International Studies & Programs

YIELD Shares Lessons at Virtual Stakeholders’ Symposium

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Published: Monday, 16 Nov 2020

The Young Innovators in Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Development (YIELD) project hosted a virtual stakeholder symposium on November 12, 2020 to share lessons from the project’s activities with stakeholders and glean further insights into how to nurture a conductive entrepreneurship ecosystem for young Africans. The symposium featured remarks from MSU's Alliance for African Partnership (AAP), and YIELD Consortium highlighting the project’s activities, impacts and learnings, as well as panel discussions in which YIELD beneficiaries and relevant stakeholders in the youth development landscape reflected on their experiences and pragmatic measures to support the entrepreneurship endeavors of young Africans.

In his opening remarks, Prof. Isaac Minde, the Associate Director for the Alliance for African Partnership encouraged the young entrepreneurs to “remain engaged and work hard, smartly, and innovatively to produce yield.” Following his remarks, Dr. Julius Gatune, a Co-Principal Investigator of YIELD, gave an overview of the journey so far, focusing on lessons learned and recommendations. He confirmed key accomplishments noting that since its inception, YIELD has:

  • mapped key stakeholders engaged in youth employment programming in Ghana and Tanzania
  • capacitated young agripreneurs with requisite knowledge and skills, funding, and supportive networks to scale up their operations through two separate convenings, monthly webinars, and capacity building mini-grants and
  • generated new knowledge on where the young agripreneurs are, what makes them successful and the barriers they face in scaling up their enterprises.

He noted, “One of the biggest lessons is the need for flexibility during capacity building activities because of the entrepreneurs' schedules and demands. Additionally, training alone is not enough. Entrepreneurs have other needs and challenges that training alone does not address.” Dr. Gatune also highlighted the challenges and threats that the young agriprenuers face as well as their future aspirations and community impacts and urged policy makers to initiate policies that expand access to capital and build better infrastructure to boost entrepreneurship and create decent jobs for Africa’s rising youth workforce.

Reflecting on his experiences with YIELD, Mr. Samuel Gyan, the Founder and CEO of JEGS Company Limited in Ghana shared the benefits and insights he has received from the YIELD webinars and convenings, including a partnership that he formed with Abdul Mkono of Makaru Agro Limited in Tanzania: “A good company ensures that even waste generates revenue for the company. JEGS utilizes all waste material derived from the pepper and other vegetables as organic fertilizer,” Gyan said as he described how his company’s efficiency had improved based on capacity building from YIELD.

"Agriculture is not for the old; it is for the youth."

Abdul Mkono also discussed his out-growers scheme, whose operations have benefited from YIELD. The scheme supports farmers with a steady income, contributes to food security, and meets production demand. He gave a clarion call to his fellow youth and encouraged them to join the agriculture value food chain. "Agriculture is not for the old," he said, "it is for the youth."

Another YIELD participant, Eunice Karikari, Founder of E-Juice Company Limited in Ghana reported on the stigma she endured from her family and community, who preferred her to seek a stable white-collar job with her Banking and Finance degree. “My journey as a female entrepreneur has not come easy. It has been full of tears and anxious moments”. Eunice was referring to challenges with bureaucracy that frustrated simple processes of registration and certification with government agencies. This was a scenario that many of the entrepreneurs identified with, and called on the government and stakeholders to create an enabling environment and structures for businesses to grow. “African entrepreneurs are doing great things, but they still need a lot of support and an enabling environment because there are so much untapped opportunities,” said Eunice.

The second panel discussion focused on the role various stakeholders could play to build entrepreneurship ecosystems and ease the challenges that young agripreneurs faces. In her initial remarks, Ms. Hadija Jabiri, Founder and CEO of Eat Fresh in Tanzania emphasized that “nurturing the entrepreneurial ecosystems for young agripreneurs is crucial because of the advantages that exist for Africa and African economies. As a continent, we are blessed with natural resources like land, a strong workforce, and good weather that supports crop production year-round. Yes, there are challenges, but challenges create opportunities for entrepreneurs to chip in and start a business."  

"Yes, there are challenges, but challenges create opportunities for entrepreneurs to chip in and start a business.”  

Echoing his co-panelist, Joshua Ayinboro of Groital Farms, Ghana also noted that “funders are always looking at the risk in agricultural ventures but not the rewards. This is a big problem because the rewards are much more than the risk”. He, therefore, called on the government to promote funding sources with flexible financial tools for agribusiness similar to what other industries like tech enjoys.

Reacting to the challenges the young agriprenuers expressed, Mr. Franklin Owusu-Karikari, Director of Business Support at the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program, Ghana highlighted ongoing efforts to promote entrepreneurship in Ghana. Citing the Ghana Start-up Bill as one measure to improve the business environment, he assured the young agriprenuers that “it’s an exciting time to be an entrepreneur though challenging with the pandemic.” He added that the Ghana Start-Up bill will provide legal backing for entrepreneurs, accelerate business registration, and offer tax waiver and Food Drug Administration custom tags for entrepreneurs between ages 18-35 years. For his part, Mr. Daniel Mgwira from the Tanzania Entrepreneurship Competitive Center, also shared that “We have gathered a lot of lessons that we are working on, and the ecosystem is improving but some challenges remain. For instance, we have implemented interest-free funds, but unfortunately, there is a lot of bureaucracy in accessing these funds. There is a need for methodologies and other support institutions to identify and help entrepreneurs to start and grow."

The YIELD project is an initiative that helps young entrepreneurs’ access and maximize opportunities in the agri-food system in Africa. It is implemented as a partnership between the Africa Center for Economic Transformation in Ghana, Sokoine University of Agriculture in Tanzania and MSU's Global Youth Advancement Network (GYAN). It is funded by MSU's Alliance for African Partnership.