BEIGE Foundation and Africa Lead have signed a memorandum of understanding to promote entrepreneurship development for Ghanaian youth in the agric sector.

The aim of the Agribusiness and Entrepreneurship Development Course is to develop the capacity of entrepreneurs in agribusiness identification, planning, and management in order to strengthen start-ups and expand existing entrepreneurs. 

The 5-day short course, which is supported by USAID is also to close the unemployment gap and address employment demands of youth and women in the agriculture and agribusiness sectors. 

Africa Lead is USAID's primary capacity building programme in sub-Saharan Africa and works towards the fulfillment of Feed the Future (FTF) goals of reduced hunger and poverty by building the capacity of African agric professionals, institutions, and stakeholders to develop, lead and manage the structures needed for the transformational process.

At the signing of the MoU on Tuesday, October 2, 2017, CEO of The BEIGE Group, Mike Nyinaku, said the course will present agribusiness as an attractive venture for young entrepreneurs and sponsor viable agribusiness ideas.

The West Africa Regional Director for Africa Lead, Carla Denizard said the main objective for collaborating with Beige Foundation is to develop individual capacity and strengthen organizational capacity by promoting entrepreneurship, business excellence, and youth development. 

She indicated that most youths in Ghana are not interested in agriculture because they think it’s a poor man’s business but it actually comes with lots of opportunities. 

She stated that Africa has lots of natural resources that could feed the world so if we utilize these resources, then Africa specifically Ghana can do import substitution by producing and growing then the country can save a lot of foreign exchange that can be used for other development initiatives. 

Also, Jenna Tajchman-Trofim who is the Deputy Director of Economic Growth at USAID urged the youth of Ghana to get interested and engage in agriculture for the sector to be successful. 

“We need young minds to contribute to the development and deployment of innovative technologies, we need people like you to modernize the sector in ways our parents and grandparents never imagined and we need you to help us feed the world”, she said. 

The agribusiness and entrepreneurship short course comprising sixteen sessions will inspire, energize and mobilize youth leaders, champions and thinkers who are committed to creative new approaches to achieving food security in Africa.