Green jobs for youth: what works and what’s missing?

Aminu Ndakogi Kanko – Nigeria

Aminu is a youth leader and a paddy aggregator, collecting rice from small-scale farmers to sell it to bigger buyers. Though he ultimately decided to dedicate himself to agriculture, his background is in computer science – and he brings that same technical focus to his agribusiness. Not only did he reschedule the entire cultivation calendar to the dry season by making judicious use of a pump system, he’s also developed his own digital platform to sell his products directly to consumers.

For Aminu, getting youth involved in policy-making processes at all levels is the way to a green economy. He’d also like to see more capacity-building opportunities for rural youth – and he thinks digital marketing will help young farmers keep their sales strong.

Bourahima Diallo – Mali

Bourahima is president of the Rural Youth Finance Network and part of the Association of Breeders and Fatteners of the municipality of Narena. On his farm, he tackles climate change and soil degradation through the use of climate-smart agricultural techniques: he uses only the organic manure from his cows and he promotes the use of highly productive climate-resilient seeds.

Bourahima thinks public-private-producer partnership holds the key to making green jobs flourish. He wants to see more public actors – like school canteens and government institutions – buying directly from youth-led agribusinesses.

Elly Matende – Kenya

Elly is a dairy farmer, owner of the family-run organic Matende Holstein Farm. He also trains other youth, both those who are already in agriculture and those who are interested in joining, on different aspects of dairy farming – from incorporating organic farming practices to making their agricultural activities more sustainable. For Elly, this kind of skill-sharing is crucial for a green economy.

“I believe it is important to encourage peer-to-peer capacity-building activities that, in addition to providing adequate competencies, would also boost a change in the perception of younger generations towards green jobs,”

Ali Hawau – Cameroon

Ali is a producer of broiler birds, which she advertises and sells through various digital platforms. She also uses her birds’ manure for gardening, an organic practice that allows her to take advantage of the synergies between crops and livestock through the productive use of waste. She believes agroecological practices like these – ones that aim to increase crop diversity and reduce external inputs – should be incorporated more widely.

Ali is also concerned about the connections between farmers and markets. She sees the lack of roads, in particular, as a major cause of multiple challenges facing rural areas, from the loss of perishable crops to the tendency for many youth to migrate to urban areas in search of work.

“Good roads will facilitate the transport of food and reduce post-harvest losses. They would also contribute to the reduction of the youth exodus.”   

Henry Fordi – Ghana

Henry is an organic farmer. He’s also the project lead of Guzakuza, a team that trains young women, students and farmers on the importance of organic farming and supports them in starting or scaling up sustainable agribusinesses.

Henry brings that same business acumen to the question of green jobs. "More mentorship programmes that can provide young people with the appropriate entrepreneurial skills and accompany them along their business development path.”

John Kiwagalo – Uganda

John is the coordinator of the Food Academy at Uganda’s Slow Food Youth Network, through which he trains young farmers on agroecological practices. He also raises pigs and grows crops of his own.

In his work, he sees a lot of viable crop being lost due to oversaturated markets – so he thinks investing in technology that helps avoid food waste will be crucial in the years ahead. As he sees it, helping green jobs go digital will also make them attractive to future generations of workers.

Kone Zie Daouda – Côte d'Ivoire

Kone is part of the Climate Smart Agriculture Youth Network, through which he helps young people – both newcomers to agriculture and those already in the sector – improve their agricultural knowledge, market research skills, and establish connections.

Kone sees digital spaces as meeting spaces for rural youth. He hopes that technological innovations can facilitate connections between rural youth – and that platforms such as these can increase their engagement, too. He’s also hoping that development partners, such as governments and NGOs, will engage more widely with youth working in agriculture.