“I enjoyed participating in this enriching session today. Looking forward to have more workshops on Youth and Agriculture in Mauritius”. This was the reaction of a participant at the National Agricultural Youth Policy Dialogue organized by FANRPAN in collaboration with the Faculty ofAgriculture on 12th April 2013 at the University of Mauritius.
Over 80 youths, experienced professionals and other stakeholders in the Agricultural sector, including policy makers, university students, research, extension, farmer organizations, the public and private sector attended the workshop. The objective was to deliberate on the issues of youth involvement in agricultural policy processes and especially those policies aimed at mainstreaming youth.
Workshop opening
In her welcome address the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Professor Yasmina Jaufeerally-Fakim highlighted the fact that Sub-Saharan Africa has the world’s youngest population with over 200 million people, and in many countries this population is relying heavily on agriculture. Taking into account the changes occurring in the agriculture sector, Professor Fakim said that the University of Mauritius is constantly bringing innovations in the course offered at the Faculty of Agriculture to better equip graduates with the competencies required on the job market. Among others, she mentioned about the successful web 2.0 trainings that were conducted at the Faculty of Agriculture, with the support of CTA in July 2012 and January 2013, that were highly appreciated by all stakeholders and the use of these tools are being encouraged at the Faculty.
Mrs. Sithembile Mwamakamba, programme Manager at FANRPAN, gave an overview of the organisation’s youth programme. FANRPAN considers youth to be a very important stakeholder in meeting its vision of a food secure southern Africa free from hunger. According to FANRPAN, there is a need for capacity building of youth, engage them actively so that their voice is heard, link them to planning and policy efforts, and facilitate this process. FANRPAN’s efforts are concentrated around these and in 2011, 6 case studies in Malawi, Mauritius, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zimbabwe were commissioned to assess current and emerging youth policies with special links to agriculture. Quoting the Minister of Youth and Sports from Swaziland during the FANRPAN 2011 Regional Food policy Dialogue about “Nothing for the youth, without the youth”, Mrs. Mwamakamba said that FANRPAN aims to go in this direction by involving youths in issues that impact them.
Experience from Mauritius
To share initiatives on youth and agriculture in Mauritius, Ms. Shivrani Oree, Senior Extension Officer at the Agricultural Research and Extension Unit (AREU) presented the youth activities run by the Agriculture Youth Clubs run under the Women and Youth unit. Presently, there are some 30 registered Agricultural Youth Clubs and their activities include kitchen gardening, compost making, strawberry production, value-addition, flower and indoor plants production, mushroom production, broiler production, egg production, small animal rearing and hydroponics. However, one of the major constraints highlighted for the sustainability of these activities is lack of funds and over the years, the activities of the Agricultural Youth Clubs has decreased considerably.
The Mauritius Country Case Study on “Current and Emerging Youth Policies and Initiatives with a Special Focus on Links to Agriculture” was presented by Ms. Nawsheen Hosenally. As a Small Island Developing State, Mauritius is particularly vulnerable to climate change and other challenges being faced by the agricultural sector are high cost of production, lack of labour, ageing farming population, lack of youth interest in the agriculture sector and food insecurity with only around 30% local production, resulting in a high import bill. From the findings of the case study, it has been observed that there is a general negative perception of Agriculture by youths in Mauritius and those involved in the sector are facing several challenges. When it comes to policy, a section of the National Youth Policy 2010-2014 is on youth and agriculture. However, due to lack of coordination among Ministries and other stakeholders, these policies have not been implemented. A set of recommendations were proposed in the case study, which also served as a base for discussions for the second part of the dialogue.
Working group Sessions
There were 3 parallel sessions on the following themes
- Youth perceptions of Agriculture versus Reality
- National Policies as Key Drivers; Are there opportunities for youth?
- Institutions & Mechanisms for youth engagement
The workshop participants got the opportunity to share their opinions in the different parallel sessions, which were then presented in the following plenary sessions.
Among the discussions, the mains points highlighted were that:
- Agriculture students do not have enough exposure to the real work on site
- There is a gap in the education system as Agriculture is taught in Secondary School for ‘O’ Level with few students, then it is not offered as a subject for ‘A’ Level, but only at University level – The inclusion of Agriculture in the education system needs to be reviewed
- There is no proper framework and support (or sometimes they are not clear) when it comes to entrepreneurship
- Youth in agriculture do not have a formalized platform/network where they can express themselves or interact with policy makers
- There is a need to review the university curriculum and make them more focused on agribusiness and entrepreneurship
- There should be better coordination among ministries and other institutions
- Investing in research and development can create opportunities for youth in Mauritius
- There is a need to invest more in the agricultural sector as a whole
- There should be more incentives provided to youth in agriculture and inform them about them
- Success stories of youth in agriculture should be promoted through the media
- Youths need to be trained, mentored and pre-job trainings should be offered to them
Way Forward
It has been a very enriching experience for the youth present at the policy dialogue since it offered a platform for them to share their opinion, interest, challenges, opportunities they see and their suggestions and proposals were also considered. The dialogue will culminate into a policy brief that the FANRPAN focal point will consolidate and communicate to the Minister of Agriculture, including other relevant departments and stakeholders.
