Programme – Young People, Farming & Food conference

Posted on January 27, 2012 by - Young People, Farming & Food Conference

Young People, Farming & Food: the Future of the Agrifood Sector in Africa
19-21 March 2012

Presentation slides from the conference are now available. The links are next to the titles in the list below. This programme was updated on 13 April 2012.

Monday 19 March

8:30 Registration

9.00 Opening session

Chair: Professor Clement Ahiadeke, Director, ISSER, University of Ghana – Legon

Welcome: Rev Dr Sam Asuming Brempong, Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, University of Ghana – Legon

Opening Address: Hon. Kwesi Ahwoi, Minister for Food and Agriculture, Government of Ghana

Opening Keynotes: Professor Ramatu Al-Hassan (Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, University of Ghana – Legon)
Young people and agricultural sector development: a personal perspective

Dr Namanga Ngongi, President, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa
The role of young people in Africa’s Agricultural Revolution (slides)


11.00 Tea and coffee
Sign up for panel sessions

Press Conference

11.30 Scene-setting presentation and plenary discussion

Ben White (ISS, The Hague): Rural youth transitions: Dispossession, unemployment and the future of agriculture

13.00 Lunch

14.00 Panel session I (3 parallel panels)

Panel 1 – Aspirations and Attitudes Toward Agriculture

Chair: Amdissa Teshome

  • ‘The Land of our Birth, we pledge to thee’: Perception and experiences of young people towards farming in rural Ghana Richard Ameyaw Ampadu
  • Rural youth aspiring occupations beyond Agriculture: Evidences from Young Lives Study in Ethiopia Yisak Tafere and Tassew Woldehanna (slides)
  • Future of agriculture and agribusiness: Position, perception and prioritization of young people in Ghana Emmanuel Adugu and Richard A. Ampadu
  • Young people’s perceptions of and aspirations in agriculture: A case study of Ghana’s cocoa sector Nana Akua Anyidoho, Jennifer Leavy, Kwadwo Asenso-Okyere

Panel 2 – Education and Training

Chair: Ephraim Chirwa

  • Employment of agricultural graduates: Who are we training for? Sidi Sanyang, Samba Ly, Stella Ennis, Lamin Jobe, Lassine Diarra, Pierre Bantaba (slides)
  • Agriculture in the school curriculum in Zimbabwe Lydia Biriwasha (slides)
  • Enticing young people to agriculture through education, training and mentoring Grace Mwaura (slides)
  • Engaging the youth in agriculture through early-level agricultural education intervention in Sub-Saharan Africa Elizabeth Omondi
  • Working towards a new generation of young professionals in Agricultural Research for Development Courtney Paisley (slides)

Panel 3 – Livelihoods (1)

Chair: Michael Mortimore

  • “Last resort and often not an option at all”: Youth, education and farming as livelihood in Ethiopia Getnet Tadele (slides)
  • Power and quick money: young people, tomato production and livelihood building in Brong Afafo, Ghana Christine Okali and Jim Sumberg (slides)
  • Farm households’ livelihood diversification and its implications for young people’s engagement in agriculture: the case of Uasin Gishu County, Kenya L. K. Korir, Job Kibiwott Lagat and Bernard Kamau Njehia
  • A tale of two peoples: the influence of race relations on agricultural patterns among Zimbabwean young people Mandlenkosi Sibanda, N. Chirinda and S. Mullin (slides)

16.00 Tea and coffee break

16.30-18.00 Open Space: posters, photography, videos

19.00 Conference dinner

Tuesday 20 March

8.30 Keynote Address: Ms. Sithembile Ndema Mwamakamba (FANRPAN): Advocating for Active Engagement of the Youth in Agricultural Policy Development

9.30 Panel session II (3 parallel panels)

Panel 4 – Land

Chair: Ian Scoones

  • Implications of land reform and contract farming on youth involvement in vegetable production in Zimbabwe: A case study of cairns foods contract farming scheme Chimbwanda Florence
  • Youth, food security and land grabs in Malawi Blessings Chinsinga and Michael Chasukwa
  • Shonga Farms, Kwara State, Nigeria: An ‘experiment’ in large-scale commercial farming under Nigerian conditions Joseph A Ariyo and Mike Mortimore (slides)
  • The (overlooked) youth interest in foreign transactions in land Gaynor Paradza (slides)

Panel 5 – Livelihoods (2)

