Rural youth need viable livelihood opportunities to escape out of poverty and realize their aspirations. How could they be helped to fully unleash their potential? This is an aloud call that needs novel strategies among governments, policy makers, and international development partners and donors.
Dr. Essa Chanie Mussa is Assistant Professor at the University of Gondar. He holds a PhD in agricultural and development economics from the Center for Development Research at the University of Bonn. In addition, he works as a research analyst for the UNICEF Office for Research - Innocenti, Social and Economic Policy in a project to build an integrated safety net for the most vulnerable women and children in rural and urban Ethiopia.
In 2006, the African Union adopted the African Youth Charter, a policy and legal framework, outlining strategic directions on youth development and empowerment and consequently to ensure their active engagement in shaping African future path. The continent’s youth population, those aged 15-35 years as defined by the charter, constitutes about 40 percent of the population, and Africa is said to have been experiencing a youth bulge in recent years . Therefore, all those happened and not happened to the youth are more likely to determine how Africa meets the future. However, some alarming and depressing figures characterize current African youth— a major concern and challenge to governments, policymakers, and development partners. The 2015 International Labour Office report shows that while globally about two-thirds of youth remain in working poverty, affecting as much as 169 million youth; in sub-Saharan Africa, nine in ten youth (about 92 percent) remain poor or near poor. The report also shows that employed youth are more likely to be poor compared to their adult counterparts.
Since investments in education, health, nutrition and pro-innovative behavioral developments take time to manifest over individuals’ life course, a novel approach to address many of the underlying youth problems in rural and urban Africa alike, as in other parts of the world, is without doubt to turn into investment in children, mainly in rural areas where the majority of African youth live. This is an untapped opportunity for Africa that with highly promising solutions for many of its unfolding problems. This article presents major theoretical arguments for and empirical evidence on how childhood conditions unfold later in life and provide life-time opportunities to shape most of the youth labor market and life outcomes in Africa, mainly in rural areas.
Investments in early human capital formation and outcomes later
Children are selling biscuits and chewing gums on the street to passing-by travelers when breaking for breakfast and lunch. Photo: Essa C. Mussa
Youth education and health are keys to harnessing the African demographic dividend—the surest pathway to reducing poverty and achieving rural development, accelerating structural transformation, and meeting and sustaining the sustainable development goals over the next several years. Investments in childhood education and health, in this regard, have proved beyond doubt to have profound long-term effects on youth and adulthood labor market outcomes and wellbeing. For instance, an earlier study from the UK shows that children from the highest quartile of test scores at the age of 7 earned 20 percent higher wage at the age of 33 compared to their peers from the lowest test quartile. In the US, it is also found that about 12 and 11 percent of the variations in high school and college completions, respectively, are explained by test scores and background variables measured between the ages of 6 and 8 years. What is more, a different study also indicates that a 10 percent increase in parental investments at ages 6 to7 years increases earnings by 24.9 percent, and increases the likelihood of graduating high school by 64.4 percent. We have, however, scare similar evidence from developing countries due mainly to lack of long-term data to understand how childhood conditions manifest in the future. Exploring the limited evidence in this regard from a developing country perspective, researchers from Center for Development Research (ZEF) of University of Bonn, find that in rural Ethiopia while long-term school progression to full primary education is generally lower, children (aged 4-14 years) who exclusively attended schooling and combined work and study, relative to their working-only peers, attained three more years of schooling after sixteen years. They also find that schooling during the ages of 4 and 14 resulted in significant earnings differential: School-children earned about twice as much higher income in self-employment non-farm jobs in the adult labor markets as to those who were mainly working. These evidences boldly suggest that African governments are compelled to prioritize child education and propel future growth and development using educated, aspired and innovative youth. The problem is more serious in rural areas —areas disadvantaged in infrastructure, budgeted inadequately and child labor is pervasive, suggesting that education systems have to give special attention to rural areas.
What we know so far, it is very difficult to take remedial measures to rectifying childhood health shocks in developing countries and catching-up with their unaffected peers is very thin. For instance, the 1919 Brazilian cohort who was affected by the pandemic in utero attained 0.2 years fewer schooling, earned 20 percent lower wages, and the affected-individuals were five times more likely to be unemployed. This clearly shows that in order to positively influence rural young people’s wellbeing, governments need to start acting to improve early health human capital formation. We also learn useful lessons on what would have happened if actions were taken to one of the most prevalent health shocks in rural Africa: Malaria. It is estimated that a complete eradication of malaria infections resulted in a rise in adulthood income by 47 percent in the US, 45 percent in Brazil, 45 percent in Colombia, and 41 percent in Mexico. Although the evidence remains to be almost absent in rural Africa, it can be safely argued that investment in childhood health, combined with quality education, enhanced access to preventive and curative child health, and implementing effective diseases control and vaccination, through affecting children’s behaviors, could have contributed to preventive health practices of youth which is vital to control crime, malaria, and the spread of communicable diseases such as HIV/ AIDS among youth.
Child nutrition is a master key to unlock many of long-term life gates
A rural youth in Ethiopia transporting goods with camels from per-urban to rural areas. Photo: Essa C. Mussa
As much as one sees opportunities in investing in child education and health to help young people fully realize their potentials and effectively employing them in national economies, these efforts depend so much on the states of child nutrition. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reports that 165 million under -5 children are stunted (too short for their age) in developing countries while 146 million are underweight and undernourished due to acute or chronic hunger in these countries. Other estimates also show that more than 200 million under-5 children unable to reach their full potentials in cognitive development due mainly to poverty, poor health, and mal(under)nutrition. Moreover, hidden hunger or deficiencies of important micronutrients are expected to have affected about two billion people globally; rural African children could be most affected with life-time consequences. This is a serious problem that hampers the efforts to build a healthy, productive, and skilled labor force in the continent and at the same time calling for short and long-term measures.
