The African Development Bank (AfDB), on Friday in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, unveiled a multinational project that would create jobs and improve livelihoods through what it called Sustainable Youth MSMEs Through Urban Farming (SYMUF) initiative expected to support young farmers in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, attracted to urban farming.

To implement the project, AfDB Group says it is partnering a consortium of incubation centres in the three countries such as the Africa Projects Development Centre (APDC) in Nigeria, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA-Bukavu) in the DRC, and the African Agribusiness Incubation Network in Uganda.

Already, it said the SYMUF project, which is under the bank’s Empowering Novel Agri-Business Led Employment (ENABLE) Youth Programme, has received $937,000 in grant funding from the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance, a multi-donor trust fund under its management. The amount bring to over $400 million invested under the programme in 15 African countries.

Although in different regions of the continent, the group said in its statement that all three countries grapple with high youth unemployment and limited economic opportunities.

SYMUF is expected to help transform start-up micro, small- and medium enterprises into bankable ventures, using business incubators and financial products, while providing youths with agribusiness and technical skills. These include climate-smart agriculture practices, technologies, market networks, and professional mentorship.

Speaking at the launch, Director-General of AfDB’s Nigeria Country Department, Lamin Barrow, stressed the bank’s commitment to promoting entrepreneurship.

The bank, according to Barrow, who was represented by the Bank’s Country Operations Manager for Nigeria, Orison Amu, expressed the group’s commitment “to creating jobs and providing incomes for African youth, who are attracted to urban agriculture but do not get jobs, capital, or credit to operate their agribusinesses. This project will address unemployed youth and those in the early start-up stage who have not gained traction due to limited skills and financial resources.”

Reacting, Alex Ariho, CEO of the African Agribusiness Incubation Network in Uganda, said the SYMUF project would help young African ‘agripreneurs’ overcome start-up incubation and management challenges.

AE News