Chair: Ben White

  • Livelihood diversification, the rural young and the agri-food sector in Ethiopia Tassew Woldehanna
  • Survival livelihoods in conflict situations: Exploring the livelihood strategies of the youth in Northern Uganda, Gulu District Nalwanga Faridah Sendagire
  • The role of indigenous gum and resins in pastoralist livelihood security and climate change adaptation in the Garba Tula area of Northern Kenya Yasin Mahadi, Jeremy Lind, Susan Wren and Lars Otto Naess (slides)
  • Does educational level influence the choice of farming as a livelihood choice among youth? Results of an empirical study from coastal lowland Kenya Kadenge K. Lewa, and John M. Ndungu (slides)

Panel 6 – Entrepreneurship and Employment

Chair: Sithembile Mwamakamba

  • The economic benefits of sheanut harvesting: Empirical evidence of job creation opportunities for young women in Northern Ghana Dominic Y. Tunti
  • Opportunities and challenges for youth’s participation in horticultural production in the face of GlobalGAP standards: Empirical evidence from Kenya Elosy Kangai and John Mburu (slides)
  • The role of agro-tourism in alleviating youth unemployment in Kenya: Case study of Kakamega County, western Kenya Mwendah M’Mailutha
  • A critique on research prioritisation on new bean markets and the youth in Malawi: transforming the region Ruth Magreta, Isaac Jonathan Jambo (slides)
  • Exploring opportunities and constrains for young agro entrepreneurs in Africa, Francesca Dalla Valle (slides)

11.15 Short break

11.25 Private sector panel

Chair: Sam Asuming-Brempong

  • Ruth Adjei (General Manager, Blue Skies in Ghana)
  • Yaa Amekudzi (Programme Director – Cocoa Partnership, Cadbury)
  • Roopak Bhat (Cocoa Manager, WA, Cadbury)
  • Leticia Osafo Addo (CEO, Samba Foods)
  • Nick Railston-Brown (Country Director, Technoserve – Ghana)

13.15 Lunch

14.30 Panel session IV (3 parallel panels)

Panel 7 – Labour and Migration

Chair: Tassew Woldehanna

  • Vagaries of surplus peasant labour in the eyes of the “Developmental State Thesis”: The Case of Ethiopia Habtamu Alebachew Simesh (slides)
  • Agricultural Non-family Workers (Sourga) in Senegal River Valley, Amadou Ndiaye (slides)
  • A law and economics analysis of labour market changes in the context of international Investment in agriculture in Africa Luis Montilla and Daragh McGreal
  • The REVA PLAN in Senegal: Does modern farming of change minds of young people about agriculture? Mohamadou Sall (slides)

Panel 8 – Climate Change

Chair: Nana Akua Anyidoho

  • Youth and climate change adaptation in Zimbabwe – case of Chivi and Masvingo districts Conrad Murendo, Lars Otto Naess and Kizito Mazvimavi (slides)
  • Climate change: the hidden adaptation opportunities for young people in the agrifood sector, a case study of Kenya Esther Kihoro, Immaculate Maina, Maureen Miruka, and Festus M. Murithi (slides)
  • Transforming the agrifood industry to develop rural livelihoods under global change, Laura Pereira (slides)

Panel 9 – Engaging Young People

Chair: Sidi Sanyang

  • Common Interest Youth Groups and their contribution to food security among small holder farm households in Kenya Judith Libaisi, Pamela Marinda, J. Wakhungu (slides)
  • Engaging young professionals in the Agri-food sector: Strategies, lessons and experiences from YPARD and YPARD Africa Courtney Paisley and Gbadebo Odularu (slides)
  • Fostering sustainable engagement of youth in the agrifood sector: Opportunities and challenges for youth employment in Ghana Abdul-Halim Abubakari, Mary Ruth McDonald, Dinah Ceplis, Komla Gustav Mahunu, Josee Owen, Irene Akua Idun, Patrick Kumah, Mervin Prichard, George Nyarko and Francis Appiah (slides)
  • Targeting young adults/young households in Central Uganda: Where is the next generation of farmers? Sam Mpiira, Anne Rietveld and Charles Staver (slides)

16.30 Tea and coffee

17.00 Question Time Panel

18.45 Departure for conference dinner

Wednesday 21 March

8.30 Keynote papers and Plenary discussion

Chair: Darren Belgrave

  • Dolf te Lintelo (IDS): Unspoken assumptions: The policy models underlying youth policies in Africa

10.00 Partners Panel

  • Darren Belgrave (DFID)
  • Cheryl Anderson (USAID – Ghana)

11.30 Plenary: synthesising and summing up

Short invited commentaries and plenary discussion: What have we learned? Where are the agendas? What are the emerging themes? How can we bring more and better research and evidence to the ‘youth and agriculture’ problem?

12.15 Closing remarks

12.30 Departures (lunch will be available)