By Abdul-Ganiyy Akanbi

To tackle the challenges of climate change, food insecurity and unemployment in West Africa, the Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS Commission, has approved multimillion dollars grants for the Inception Workshop of Centers to train youths so they can develop business in the area of ecological organic agriculture, EOA.

Chairman of the Regional Steering Committee of EOA, Dr. Gle Koffi Emmanuel from the Department of Economic Affairs and Agriculture, ECOWAS Commission, stated this while declaring open the meetings of inception centres coordinated by West African Secretariat of Ecological Organic Agriculture, WASEOA and the Regional Steering Committee of Ecological Organic Agriculture in West Africa held during the week in Lagos.

Emmanuel said the workshop was a critical platform to translate the potential of the agro-sylvo-pastoral and halieutic,
ASPH sector into action, impact, and inclusive growth for the young women and men who aspire to practice EOA.

According to him, the programme was organised at a time when the demographic dynamics of West Africa present both a compelling challenge and a historic opportunity.

“With over 60% of the West African population under the age of 30, and the 15 – 34 age group making up more than a third of the population, the potential of our youth is vast. Yet, the reality remains sobering—unemployment affects over 75% of young people entering the job market.

“Our region continues to be affected by low productivity and performance of economies in general and of particular ASPH sector. This culminated into difficulty integrating young people into existing farming systems, rigidity and low attractiveness to the sector irrespective of its potential,” he explained.

The committee chairman, however, added that the current production and operating systems need to be transformed in order to improve the attractiveness of the sector (income, status in society) and reduce endogenous and exogenous shocks linked to the sector.

He informed that several policies and strategies are being deployed to address this existential issue under the leadership of ECOWAS towards guaranteeing decent jobs, strengthening the resilience of family farms as a priority and the deliberate inclusion in the eight major themes of “Implementing a proactive policy to encourage young farmers to set up in business and make the ASPH sector more attractive.”

To implement this strategy, he said ECOWAS has set up two priority investment programmes on youth employability in the ASPH sector for the promotion of local milk value chains in the region and contributing to a substantial increase in investment in the agro-sylvo-pastoral and fisheries sectors, to boost job creation opportunities for young people.

Emmanuel added that ECOWAS allocated a total of US$ 2,238,000 as subsidies to train 3850 youths in ASPH sectors for the first programme, disclosing that “This training will be coordinated by Songhai Centre, CORAF and WASEOA. WASEOA is granted 594,000 USD from the total sum to subgrant to you and train at least 1270 youths aged 18 – 35 with 40 % being women.

“Ecological Organic Agriculture is more than a farming method. It is a movement rooted in respect for nature, local knowledge, and the well-being of people and the planet. As West Africa faces the twin challenges of climate change and food insecurity, EOA provides a pathway toward solutions that are environmentally sound, economically viable, and socially just,” he declared.

Earlier in his welcome address, the President of the Association of Organic Agriculture Practitioners of Nigeria, NOAN, Jude Obi, said the association is the umbrella for the entire stakeholders within the organic agriculture value chain in Nigeria.

Obi informed that in recognising the role of NOAN in the awareness, advocacy, capacity building, networking in organic and agroecology value chain, the African Union Commission, AUC; Ecological Organic Agriculture Initiative, EOA-i; Continental and West Africa Regional Secretariat paid a courtesy visit to the ECOWAS secretariat in Abuja where the association was recognized as the WASEOA and subsequently along with ECOWAS signed a memorandum of understanding, MoU for the implementation of Youth Employability in Organic Agriculture and Agroecology Value Chains in West Africa.

He explained that the MoU empowers WASEOA to sub-grant nine organizations to train 1,270 youths in Nigeria, Republic of Benin, Togo, Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal with 40% women inclusive.

The NOAN President, however, said ECOWAS has deployed several policies and strategies to confront the major challenge of integrating young people into the job market especially in ASPH sector, taking account the regional agricultural policy guidelines.

Obi revealed that the youth employability support strategy of the region include strengthening initiatives to prepare young people for careers in the ASPH and agri-food sectors, promoting a favorable environment for the integration and empowerment of young entrepreneurs, supporting the economic and social empowerment of young people in agri-food value chains, and managing youth integration initiatives, also in the ASPH sector.

He listed the expected impacts of the strategy to include employment of at least 25% of young people entering the job market each year in the ASPH and food chain, reduction of unemployment and underemployment among young people (men and women) by three quarters, and ensuring that the proportion of young, uncontrolled emigrants are substantially minimized.