FAO director general José Graziano da Silva says the youth need more incentives for them to engage in rural activities such as livestock production.
Speaking at the official opening of the side event on youth and the development of aquaculture and livestock at the 28th Food and Agricultural Organisation Regional Conference for Africa in Tunis, Dr da Silva said sustainable and inclusive growth had become more important as they were seeing more of Africa’s youth searching for opportunities elsewhere.
“We cannot speak of a sustainable and inclusive growth for Africa without speaking of youth and agriculture,” he said. “…We need to give the youth other possibilities. The aquaculture and livestock sectors can provide them employment.”
The aquaculture sector in Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Nigeria, Uganda and Zambia grew six times between 2000-2010, according to recent data, with hopes that a more productive and profitable aquaculture can create significant income and employment opportunities.
Dr da Silva noted that livestock also had the potential which FAO had not fully tapped into.
He said worldwide, the livestock sector accounted for 40 per cent of the value of world agricultural production.
“Its importance is expected to grow as demand for animal protein continues to grow in the world and in Africa. This offers opportunities for young Africans, men and women, not only in production but also in adding value along the food chain,” Dr da Silva said.
In Kenya, the dairy sector creates around 900,000 jobs, many of which are done by young men and women.
Over the last few years, FAO has supported the development of National Aquaculture Strategies in 14 sub-Saharan African countries.
Through the NEPAD-FAO Fish Programme (NFFP), FAO has also assisted in
the development of market-oriented “model” cluster groups in Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia.
Over half of the African population is expected to remain rural until the middle of this century. Agriculture, and that includes the livestock, fisheries and aquaculture sectors, is the continent’s main source of employment.
Dr da Silva added that at the same time, FAO’s livestock and rural employment experts were joining forces in a recently launched pilot project in Ethiopia, which sought to specifically support youth in the country’s booming small ruminant sector.
In Zimbabwe, a country where over 60 per cent of the population is under 25 years, FAO and its partners had started implementing a 7.7 million euro project to support the smallholder livestock sector.
Dr da Silva observed that the youth were needed to inject new energy into agriculture, livestock and fisheries sectors through adoption of technologies and innovations that would support growth.
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