70% of youth have no land in Rwanda-report

By Inspirer Reporter.

A new report known as  “The Future of Africa’s Agriculture – An assessment of the role of Youth and Technology” has found that  70 per cent of youth have no access to land in Rwanda.

The survey found that access to land or ownership is a major cause of concern as 59 per cent of youth surveyed indicated they lacks both in 11 countries namely Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Conducted by Heifer International, the survey interviewed 29,954 youths, 299 smallholder farmers and 110 agri-focused organizations.

The youths surveyed suggests that access to finance (37%), access to land (14%) and lack of training (12%) are the three key barriers to youth engagement in Agriculture in Africa.

In addition, There is a low agricultural tech adoption across the surveyed countries with only 23% of youth engaged in agriculture using any form of agricultural technology (an App, SMS, website, software).

Funding, training and access to agriculture technology are the three key areas to support youth to encourage their involvement in agriculture. These three areas of concern accounted for 38%, 24% and 11% respectively in the analyzed data.

According to the surveyed Agric-focused organizations, the best way to engage youth in agriculture in Africa is through technological innovation (39%), government support for young farmers (32%) and inclusion/adoption of youth in agric policy (21%), reads the report.

Smallholder farmers indicated that enlightenment/ information and affordability will encourage them to embrace technology innovation.

Smallholder farmers and agric-focused organisations surveyed suggested that literacy, socio-economic status and inadequate/no extension service are the key reasons for the low adoption of technology.

Agriculture is a major mainstay in Africa. About 23% of the gross domestic product of sub-Saharan Africa comes from agriculture, and the figure stands at 32% for the continent.

The agricultural sector accounts for the high employment of almost two-thirds of citizens in Africa.

Despite the growth of agriculture, this potential is being threatened by a myriad of factors including climate change, lack of technological know-how on the part of farmers, low productivity due to unfavourable and outdated farming practices, and a generational shift in interest from agriculture among young people.