In the mind of many youth today, farming is often considered to be an ‘old profession’ – a difficult and intensive activity that does not provide enough income, and even more so does not align with the digitalized and corporate world that is rising today. However, research shows that Africa’s food security does not just rely on the cultivation of new crops and exports, but also on growing new farmers. The growing industry of agribusiness and climate smart agriculture, which is expected to grow from approximately $9.58 billion in 2017 to $23.14 billion by 2022, is changing the face and image of the ‘farmer’ that we often see – redefining for a lot of people what agriculture is essentially about. Climate smart agriculture is an approach that interlinks productivity, adaptation, and mitigation to raise food and nutritional security and address issues of climate change and sustainability. A report released by the African Development Bank Group stated that Africa carries 65 percent of the world’s remaining uncultivated arable land and an abundance of freshwater, yet in 2017, Africa spent US$ 64.5bn on importing food. To develop Africa’s agriculture sector further, the…
New Faces of Farmers: Bringing African Youth Back to Agriculture
April 22, 2021
