The Country Director of AGRA Ghana, Dr Betty Annan, says investments in agriculture are essential to expanding opportunities for the country’s youth.

She emphasised that agriculture remains one of the most powerful vehicles for job creation, pointing to international studies showing that every dollar invested in sustainable agriculture generates up to sixteen dollars in returns.

She said this at the launch of the Youth Tracker and AgTractive Campaign in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment (MYDE) in Accra on Tuesday.

Dr. Annan noted that agricultural-led growth is up to three times more effective in reducing poverty than growth in other sectors, and reaffirmed AGRA’s commitment to opening doors for young people.

“Agriculture today is not subsistence; it is innovation, it is business, it is technology. Investing in agriculture yields some of the highest returns, and young people have the unique opportunity to lead the future,” she noted.

“The program (AgTractive Campaign) seeks to provide opportunities in the agriculture and agribusiness space for youth innovating and pursuing entrepreneurial endeavours in the sector.

Hence, we are specifically targeting youth, especially young women between the ages of 18 and 35 years, who are proactive and committed to transforming the sector and creating jobs for themselves and many other youth,” Dr Annan explained.

“AGRA remains committed to ensuring that young women, rural youth, and the most disadvantaged are not left behind. We are proud to support the Ministry in turning this vision into meaningful change and in building the partnerships required to unlock the full potential of Ghana’s youth,” she assured.

The Youth Tracker is a digital platform designed to provide young people with direct access to opportunities and give government accurate data for policy decisions.

The Youth Tracker will serve as a central hub where young people can find jobs, internships, training programmes, and agribusiness opportunities.

It will also generate real-time data on youth demographics, education, skills, and workforce participation, allowing policymakers to identify trends, address gaps, and design interventions that reflect the realities and aspirations of Ghana’s youth.

The platform has been designed to be inclusive and accessible to all young people, regardless of their location, and will strengthen coordination across youth agencies through improved reporting, targeting, and transparency.

The AgTractive Campaign is a nationwide movement that seeks to inspire young people to embrace modern agriculture as a respected, profitable, and future-building career pathway.

It is built on the belief that agriculture is no longer a subsistence activity but a sector defined by innovation, technology, entrepreneurship, and economic opportunity.

The campaign will highlight youth innovators and agripreneurs, promote modern tools and agritech solutions, and encourage young women, rural youth, and disadvantaged groups to see agriculture as a dignified and viable source of income.

It will also connect young people who want to venture into agriculture to support opportunities.

Dr Annan noted, “This partnership marks an important milestone for youth empowerment in Ghana and aligns strongly with the Youth Entrepreneurship for the Future of Food and Agriculture (YEFFA) vision of creating dignified and fulfilling work for young people across Africa.”

“The Youth Tracker provides the data and transparency we need to connect young people to real opportunities, while the AgTractive Campaign will inspire them to see what is possible in a modern, innovative, and profitable agrifood system,” she added.

Minister for Youth Development and Empowerment, George Opare-Addo, stated: “Ghana’s youth deserve clear pathways to opportunity, and these two initiatives will help us deliver exactly that.

"The Youth Tracker gives us, for the first time, a reliable and unified system to understand where opportunities exist and how young people are accessing them.”

“The AgTractive Campaign will build on this by inspiring our young people to see agriculture as a future-building industry. Together, they represent a bold step toward a more inclusive, data-driven, and opportunity-rich future,” he added.

AGRA provided technical and strategic support to MYDE in the development and deployment of a centralised digital Youth Tracker platform and AI-enabled mobile app designed to unify Ghana’s youth data ecosystem and expand access to opportunities for millions of young people.

As part of AGRA’s institutional strengthening agenda, AGRA supported MYDE to conduct nationwide sensitisation and training sessions for staff across the youth agencies on the use of the platform. AGRA is also leading the rollout of the AgTractive Campaign.