On Wednesday, 11th May 2022, Sahel and Nourishing Africa held its annual Sahel Scholars’ Conference, an event primarily targeted at students and youth to showcase trends in the food and agriculture sector and highlight opportunities for career development. This year, the conference focused on the theme ‘The Climate/Food Nexus: African Youth Leading Sustainable Solutions’, drew participants from 19 countries and featured astounding industry experts across the agriculture, food, and climate ecosystem in Africa. The conference was moderated by Fisayomi Kayode, a Manager at Sahel Consulting and was held virtually.
Deji Adebusoye, Principal at Sahel Capital opened the conference with a welcome address. He emphasized the relevance of the conference and urged African youth to utilize technology and innovation in creating sustainable solutions and to harness available resources in the landscape, to improve their engagement in the food and agriculture ecosystem and develop sustainable solutions in a changing climate. Following the welcome address, Ifeoluwa Olorunnipa, a Manager at Sahel Consulting, introduced the three companies behind the organization of the conference, namely Sahel Consulting Agriculture and Nutrition Limited, Sahel Capital Agribusiness Managers Limited, and Nourishing Africa. She also provided a background into the Sahel Scholars Conference, which was introduced in 2017 as a part of the Corporate Shared Values of the companies.
The keynote address was delivered by Dr. Olufunsho Somorin, a Regional Principal Officer at the African Development Bank (AFDB). In his address, Dr. Somorin encouraged the youth to focus on technology, partnerships, and leadership to support their action and engagement in the sector to drive solutions in the food systems, particularly under a changing climate. He urged the youth and young agri-food entrepreneurs to leverage technology and data in their businesses, to guide food production and ensure that the African continent can sustainably feed itself by 2050. He emphasized the need for young agri-food entrepreneurs to also build strong partnerships in the sector, particularly in areas such as distribution and markets, to support scaling of their business. Finally, he encouraged participants to embrace leadership, recognizing that no individual is too young to engage or lead to drive change in the food and agriculture sector.
Moderated by Tosin Ojo, Vice President at Sahel Capital, the first panel commenced with Jasper Batureine Mwesigwa (Food Security Analyst at the Food and Agriculture Organization, Nigeria), and Dominic Nyasulu (Country Coordinator, Climate Smart Agriculture Youth Network (CSAYN), Malawi) discussing ‘Youth Engagement in Climate-Smart Agriculture to Drive Sustainable Solutions’. While acknowledging the various challenges facing food systems across Africa due to a changing climate, such as extreme weather conditions and pest invasions significantly disrupting agricultural activities and leading to food shortage, the speakers noted avenues for youth to engage in climate smart agriculture to mitigate these effects on food systems, stating specifically how their organizations are supporting youth action and engagement. As stated by Mr. Nyasulu, CSAYN engages in awareness creation among youth to build their interest in climate smart agriculture. Th CSAYN also provides capacity building support to graduates of agriculture, and natural resources management through trainings on climate smart agricultural practices such as the use of smart farm and other innovative technologies that piques youth interest and supports the conduct of experimental research and conversion of classroom knowledge to practical solutions on farms. These graduates are then assigned to work with local farmers to further transfer knowledge of these practices to them and ensure their adoption, to support sustainable food production. According to Mr. Mwesigwa, the FAO in Nigeria is also promoting youth engagement in agronomy and Climate-Smart Agriculture through Farmer Field School technologies and recently partnered with the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), to incorporate climate data in all its interventions to support strategic planning of farming activities. In closing, the speakers emphasized the need for support and action from stakeholders in the sector to ensure youth engagement in climate smart agriculture.
After the panel discussion, previous Sahel Scholars, Ezechi Wisdom, a 2019 Sahel Scholar from Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike and Toyin Oyasowo, a 2021 Sahel Scholar from Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta shared their experiences as interns, including learning and mentorship opportunities they were exposed to, and the impact of the program on their activities, following completion of their internships. They charged young participants in attendance to change their perspective of agriculture, from regarding the sector as merely involving farming, to viewing the sector as one with numerous potentials and opportunities that exist for youth engagement in agribusinesses, beyond farming.
The conference also featured a second panel, focused on ‘Lessons from African Youth Exploring Innovative Business Models in the Agri/Food Sector in a Changing Climate’, and moderated by Aisha Hadejia, a Manager at Sahel Consulting. Two trailblazers in the food ecosystem, Bomi Fagbemi (Founder/CEO Bioloop), and Nkiru Okpareke (Co-Founder/Co-CEO, Enviro-Gro Farms), shared their experiences exploring innovative business models and lessons learned navigating their businesses in a changing climate. Key takeaways from the discussion included the need for young entrepreneurs to; identify and partner with the right stakeholders to support their businesses; ensure that the technology being adopted in their businesses is not too far ahead of the environment in which they operate; design and implement operations that are adaptable and resilient to withstand shocks and stresses while still delivering value for customers. The need for increased awareness on the effects of climate change in Africa, to create the urgency for policymakers to design solutions to mitigate the effects of climate change, and the need for accurate, relevant, and timely data on climate and market information, to support agri-food entrepreneurs to make data-driven decisions in their businesses were some additional takeaways from the panel.
Following the second panel session, participants split up into three breakout rooms to discuss the topic ‘Positioning the African Youth for Success: Existing Resources to Support Action and Engagement in the Food and Agriculture Landscape’. The breakout rooms focused on one-on-one engagements with experts from organizations working across the food and agriculture sector in Africa to provide resources for youth engagement and participation. The three breakout rooms were anchored by Rahmat Eyinfunjowo (Co-CEO, Nourishing Africa), Aline Mugisho (Executive Manager, Young Africa Works, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)) and Nono Sekhoto (Sector Lead, AL for Agribusiness Network, African Leadership Academy).
The session on Nourishing Africa anchored by Ms. Eyinfunjowo focused on the various ways the organization is helping agri-entrepreneurs scale their businesses. This includes opportunities for networking, partnerships and experience sharing; knowledge and capacity building through regular and engaging workshops and convenings that ensure Agri-MSMEs are equipped with the knowledge and skills to scale, and a digital resource hub that provides critical resources on financing, research data, technology, and talents. In the session on Young Africa Works, IITA, Ms. Mugisho explained how the institute is closing the knowledge gap between private sector needs and young graduates’ skills through its Youth in Agribusiness unit. The unit runs programs for youth across several states in Nigeria and offers training on new technology to ensure that youth are positioned to build businesses that can address identified needs in the food and agriculture landscape. Ms. Sekhoto also spoke about the support African Leadership Academy provides to youth to ensure their participation in the agriculture sector. The academy organizes monthly hangouts with young leaders/entrepreneurs in the sector to provide networking and knowledge sharing opportunities, identifies and connects youth to various internship and job opportunities across the African continent, and provides technical training to youth on how to start and scale their businesses, and access necessary skills, data, and financing as specific to their location.
The conference came to an end with the closing remarks delivered by Temi Adegoroye, Managing Partner at Sahel Consulting. He charged participants to support and contribute to the ongoing efforts of stakeholders in the food and agriculture ecosystem working to mitigate the effects of climate change on food systems, towards achieving self-sufficiency and transformation of the sector in Africa.
The video recording of the conference can be accessed here
