The Sudanese Government launched the ENABLE Youth Program in the country on 2 March, and joins the league of other African countries that are productively engaging youth in agriculture.
The program which was launched in Khartoum had the representatives of the African Development Bank (AfDB), IITA, IITA Youth Agripreneurs (IYA), the Government of Sudan, and other stakeholders in attendance.
Speaking on the importance of the program, the State Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, Hon Sabri Al-Daw Bakhit said many developed countries of the world were able to attain a high level of economic stability because they paid a lot of attention to their agricultural sector. He said Sudan is also on the verge of attaining economic stability and greatness because it would provide the necessary support for the ENABLE Youth Program to thrive in the country.
He appreciated AfDB for funding the program and also commended IITA for introducing the youth involvement in agriculture initiative―IYA.
He said the initiative would help youth engage in agriculture on a business-oriented scale. He added that the country would however need the technical assistance of IITA in the implementation of the program.
AfDB’s Country Manager Abdul Kamara assured the Government of the Bank’s continued support to Sudan’s development agenda. He said the ENABLE Youth Program as introduced by the Bank will diversify the country’s economy away from oil to agriculture. He added that ENABLE Youth Sudan Program is one of the Bank’s Feed Africa Strategy (2016–2025) flagships aimed at bringing African youth into agriculture and agribusiness. The program according to him will provide the youth in the country an opportunity to create decent employment and wealth along the value chains in the agricultural sector.
Also speaking during the launching, IITA Regional Director for East Africa, Victor Manyong, who represented IITA at the launching, thanked the Bank for funding the program. He reaffirmed IITA’s commitment to drive the success of ENABLE-Youth across Africa. He added that IITA has recorded a lot of success from its youth in agribusiness model―IYA, and is ready to share the experience with other African countries including Sudan.
He pointed out that the framework of the ENABLE Youth Sudan is based on the IITA Youth Agripreneurs model which started in Nigeria in 2012 and has since been piloted in several African countries. IITA will provide technical assistance and backstopping services to the program implementation team.
The AfDB Board approved the ENABLE Youth program on 28 November 2016 with a total cost estimated at US$32.3 million.
ENABLE Youth Sudan Program is one of AfDB’s ENABLE Youth Initiatives under the Bank’s Feed Africa Strategy (2016–2025). The objective of the program is to create business opportunities and employment for young women and men along priority agricultural value chains in Sudan. The program is expected to train and empower 2,000 Agricultural Entrepreneurs (Agripreneurs) in Youth Agribusiness Incubation Centers (YABICs) in five states in the country.
Each of these Agripreneurs is expected to employ five other support workers, generating 12,000 jobs (including 6,000 for young women) in total over the first 5 years of the program.
To kick-start the program, the team spent some time reviewing the work plans and getting acquainted with the management and implementation roles of each partner.
The team also paid courtesy visits to one of the proposed pilot sites of the program in Abu Halima, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MOAF), and the Ministry of Finance and Economic planning (MOFEP). A series of discussions was also held with the host institution―ICARDA Sudan Office.
About IITA www.iita.org
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is a not-for-profit institution that generates agricultural innovations to meet Africa’s most pressing challenges of hunger, malnutrition, poverty, and natural resource degradation. Working with various partners across sub-Saharan Africa, we improve livelihoods, enhance food and nutrition security, increase employment, and preserve natural resource integrity. IITA is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future.
Media contact: Katherine Lopez, Head of Communication, k.lopez@cgiar.org
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