The @_AfricanUnion InnoFest’26 will bring together key stakeholders in the AI landscape to advance youth-led innovation, digital policy, entrepreneurship, and strategic partnerships. @MaMoPanel’s YOUTH AHEAD report demonstrates how innovative agricultural technologies, digital tools, ICT, AI, and machine learning can support agrifood systems transformation and create new opportunities for young people. Strengthening STEM education and digital skills can enable more young Africans to participate in emerging areas such as precision agriculture, digital agriculture, food processing, and agritech entrepreneurship. YOUTH AHEAD (P.21): mamopanel.org/resources/yout…

Addressing Africa’s Employment Challenge Starts with Agrifood Systems As governments around the world grapple with rising migration pressures, the conversation too often centers on border security, climate shocks, and conflict. These factors matter, but they overlook a deeper economic reality: in an increasingly interconnected global labor market, migration is often driven by the search for better jobs and higher incomes. For many young Africans and others from the Global South, migration is not simply an escape from hardship but a calculated investment in economic opportunity. Investing in agrifood systems will create productive opportunities that enable young Africans to build prosperous futures where they are and reduce the economic pressures that drive irregular migration. Read more from @DrOBadiane via @farmingfirst 👇farmingfirst.org/2026/09/add…

Job Harvests: Country Case Study – #Nigeria Vision 20:2020 and its successor, Nigeria Agenda 2050, place employment creation, human capital development, and agrifood transformation at the center of the country’s broader economic transformation agenda. This direction has been reinforced by the National Employment Policy and the Nigerian Youth Employment Action Plan, which emphasize youth employability, entrepreneurship, digital literacy, and labor market integration. #JobHarvests: mamopanel.org/resources/agri…

Job Harvests: Country Case Study – Rwanda #Rwanda’s Vision 2050, the National Strategies for Transformation, and successive Strategic Plans for Agricultural Transformation have provided a coherent framework for linking agrifood transformation to broader economic objectives, including higher labor productivity, rural economic diversification, expansion of off-farm employment, and greater inclusion of youth and women in productive economic activities. This approach has been reinforced by the National Employment Policy, which explicitly integrates agriculture and rural development into employment creation efforts, and by the National Industrial Policy, which identifies agro-processing as a strategic sector for industrialization, value addition, and export growth. More insights: mamopanel.org/resources/agri…

Job Harvests: Ethiopia Country Case Study To broaden employment opportunities beyond agriculture, #Ethiopia complemented productivity-enhancing investments with initiatives to promote enterprise development, industrialization, and labor market integration. -Integrated Agro-Industrial Parks (IAIPs) sought to attract investment and strengthen linkages between agricultural production and value addition. -Youth-focused initiatives, such as the National Rural Youth Development Package, and labor market services, such as the Ethiopian Labour Market Information System (E-LMIS), were introduced to improve access to employment opportunities and strengthen labor market functioning. #JobHarvests: mamopanel.org/resources/agri…

Africa faces one of the defining development challenges of the 21st century: creating sufficient decent, productive employment for its rapidly growing workforce. With millions of young people entering the labor market each year, widespread informality, underemployment, and working poverty indicate that the challenge is not only to create more jobs but also to create better jobs that provide sustainable incomes and opportunities for advancement. @MaMoPanel’s “Job Harvests” report shows that agrifood systems are central to both the employment challenge and its solution. Job Harvests: mamopanel.org/resources/agri…

#JobHarvests Education and skills development can be demand-driven and directly connected to rural growth sectors. In Nigeria, the Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) and the National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISPD) provide practical workplace exposure, vocational training, and entrepreneurship support, including starter packs to facilitate self employment. Such interventions are further strengthened when embedded within coherent national policy frameworks. Policy Insights: mamopanel.org/resources/agri…

Better coordination and data can accelerate job creation in Africa's agrifood systems. @MaMoPanel’s #JobHarvests recommends strengthening high-level institutional coordination backed by digital labor market platforms and public labor statistics. #Nigeria's National Employment Council and Presidential Council on Industrial Revitalization align employment and industrial policy across ministries, while #Ethiopia's Labour Market Information System connects job seekers to vacancies while generating real-time labor market data. #JobHarvests: mamopanel.org/resources/agri…

Limited access to finance is one of the biggest constraints on agrifood job creation in Africa. #JobHarvests recommends pairing inclusive finance with risk-mitigation tools and enterprise support. In #Nigeria, the Bank of Industry combines affordable long-term loans with advisory support, while the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending offers credit guarantees to encourage agribusiness lending. In #Ethiopia, the Women Entrepreneurship Development Project pairs larger-than-average loans with business training, driving significant profit and employment growth for women-led firms. #JobHarvests: mamopanel.org/resources/agri…

Africa's labor market absorbs more than 10 million new young job seekers each year, but current growth patterns generate only about 3 million formal jobs, a widening gap between labor supply and decent work. More than one in five African youth, about 72 million people, are not in employment, education, or training (NEET). And the challenge isn't gender neutral: women make up about 60% of NEET youth. @MaMoPanel's “Job Harvests” case studies from #Ethiopia, #Nigeria, and #Rwanda show how impactful government action can create a more enabling environment for improved labor market outcomes, particularly for youth and women in agrifood systems. #JobHarvests: mamopanel.org/resources/agri…

