In this short article, the founder of SOTRAPROCOMM highlights the major challenges faced by young Africans in agriculture and explains how SOTRAPROCOMM, through its Train to Transform model, trains, supports, and connects youth to make agro-industry a driver of opportunities and innovation.
Introduction: The Future Cannot Wait
Youth engagement in agriculture and agribusiness across Africa remains limited, despite the sector’s strong potential to drive inclusive growth, reduce unemployment, and strengthen food security. With more than one billion people, 65 percent of whom are under the age of 35, Africa has the youngest population in the world (*). This demographic, projected to exceed 800 million by 2050 (*), represents both a challenge and a major opportunity.
If properly supported, Africa’s youth could transform agriculture into a dynamic engine for socio-economic development.
The Youth Employment Challenge
The continent creates only about 3 million formal jobs annually, while more than 10 million young people enter the labor market each year, fueling unemployment and instability (*) (*). Most opportunities remain informal: in Kenya and Rwanda, 75 % of workers and up to 80 % of women are employed informally (*), making agriculture a strategic sector for inclusive job creation.
Key Barriers to Youth Participation
Limited skills and lack of technical training,
Limited access to markets and financing,
Insufficient policy and government support,
Negative perceptions of agriculture (nearly 70% of youth view it unfavorably (*),
The SOTRAPROCOMM Approach: Insight + Action
As an organization specialised in research and development and committed to the empowerment of youth and women, SOTRAPROCOMM addresses this challenge through two complementary pillars :
1. Insights : Identifying structural, institutional, and perceptual barriers that limit youth engagement.
2. Action : Implementing practical solutions through the Train to Transform (T2T) model, enabling youth and women to unlock their potential within agrifood systems.
Insight: What the Evidence Reveals
Youth participation in agriculture remains low, particularly among rural women.
Social norms often favor male participation, while educational gaps reinforce negative perceptions () (). Limited access to land, finance, and cultural constraints further marginalize women (*) (*)
Barriers Identified in the Literature
Outdated African education systems poorly aligned with agri-tech and entrepreneurship (*) (*).
Limited extension services, with few youth aware of existing programs (*)
These findings demonstrate that Africa’s agricultural future will be determined less by land ownership and more by access to skills, finance, and supportive institutional systems.
Action: Train to Transform (T2T): Innovation for Inclusive Future
Insight without action changes little. For this reason, SOTRAPROCOMM developed the Train to Transform (T2T) model, a foresight-inspired approach designed to unlock the potential of youth and women within agricultural value chains.
The Four Steps :
Engage : Listening and co-creating solutions with communities to address real challenges.
Train : Providing training in agribusiness, financial literacy, digital tools, marketing, and climate-smart agricultural practices.
Transform : Offering coaching and mentorship to support enterprise creation and job development, avoiding the trap of “training without opportunity.
Connect : Linking youth and women to markets, mentors, and opportunities to ensure sustainability and reduce the isolation many agripreneurs face.
Impact example:
Over 40 youth and women trained in business skills, entrepreneurship and more
75 % have improved productivity and yields
Our model is innovative because it integrates foresight into practice. We not only provide training but also anticipate future skills needs in digital technologies, finance, and climate adaptation while ensuring long-term coaching and access to broader markets.
Impact Pathways
| Obstacles | T2T Solution |
|---|---|
| Skills | Training in agribusiness, finance, and digital tools |
| Finance | Financial literacy and market access support |
| Extension | Inclusive, participatory, youth-led extension approach |
| Perception | Promoting successful young agripreneurs |
Toward 2030: Scaling Insight and Action
Education transformation : Integrating agritech, foresight, and entrepreneurship into education systems.
Inclusive Finance & Agri-Fintech : Expanding mobile credit, blockchain loans, and digital savings platforms.
Digital Extension Services : Artificial intelligence–based advisory tools providing real-time climate, market, and production data.
Regional Integration: Facilitating youth-led agrifood ecosystems through entrepreneurship capacity building and improved market access.
Conclusion: Producing the Future, Not Just Food
Barriers to youth participation, including skills, finance, land access, extension services, and perceptions, are significant, but they are not inevitable. With innovative models like Train to Transform (T2T), rooted in foresight and inclusion, transformation is not only possible but already underway.
Agriculture is not only about producing food; it is about producing the future of Africa’s youth. By 2030, the world should see an Africa that has trained, engaged, transformed, and connected young people and women to lead in agritech, finance, and climate-smart innovation.
The Train to Transform (T2T) model demonstrates that engagement, training, transformation and networking of young people can transform agriculture from a subsistence sector to a platform for innovation and economic opportunities.
This is the Africa we envision.
This is the Africa we are building.
The Africa We Want.
The Train to Transform (T2T) model demonstrates that the engagement, training, transformation and networking of young people can move agriculture from a subsistence sector to a platform of innovation and economic opportunities.
This is the Africa we envision. This is the Africa we are building. The Africa we want!
Join SOTRAPROCOMM to empower the next generation of agripreneurs and accelerate the sustainable transformation of food systems.
Note: (*) gives access to external files used as references.
