1. Presentation
of ARDYIS activities
by Ken Lohento, ICT Programme
Coordinator, CTA
Johannesburg, 20 May 2012

2. CTA : Who we are
• 50 staff from 27 countries • 26 years of commitment to
• CTA is a joint institution of the advancing agriculture and
ACP and the EU (Cotonou rural communities in ACP
Agreement). • Key role for partners
26 years of commitment to
advancing agriculture and
rural communities in ACP

3. CTA’s Mission
• To
 advance food and nutritional security
 increase prosperity
 encourage sound natural resource management
• via
 providing access to information and knowledge,
 facilitating policy dialogue and
 strengthening the capacity of agricultural and rural
development institutions and communities in ACP countries

4. Strategic Goals
• To support well informed, inclusive agricultural
policy processes and strategies that empower
smallholder producers, women and youth
• To promote the development of priority value
chains, especially for smallholder producers
• To strengthen the information, communication
and knowledge management capacities of
institutions and networks : ICT

5. The CTA ICT
Programme

6. Str ate g y goal 3 (IC-T, KM) themes
& activities
 Increased focus on electronic content generation
 Promoting and supporting use of innovative ICT
tools and approaches
 Building skills of ACP partners
 Promoting information, communication and
knowledge management policies & strategies
CTA all goals cross-cutting theme
: Youth and Gender

7. ICTs : huge opportunities for agricultural value chains
• Market information service (MIS)
• Growth is linked to ICTs provides price information and a
in developing countries virtual marketplace for buyers
(except in countries and sellers of agricultural
with restricted commodities (Esoko, RESIMAO)
telecoms) UNCTAD 2011
 crowd-sourcing for pest • Every 10 percentage-point
control (e.g. PestNet, increase in high-speed Internet
Pacific)
 mobile financial services
connections there is an increase
(M-PESA, Kenya) in economic growth of 1.3
percentage points (World Bank).

9. Capacity building across ACP

10. Focussing on
youth and
ARDYIS Project

11. Who are youth?
For the United Nations,
youth are understood as
In recognition of the age people aged between 15
range where life transitions and 24
take place, the African
Union has adopted a
broader definition of youth
that encompasses
individuals
Taking into account young aged between 15 and 35.
farmers issues and (in the African Youth
economic challenged by Charter)
ACP youth, CTA has so
far considered as Youth
people aged between 15
and 35 years, like in the
African Youth Charter

12. Some data on youth
More than 20% of youth in
Africa have between 15 to
24
72% of the youth population
(UN definition) live with less
than $2 a day (ILO 2006)
The 2009 ILO report on «
In 2005, 62% of Africa’s Global Employment Trends
overall population fell below » notes that the
the age of 25 (World Bank vulnerable employment
2008) – if we consider the rate in Sub-Saharan Africa
youth age limit up to 35, this was 74.7% in 2007
statistic is higer

13. • Agriculture (30% to 50% of ACP GDP for many
economies), needs youth
 Surveys among CaFAN farmers’ organizations across the region
indicate that the average age of farmers are increasing and in most
cases above 45 years old, the majority being over 60 years” (Jethro
Greene, CAFAN)
• Youth needs agriculture
 Agriculture is in many ACP country the main job provider
 Agriculture related job are diverse, from to production to
commercialisation, to provision of services, etc.
• CTA new strategy states that:
 CTA will continue to support activities that encourage youth in ACP
countries to consider agriculture as a viable career path.

14. Who are youth?
For the United Nations,
youth are understood as
In recognition of the age people aged between 15
range where life transitions and 24
take place, the African
Union has adopted a
broader definition of youth
that encompasses
individuals
Taking into account young aged between 15 and 35.
farmers issues and (in the African Youth
economic challenged by Charter)
ACP youth, CTA has so
far considered as Youth
people aged between 15
and 35 years, like in the
African Youth Charter

15. Some data on youth
More than 20% of youth in
Africa have between 15 to
24
72% of the youth population
(UN definition) live with less
than $2 a day (ILO 2006)
The 2009 ILO report on «
In 2005, 62% of Africa’s Global Employment Trends
overall population fell below » notes that the
the age of 25 (World Bank vulnerable employment
2008) – if we consider the rate in Sub-Saharan Africa
youth age limit up to 35, this was 74.7% in 2007
statistic is higer

16. CTA Youth initiatives
• ARDYIS project
• Developing youth in agriculture policies
(FANRPAN project; SPC in the Pacific)
• Encouraging young
scientists/professionals in agriculture
• Supporting youth in various activities
• CTA covered the attendance of many youths to conferences : Ex;
African Young Scientists Initiative on Climate Change and Indigenous
Knowledge (AYSICC) conference organized by NEPAD
• Young farmers are part of targets of various CTA supported projects
• Youths form an important part of beneficiaries of CTA Web 2.0
• Etc.

17. Promoting opportunities for
youth in agriculture and ICTs

18. Agriculture, Youth and ICTs
• “We recommend that our skills to learn new
technologies are properly valued, particularly in
using ICTs” – Declaration of rural youths
participating during the IFAD Farmers’ Forum, 18
February 2012, (Italy)
• “There is considerable scope for encouraging
youth participation in ICT as a way of supporting
agricultural business ventures” (dixit
PafPNET/SPC)
• Youth spearhead innovation in Agriculture and
ICTs

19. 1 of 4
ARDYIS – launched in 2010
ARD and Youth in the Information Society
Strengthen capacities on ICTs for
ARD
Contribute to sensitising on
Agriculture and RD issues
Target audience
 young farmers
 students in agricultural training courses
 all interested youth
Partners
CAFAN SPC Yam Pukri

20. 2 of 4
Key Achievements
Dissemination of information: (opportunities, etc.) and discussions
(Facebook page, website, dedicated mailing lists) +700 facebook
members
Training Web 2.0 training for ARD for 25 selected youth from ACP
regions and Consultation on youth, ICT and agriculture (future)

21. Achievements
Facilitation of the production of an advocacy document
calling for stronger support for youth involvement in
agriculture and ICT
6 key recommendations addressed to policy makers
and ACP/EU/international institutions
Endorsed and promoted by partner organizations and
youths
Promoted to key people/organizations
(on going)
Full title cited on hundred of web pages/sites (En/Fr)
Consulted 4600+ times on Ardyis website

22. Achievements
Others : In 2010: essay
competition : about 180
entries; 2011 : NEPAD and
CTA essay
About 3000
comments/and votes!

23. Production of a Achievements
publication “Emerging
Voices in ICT and
Agriculture”
Supported youth
participation in Ag and ICT
conferences (IAALD,
water management, etc.)
Some youth found job
opportunities

24. Future
• Proper CTA Youth strategy development
• Supporting youth project
• Focus on:
 Improving youth opportunties in rural areas
using ICT
 Using ICT to enhance youth involvement in
agriculture

25. Thank you