Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, the President of
the African Development Bank (AFDB), on Monday said the future of Africa’s
youths lies in unlocking the tremendous opportunities available in agriculture.
Adesina said this at the
inauguration of the Akin Adesina Agripreneurs Building which was held as part
of activities to mark the 50th anniversary of the International Institute of
Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan.
He said: “I firmly
believe the future millionaires and billionaires of Africa will come from the
agriculture sector.
“Africa is spending 35 billion
dollars a year importing food. That is 35 billion dollars it should be keeping
on the continent; that’s 35 billion dollars market each year for its young
people to tap into to create new wealth”.
But to do that requires totally
changing the lenses with which we look at agriculture.
“Agriculture should no longer be
seen as a way of life or a development sector, but rather as a business for
wealth creation.”
He said many students now choose
to study agriculture as a last option.
“Our young ones have memories of
deserted villages with poor farmers.
“With a rapidly aging population
of farmers, unless something is done, urgently, Africa will have no farmers
left within 20 years.
“The immediate action, therefore,
must be to change the perception of agriculture.
“We must make agriculture cool,”
he said.
He said youths’ involvement in
agriculture was key to sustainable economic growth and reduction of poverty
across the continent.
Adesina said that investing in
the youth would protect the continent’s economy today and in the future.
He called on African governments
to prioritise investments in youths and their business.
“The youths are like computer
microchip processors inside of Africa’s economy. Small, many, but if we’ll
connected, will transform Africa’s economy with speed.
“Over the next 30 years, Africa’s
GDP is estimated to grow by 500 billion dollars a year, if it is able to
address jobs for its youth, develop its human capital and improve access to
better healthcare for its youths.
“GDP per capita in Africa will
rise by 55 per cent in the next four years and by additional 55 per cent
through 2050, if Africa provides jobs for its youths.
“The youths in agriculture, the
agripreneurs, have set sail to a better future. Let’s put wind behind their
sails,” he said.
The AFDB boss promised to offer
his unwavering support by working tirelessly for agripreneurs across Africa.
“It is my hope that Akin Adesina
Agripreneurs Building will become the oyster from where the pearls of wealth in
agriculture will develop.
“The bank will be investing 24
billion dollars in agriculture over the next 10 years, with sharp focus on
agricultural value chains, agribusiness and agroindustrial development, a key
component of our strategy is to scale up support to agripreneurs, ” he said.
In his remarks, Dr Nteranya
Sanginga, the Director General of IITA, said that the building would be used to
train African youths in order to help them unlock employment opportunities and
drive development through agriculture.
“Dr Adesina has staunchly
promoted the cause of the African youths, especially strongly supporting the
IITA Youth Agripreneurs (IYA) over the years.
“Through his initiative, Jobs for
Youth in Africa, the AFDB in collaboration with IITA would be scaling out the
IYA model of youth engagement in agribusiness to create eight million
agribusiness jobs within five years for youths.
“Over one billion dollars would
be used to support agribusiness enterprises and jobs for young women and men
who have embraced agriculture as a business.
“In appreciation of his
continuous support and deep commitment of the youth, the IITA Board of
Trustees, Management and staff, and the IITA Agripreneurs are preserving Dr
Adesina’s legacy by naming the Youth Training Centre at IITA Headquarters after
him,” he said.
Source: - The Guardian | July 24, 2017
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