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The Youth Circle event organised by the Climate Smart Agriculture Youth Network Global (GCSAYN) that was held virtually yesterday underscored the important role that children and young people play in driving climate-smart agriculture.
In her keynote address during the virtual conference, Ms. Chido Cleopatra Mpemba, the African Union Chairperson’s Youth Envoy said she was pleased by the fact that the Youth Circle Flagship event was themed on “empowering young sustainability leaders in the context of COP27 preparation. “
To that end, she said the discussion was apt in that Africa has the highest concentration of youth in the world wherein it is estimated that around 480 million young people are living on the continent today.
“There have never been as many young Africans as there are now, and none of our development aspirations as a continent can be achieved without a meaningful engagement of this continent’s greatest asset. If supported by appropriate policies, programmes and targeted investments, this dynamic continental force has tremendous potential to lead the economic and social transformation of our continent. Youth are at the core of the African Union’s development agenda.”
Aspiration 6 of Agenda 2063 aspires to achieve the prosperity of the continent based on inclusive and sustainable growth, driven by the potential of its peoples, especially Women and Youth, and caring for Children.
The Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods, endorsed at the African Union summit in 2014 under Commitment 4 identifies specific youth-related targets.
These targets are on creating job opportunities for at least 30% of youth in the agricultural value chains; supporting and facilitating preferential entry and participation for women and youth in gainful and attractive agribusiness opportunities.
Equally, Commitment 6 of the Malabo declaration aspires to Enhance the Resilience of Livelihoods and Production Systems to Climate Variability and other related risks. This commitment calls for mainstreaming resilience and risk management in the policies, strategies and investment plans including youth and children-related policies.
The African Union Commission through the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Blue Economy and Sustainable Environment developed youth in agriculture-related frameworks including:
- The Investment Guidelines for Youth in Agri-food System in Africa that was developed developed to contribute towards accelerating investments for and by youth, taking into consideration the diversity of their constraints, needs and aspirations. The Guidelines provide practical guidance, examples and detailed “how to” steps in developing youth-focused and youth-sensitive investment programmes and interventions.
- The African Agribusiness Youth Strategy focuses on ensuring youth have the knowledge and the skills to participate in policy development and decision-making in the agribusiness sector as well as to build and grow their individual agribusinesses. It also aims to inform the implementation of agriculture youth strategies at country and regional levels and identify strategic actions to be implemented at the level of the African Union up to 2025 and beyond to create an enabling environment for youth to engage in agribusiness.
The African Union Envoy said as stakeholders gear up for the COP27 that will take place in Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt, it is critical to recognize the important role Youth play in building a resilient, sustainable and prosperous agricultural sector in Africa.
Young people on the Continent are increasingly becoming aware of the challenges and opportunities posed by climate change, and many are joining the global dialogue on solutions, getting involved and taking action.
“As us – the young people work across the globe to determine our future by acting on climate change, our actions should inspire everyone. Working by and for young people is a critical component of raising political ambition to reach a new, universal agreement on climate change, which I promise to champion. I, therefore, wish to pledge my support and that of the continent’s youth in the launch of the Children and Youth in Agriculture (CYA) flagship,” the Youth Envoy added.
The United Nations Assistant Secretary-General and UN Coordinator of Scaling Up Nutrition, Gerda Verburg said there is a need for youths to take ownership of local agri-food systems and make them relevant to their contexts for them to bring tangible benefits to their lives and livelihoods.
“Every challenge comes with an opportunity. Youths should rethink, reform and envisage how they want their local agri-food systems to operate while addressing future environmental needs and generating income for themselves,” she said.
In pursuit of leaving no one and no place behind as far as climate-smart agriculture is concerned, Mr. Ntiokam Divine, the GCSAYN Executive Director said previously excluded and marginalized groups like women and young people as well as people with disabilities must be included in the programmes.
“Young people, women, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and climate change refugees should be mainstreamed in the implementation of Agenda2063 ‘ Africa We Want’, Agenda2030 for Sustainable Development and the Malabo Declaration,” he said.
Speaking during the virtual meeting, Yasmi Yurd, the Deputy Regional Representative for Africa at the Food And Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said there is a compelling need to provide training for young people in climate-smart agriculture
“Youth are the future of agriculture, food and climate-smart agriculture. We must provide opportunities for training and capacity building for youth on climate-smart agriculture. We at FAO are working toward addressing these needs,” he said.
In his remarks during the Youth Circle, Benjamin Davis, the Director of Inclusive Rural Transformation and Gender Quality Division of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said there is a need for stakeholders to come up with a new model for a sustainable food system development.
“Stakeholders should realize and focus on the emergence of the Food System as a new paradigm. Transformation must fit within the hard constraint exposed by Mother Nature that is the role of agriculture in achieving below 2⁰C target,” he said.
Gennele Herrmann Valente, Initiator and President of Next Gen Agricultural Leaders called for increased participation of children and young people in climate-smart agriculture.
“Young people must become better represented. Young voices must be heard, and young people must be included in decision processes that impact all our future lives and the way we live, produce, eat, and thrive,” she said.
Martin Frick, the Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) Global Office, Germany, said there is a need to empower smallholder farmers in order to increase food production and address challenges brought about by climate change.
“The poorest people of this planet can and should be agents of change to stop the climate crisis before it is too late. Smallholder farmers are our biggest hope. They need every support,” Frick said.
Margarita Astralaga, an independent consultant and Special Advisor to Mr. Ntiokam Divine, the GCSAYN Executive Director, called on stakeholders to address the diverse needs of women and young people in promoting climate-smart agriculture.
“Young female, male farmers, and small producers are struggling more and more with the challenging new circumstances and this is why it is key for policymakers to have clarity of diverse needs of all youths around the world and the messages for both COP27 and 28 should be loud and clear,” she said.
Lufingo Mwamakamba, the Stakeholder Engagement Manager at Emerging AG said failing to address climate change would be a drawback for sustainable development.
“Climate change, coupled with feeding a growing population, is the most daunting challenge we are facing. If not addressed, all our efforts to date will be reversed. Inclusivity is key to strengthening the capacity of forward-looking and inclusive, evidence-based local adaptation planning efforts, Mwamakamba said.
Linda S. Acheampong, the GCSAYN Education Exchange Programme Lead called for an inclusive approach in promoting climate-smart agriculture among young people through student-student and student-teacher mobility across centres of excellence.
“The impact of climate change does not discriminate. It transcends age, gender and geography. At GCSAYN, we equip the youth and children on Climate Action for a sustainable tomorrow,” Acheampong said.
The following are key takeaways from the Youth Circle:
- Evidence of global food insecurity, need for youth involvement in the fight for the sustainable development Agenda
- Give the youth platforms to voice out in the protest and drive towards climate Action in all regions
- Visible evidence of climate extremes, and the need for action now with massive youth involvement.
- Young people, Women, Persons with disabilities, Indigenous peoples & Climate Refugees should be mainstreamed in the implementation of Sustainable goals.
- The need to appreciate nature and its essence to human existence hence all should be environmentally conscious.
- leverage on the power of Climate Change Movements to educate more youth on climate and sustainable action.
- Employ the use of tools like En-Roads Climate Simulator, a tool to inform quality policy decision
- Endeavour to build a future with sustainable energy.
- Education, technology and easy access are the way to combat and accelerate climate Action.
- Deliver on climate finance to build on adaptation.
