Ghanaian Youth Encouraged to Take Advantage of Emerging Opportunities in Agriculture
Annie Dela Akanko (fifth from left), Program Lead for the USAID Feed the Future (FtF) Ghana Policy LINK Activity, encouraged young Ghanaians to explore livelihood opportunities in the agricultural space.
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) estimates that youth represent nearly 36% of the country’s population. As of 2021, about 1.55 million young people between the ages of 15 and 35 were unemployed. Even though the country’s agriculture sector offers pathways to addressing the growing youth employment challenges, Ghanaian youth do not generally have an interest in working in this space.
The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) estimates that youth represent nearly 36% of the country’s population. As of 2021, about 1.55 million young people between the ages of 15 and 35 were unemployed.
“Agriculture is not as bad as you see it, and technology is making it even more attractive,” said Annie Dela Akanko, Program Lead for the USAID Feed the Future (FtF) Ghana Policy LINK Activity. Akanko spoke on November 24, 2022, during a panel discussion on “opportunities for young people” at the 10th-anniversary celebration of the Youth Arise Organization (YAO) Leadership Diary Training Program (LDTP).
Ms. Akanko acknowledged that, although there are some youth actively engaged in Ghana’s agriculture sector, the demography within the space is largely skewed towards older generations.
She assured the over 100 Senior High School graduates and college students gathered that stakeholders within the space are working collaboratively to transform the sector to enable young people to take their rightful place.
“Policy LINK is working with the government of Ghana, policy actors, and other stakeholders within the sector, and we aim to bridge the gap by involving the youth and bringing them to the decision-making table, hearing them out… and working closely with them,” Mrs. Akanko said. “I encourage the youth to learn more about the space and identify what the needs are, and you will be surprised at the various ways you can contribute to improving the sector while creating a sustained livelihood for yourselves.”
Since its inception in 2013, the LDTP, an annual youth leadership workshop, has trained over 3,000 young people in leadership, entrepreneurship, personal development, agribusiness, and community development across 13 regions of Ghana and in other parts of Africa, including Morocco, Togo, and Benin.
In commemoration of its 10th anniversary, the YAO named this year’s workshop the “Africa We Want” symposium, with the aim of mobilizing a pool of African youth ready to steer the continent toward a smart, sustainable, and inclusive future.
The symposium brought together industry leaders from state and non-state institutions, such as the National Youth Authority (NYA), the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program (NEIP), Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO), and the USAID FtF Ghana Policy LINK Activity to engage with the participants. The theme for the event was “Investing in Youth: Engagement, Education, and Entrepreneurship.”
The USAID FtF Ghana Policy LINK Activity is a five-year project supporting the government of Ghana and policy actors as they implement evidence-based, inclusive development processes.
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