#JobHarvests Agrifood Systems Can Drive Employment Expansion Across Africa @MaMoPanel’s “Job Harvests” report demonstrates that expanding inclusive agrifood employment across the continent can be supported through targeted policy interventions that: -Position productive agrifood employment at the core of national development strategies -Equip youth and women with the skills to transform agrifood systems -Address informality and strengthen worker protections -Mobilize innovative financing and private investment -Build digital ecosystems to support rural employment and agrifood innovation -Invest in labor-intensive rural infrastructure to create jobs and strengthen rural economies -Harmonize labor market statistics across countries Policy insights: mamopanel.org/resources/agri…

#JobHarvests Strengthening employment policies to advance decent work, occupational safety, and health systems to improve job quality. -In #Rwanda, the National Employment Policy and the Private Sector Development and Youth Employment Sector Strategic Plan align employment objectives with productivity enhancement, enterprise development, labor market information systems, and workforce planning. -#Ethiopia’s National Employment Policy and Strategy and Plan of Action for Job Creation link employment promotion to industrialization, governance, and social protection, while supporting stronger coordination across ministries. -#Nigeria’s National Employment Policy advances employment-centered growth by supporting MSMEs and improving coherence between education, skills development, and labor demand. #JobHarvests: mamopanel.org/resources/agri…

Limited access to finance is one of the biggest constraints on agrifood job creation in Africa. #JobHarvests recommends pairing inclusive finance with risk-mitigation tools and enterprise support. In #Nigeria, the Bank of Industry combines affordable long-term loans with advisory support, while the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending offers credit guarantees to encourage agribusiness lending. In #Ethiopia, the Women Entrepreneurship Development Project pairs larger-than-average loans with business training, driving significant profit and employment growth for women-led firms. #JobHarvests: mamopanel.org/resources/agri…

Around 70 million young people in Africa are not in employment, education, or training. By 2040, the continent will need to create 2 million jobs every month to absorb new entrants to the labor market. The challenge isn't just creating jobs—it's creating jobs that are productive, resilient, and inclusive. How? @MaMoPanel's #JobHarvests report presents an integrated action agenda for tackling Africa's employment challenge. @DrOBadiane joined @cnbcafrica to discuss the report's key findings and what they mean for Africa's employment future: cnbcafrica.com/media/7784126…

#JobHarvests Why hasn't Africa's agrifood sector already delivered the jobs its youth population needs? @MaMoPanel points to a set of interconnected constraints: demographic pressures, climate change, weak infrastructure, insecure land rights, limited access to finance, and fragmented policy implementation. The report's premise is that overcoming these challenges requires accelerated structural transformation paired with renewed focus on skills development and entrepreneurship, enabling agrifood systems to drive inclusive employment and broader economic transformation, rather than leaving job creation to chance. Access the full report: mamopanel.org/resources/agri…

#JobHarvests Beyond its findings, “Job Harvests” is designed to shape action. The report is intended to provide evidence that supports policymakers in placing employment, decent work, youth opportunities, women's economic inclusion, and rural livelihoods at the center of CAADP implementation across the continent. Its overarching message: overcoming Africa's employment challenge will depend on coordinated policies, strong institutions, sustained financing, and inclusive implementation mechanisms working together — not isolated programs operating in silos. As African governments refine their CAADP strategies, this report offers a timely, evidence-based foundation for embedding employment and inclusion at the heart of agrifood policy. JobHarvests: mamopanel.org/resources/agri…

#JobHarvests @MaMoPanel’s case studies of #Ethiopia, #Nigeria, and #Rwanda point to a consistent set of success factors: integrating employment objectives directly into national development planning, deliberately supporting youth and women's economic inclusion, investing in skills systems, and raising labor productivity. Crucially, the report frames these as scalable institutional and policy innovations — government actions that other countries can adapt and replicate, rather than context-specific successes that can't travel. That replicability is central to the report's purpose: offering a practical blueprint, not just a diagnosis. Policy insights: mamopanel.org/resources/agri…

#JobHarvests Youth Employment in South Africa! In #SouthAfrica, @Yes4YouthZA has generated over 180,000 full-time, 12-month jobs by partnering with more than 2,000 corporate sponsors. The program places unemployed young people in quality work experiences that meet business objectives while creating first-job opportunities. With 56% of participants being women and 74% coming from households receiving social grants, the initiative is also making meaningful progress on inclusion. Notably, 17% of alumni have gone on to become entrepreneurs, demonstrating clear pathways beyond the initial placement. #JOBHARVESTS: mamopanel.org/resources/agri…

Closing the 18th Malabo Montpellier Forum, Dr. Assia Bensalah Alaoui, Ambassador at Large to the King of Morocco and #MaMoForum Co-Chair, reminded stakeholders that the conversation ultimately extends beyond policies, programs, and employment statistics. “In the end, this conversation is not only about agriculture, it is not only about food systems, it is not only about employment [...] It is about whether farming is seen as a last resort or as the beginning of an economy that processes, transports, trades, innovates, exports, and creates wealth.” Watch the full statement: piped.video/4YruUp7pKEQ?t=7103 #JOBHARVESTS: mamopanel.org/resources/agri…

Speaking at the launch of @MaMoPanel's “Job Harvests” report, Hon. Abubakar Kyari CON (@SenatorAKyari), Minister, @NGfmafs, drew on #Nigeria's own experience to outline what it actually takes to create lasting jobs for young people. “Our experience confirms a simple truth: sustainable youth employment is created when the country invests at the same time in education, research, finance, infrastructure, and competitive value chains.” Watch the full statement: piped.video/4YruUp7pKEQ?t=6782 #JOBHARVESTS: mamopanel.org/resources/agri…