Caribbean – participated in a 2-day training bootcamp, which focused on offering successful business services in e-agriculture, at iHub in Nairobi.

ICTs for agriculture: a must for youth and farmers

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) can play a critical role in improving incomes for small-scale producers and other players in the agrifood sector, while providing livelihood opportunities for young people able to develop high-tech solutions. As part of its continued efforts to promote youth entrepreneurs and ICTs, CTA staged a number of events at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Forum 2016 in Geneva, Switzerland - the world's largest annual gathering of the ICT for development community.

Innovative agribusiness project promises bright future for Kenya’s youth

Nairobi, Kenya, 29 August 2018 – A new project launched today in Nairobi will boost business and employment opportunities for thousands of young people in the agricultural sector in Kalifi and Nakuru counties, Kenya.

10,000 smallholders to benefit in new Central African cassava project

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation (CTA), together with the Regional Platform for Central African Producers Organisations (PROPAC) and the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has launched this week in Kinshasa a new project to unlock the economic potential in cassava value chains in both DRC and Cameroon.

Pitch AgriHack seeks to promote greater engagement of young women

Wageningen, The Netherlands, 13 April 2018. CTA has launched ‘Pitch AgriHack 2018’ a competition to support young agricultural entrepreneurs (agripreneurs) build viable businesses and boost innovation for a more sustainable agricultural sector. Winning innovations will be awarded up to €15,000, as well as mentoring and networking opportunities.

Innovations in rice value chains offer increased job opportunities for rural youth

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation (CTA), together with the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice) and the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, has launched a new project that will foster youth entrepreneurship, strengthen market ties, and enhance livelihoods in the rice sectors of Mali and Senegal.

e-Agribusiness: A vital resource for Togo’s agriculture sector

Back in March 2015, Togolese entrepreneur Edeh Dona Etchri launched the e-Agribusiness platform to connect people and organisations across the country’s agriculture sector. It has proved a vital source of information for otherwise isolated farmers and is helping to grow the sector nationwide. The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) worked with the founder to help him expand and market his business. Today, there are around 6,000 farmers across Togo using the platform.

Aywajieune, developing online fish trading in Senegal

Aywajieune, winner of the Suguba Award for the best Senegalese start-up at Pitch AgriHack West Africa 2017, is the first platform in Senegal to connect fish sellers and buyers. Thanks to the CTA, the startup will receive support from Ernst & Young to help it develop plans for growth.

Offering ICT solutions to meet the specific needs of Ivorian farmers

In Côte d’Ivoire, ICT4DEV, the best Ivorian start-up at Pitch AgriHack 2017, has developed mobile applications to meet the needs of local farmers.

Karim Sy: ‘We cannot think Africa without agriculture’

Forty-six-year-old Karim Sy rejects the label of ‘incubator’, preferring to describe himself as a ‘serial entrepreneur’. Nevertheless, Jokkolabs, his non-profit organisation set up in Senegal in 2010, now has 12 hubs spread in Africa and Europe, and is trying to uncover the African entrepreneurs of tomorrow. Recently appointed to the Presidential Council for Africa by French President Emmanuel Macron, Sy has also been working for several years with the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) through the AgriHack programme.

A shared journey of learning at the Pacific Week of Agriculture

The first Pacific Week of Agriculture (PWA) opened on 16 Oct 2017 in Port Vila, Vanuatu. Taking the theme CROPS – Culture, Resilience, Opportunities, Products, Sustainability - PWA sets out to foster dialogue and commitment for realising the potential of agriculture in a region that is facing a number of economic, social and environmental challenges.