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The African Development Bank (AfDB) in collaboration with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), hosted the first-ever African Youth Agripreneurs (AYA) Forum in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria, last week. The forum, which held on April 25-26 at the IITA, provided an opportunity for youths across Africa to showcase innovations in agribusiness.     

According to a statement issued by IITA – an agricultural research organisation seeking solutions for hunger, malnutrition, and poverty – the AYA Forum brought together over 200 youths in Africa who are active in agribusiness or the agriculture sector or related value chains. The two-day conference/workshop targeted young agripreneurs that are current members of a youth network or association, and have the skills to share and disseminate agribusiness knowledge through incubation programmes.

According to Chiji Ojukwu, AfDB’s Agriculture and Agro-Industry Director, the AYA Forum is an initiative of the AfDB-funded ENABLE Youth Programme – Empowering Novel Agri-Business-Led Employment. The five-year programme was conceived to provide novel approaches for the engagement of African youths in innovative agriculture and agribusiness enterprises. Its overall goal is to contribute to job creation, food security and nutrition, rural income generation, and improved livelihoods for youths in both urban and rural areas.

“IITA will support initiatives that would ensure that the young people in this continent contribute to the transformation of African agriculture through agribusiness and value chain development,” said IITA's Director General, Nteranya Sanginga.

Part of the activities at the forum in Ibadan included the Agri-Pitch Entrepreneurship Competition, where participants between the ages of 18-35 pitched their innovations before their peers after which prizes were awarded to three categories of winners. The selected winners received an invitation to the AfDB’s Annual Meetings in scheduled to take place in Ahmedabad, India, on May 22-26. The overall winner will be presented with a prize by AfDB President, Akinwumi Adesina.

Other organising partners of the AYA Forum included the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA); the Africa Agribusiness Incubation Network (AAIN); and Africa 2.0, a Pan-African Civil Society Organisation.