As part of the implementation of the ECOWAS Regional Strategy of Youth employment in Agro Sylvo-Pastoral and Halieutic Sector, the ECOWAS Commission has signed grant agreements worth $1.034m to Promote Youth employment in Agriculture and Food Sector in 15 Members States.
The President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr. Omar Alieu Touray, signed grant agreements with 25 Centers among which 10 special Agriculture Training Centers; 6 National Agriculture Research Centers and 9 National Research Centers of Specialization on Agricultural Innovations would build youth capacity in the 15 member States including: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Togo.
The total budget of the grant agreements funded by the Community levy of ECOWAS is $USD, 1,033,7991 representing about $USD 41,359.64 per centre and for an average duration of 4 months aimed at training 3142 young persons among which 30% of Women in the Region.
The purpose of each grant is to establish the framework of collaboration between ECOWAS and the recipient Centers for the implementation of the Regional Strategy of Youth employment in Agro Sylvo-Pastoral and Halieutic Sector in West Africa.
This is with the general objective of building the human resource and environmentally friendly system that will sustain and increase agricultural productivity, youth employment and create resilient rural society. Selected following due consultation and assessment process, the 25 training centres represent the 15 Member States. Each state is involved in the process.
In supporting the centres through the agreements, ECOWAS seeks to improve the quality of training and the development of the centres capacities on topical issues related to agroecology and organic production, fishery and aquaculture, breeding and seeds selection and scaling of innovations and agribusiness.
This is to increase the annual number of people trained in a. The total agriculture and food sector. The target of the Programme is 3142 young people including men and women trained by the end of 2023 in agriculture and food in the region.
The objective of the support, more specifically, is to contribute to strengthening youth capacities in agribusiness for: (i) the promotion of agricultural innovations and good practices according to the environment, (ii) the increase in the number of young people trained, in particular rural people, and (iii) their networking in the long term.
