Mentoring youth for agricultural transformation - The 2017 Young Africa Works Summit

In the next two weeks, all youth in agriculture paths will convene in Kigali, Rwanda. Why so?

The MasterCard Foundation will be hosting its second Young Africa Works Summit in Kigali Rwanda from February 16-17. This meeting will bring together 300 high-level influencers from NGOs, government, peer funders, the private sector and youth themselves to discuss not only how youth can actively participate in agriculture in Africa, but also how youth can drive agricultural transformation in Africa. To do so, the Summit will explore three sub-themes (gender, technology and climate-smart agriculture) that contribute to agricultural transformation. Have a look at the Summit agenda.

Additionally, the Summit will also act as a platform for the release of The MasterCard Foundation’s Invisible Lives: Understanding Youth Livelihoods in Africa report, detailing the results of a 12-month study of youth employment in Ghana and Uganda.

One of the main goals of the summit is engaging young people in agriculture to ensure their voices are heard in the policy arena. In line with that, The MasterCard Foundation has partnered with YPARD to bring together 49 youth delegates between the age of 18-24 to be part of the summit.  Among this delegation is two YPARD members Jabulani Nyegere and Hanna Samuel who were proposed by the YPARD country chapters given their record experiences and accomplishments within the agricultural sector.

The Young Africa Works Summit (YAW) Youth Programme

The Young Africa Works Summit youth programme is a 3 tier kind of an event whose purpose is to support these young people to make the most out of the conference be it by networking or contributing to the complex discussions on agricultural transformation.

We have been doing this in three key ways;

Pre- Summit Webinars: In the lead up to the Summit in February, YPARD has been conducting webinars to equip the youth delegates with information and tips on how to get the best from the Summit. These webinars that run for 90 minutes have been instrumental in getting the youth delegates Summit ready.

The pre-summit workshop: On February 15 YPARD will bring together all youth delegates for a full day workshop to build on their communication skills, networking and confidence in preparation for their participation at the summit. The whole day workshop will delve deeper  on topics like networking, communication and how to live tweet in a conference among others.

The mentoring program: Prior to the Summit, YPARD is pairing young people who expressed the need to be mentored with senior delegates attending the summit based on their interests and experience These pairs will have a chance to meet face to face during the pre-Summit workshop and some of the youth members will be selected to join a longer-term mentoring program beyond the Summit.

Stay tuned to the Summit discussions via the hashtag #YAW2017

Read the youth pre-Summit blog series:

•  On my journey to agripreneurship by Laetitia Mukungu
• How scholarships are helping young women discover agriculture in Malawi by Pilirani Khoza
• Youth and technology: The missing link in agriculture by Brian Bosire
• Boosting soil fertility levels for sustainable yields by Nzube Prisca Egboluche
• Reducing poverty and malnutrition: the CARL Group story by Clarisse Murekatete
• Creating a sustainable replacement to wood and charcoal by Jean Bosco Nzeyimana

Photo Courtesy: The MasterCard Foundation