New online series on rural employment with a particular focus on youth

About the series

The series is guided by the question of how projects can promote both employment opportunities as well a spirit of agripreneurship with young Africans in remote areas. Agripreneurs are young entrepreneurs who combine a specific agricultural know-how to launch their own business model along the agriculture and food value chain.

The first session focuses on promoting entrepreneurship, start-ups and self-employment for rural youth!

Who are the presenters?

After a short introduction to the new webinar series by Frank Bertelmann, Matthias Schnier and Ahmed Huzayyin will provide the key inputs and lead the discussion.

Matthias works for GIZ’s Promotion of sustainable agriculture and rural development programme in Tunisia and Ahmed is with the engineering and management consultancy Chemonics Egypt. The firm has vast experience in promoting entrepreneurs thanks to their track record in consulting start-ups and applying MSMEs tools and approaches in sectors like waste management, water systems, sustainable energy and sustainable agriculture and food production.

Shifting perceptions: From unemployment youth to agripreneur

The World Bank estimates that until 2030 440 million young people will enter Africa’s rural labour market. Until then agriculture will remain to be the single most important source of income and employment for people in rural Africa.

The current situation with low income, bad working conditions and lack of innovative technology in African agriculture contributes to a negative image of agriculture with young Africans. The promotion of agricultural entrepreneurship through start-up and MSME support, especially with a focus on services and ICT-based opportunities, helps to improve the attractiveness of the sector for young Africans along agricultural value chains.

Is this relevant to you?

The webinar is designed for project staff, decision makers and partner organisations. The two inputs will cover experiences in the MENA-region, but the conclusions will be transferable to other regions.

What will be your takeaway?

Based on his extensive experience with tracking firms for more than five years of operations, Ahmed will draw a detailed picture of how entrepreneurship can develop markets. The first practical implementation of these findings by GIZ Tunisia will stress the importance of the inspiration, orientation and market testing of ideas with young agripreneurs, way before starting to support the business-creation process.