The literature gives us strong evidence that in Sub-Saharan Africa, a region with the highest proportion of disadvantaged children, their position resulted in an above 20 percent reduction in adulthood income and more likely to transfer to the next generation. This is still a useful input to policymakers in Africa and development donors to prioritize investing in disadvantaged children, mainly of those in rural areas, and from poor families, to break the poverty cycle in the continent.
The effects of child labor: a double-edged sword
Clean water is essential to child health but a grave problem to many African rural people. Photo: Essa C. Mussa
Globally, about 152 million children aged 5–17 years are child laborers, of which about 72 million reside in Africa (59 million in sub-Saharan Africa). About 85 percent of child labor in Africa (71 percent globally) is found in agriculture, affecting the lives of about 50 million children due to long working hours and associated occupational hazards. Unlike other regions, sub-Saharan Africa, a region with the highest prevalence of child labor in the world, witnessed a rise in child labor from 21.4 to 22.4 percent between 2012 and 2016. There are disputes among researchers whether child labor actually impedes long-term outcomes or positively contributes to outcomes later in life. In Brazil, it was found that entry into the labor market before the age of 12 reduces adulthood earnings, while another study shows that early entry into the labor market tends to reduce lifetime earnings and increase the likelihood of being poor when adults.
On the contrary, a long-term study unravels that, in rural Ethiopia, while full-time childhood work reduces grade attainment by half compared to full-time school children after 16 years, those who combined work and study attained more years of schooling even compared to full-time schoolchildren and earned higher income in non-farm self-employment jobs. Such contending evidences suggest that child labor is like a double-edged sword which can be used to children’s long-term development but if it is excessive or exclusive it surely impedes their long-term development, productivity and wages. This implies that African countries should devise mechanisms to differentiate and eliminate the forms of child labor which is damaging and against their schooling from those by which children use to lean important life skills. While poverty is often cited as the culprit of child labor, culture and opportunistic behaviors may also contribute to the wider prevalence of child labor and for its inter-generational transmission which tends to maintain poverty and inequality between generations.
The way forward
Youth harvesting Barley in rural Ethiopia. Photo: Essa C. Mussa
African rural areas should be changed from a place where youth aspire to out-migrate to a place of hope and filled with opportunities to young people to stay and prosper. Given the crucial roles of childhood periods to outcomes later in life, there is no disagreement that investing in children is the key to build aspired, productive, innovative and skilled rural youth labor force in the long-term, but gravely ignored. Accordingly, rural development programs including social protections should be child development sensitive and that African governments need to work to remove all impediments (in the short-and long-term perspectives) against youth to participate in the labor markets. Early childhood quality education and health care facilitate later human capital investments among youth, smoothing the school-to-work transitions. In that way, African countries can reduce youth underemployment, precarious employment, vulnerable and informal sector employment, unemployment and youth working poverty.
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How can the challenges related to water, rural development and climate resilient agriculture be addressed? What innovations need to be promoted? The Water and Energy for Food (WE4F) initiative presents strategies and innovations for sustainable, integrated water management in German and international cooperation.
A Year of Multiple Crises: Russian war against Ukraine, extreme weather events, high prices for energy and fertilizer, food crisis had severe implications for food security and agriculture globally and especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. A Transformation of the food systems is needed.
Since early February 2022, two of the biggest grain and oilseed exporters have been at war. An overview, which countries are affected most severely by the destabilized grain markets, and what comes next.
Development cooperation needs to place good governance and a sustainable agri-food systems transformation at its center: After the first 100 days in office have passed, Dirk Meyer from the German Development Ministry (BMZ) spells out the goals, guidelines and priorities of the Ministry’s new lead.
Rising food and gas prices, physical destruction and supply chain disruptions: Why the Black Sea region matters and how the war in Ukraine affects global food security.
A Contribution of the 'Initiative for Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains' (INA)
Fair Trade organisations and the Initiative for Sustainable Agricultural Supply Chains (INA) have launched the #ichwillfair campaign during COP26 to highlight the link between global supply chains and climate change.
New insights on trade and value addition in the rice sector in West Africa
Low import tariffs, smuggling activities, unpredictable tax exemptions and weak enforcement of food safety standards: The potential of local rice value chains is undermined in West African countries.
The Corona pandemic is hitting economies around the world very hard - but developments in African countries are quite diverse. There are different speeds, resiliences and vulnerabilities. What are the reasons for this? Apl. Prof. Jann Lay of the GIGA Institute provides answers.
Four interviews kick off the relaunch under the new name „Food4Transformation“, asking the same questions from different perspectives. Mareike Haase and Stig Tanzmann from Brot für die Welt explain why the right to food, inclusivity, agroecology and food sovereignty are the central levers for a successful transformation.
Four interviews kick off the relaunch under the new name „Food4Transformation“, asking the same questions from different perspectives. Dr Julia Köhn, Chair of the German AgriFood Society, points out in the interview: Only if innovation and transformation are profitable in the medium term can they close the food gap in the long term.
The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has released a video on the transformation of agricultural and food systems. In the video, Federal Minister Svenja Schulze also speaks about the urgent need to combat global hunger and contribute to resilient agricultural and food systems.
Four interviews kick off the relaunch under the new name „Food4Transformation“, asking the same questions from different perspectives. Dirk Meyer, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, thinks: less individual solutions are needed, but more systemic approaches. Because in addition to the goals for food security, the issues of climate and biodiversity must also be taken into account.
A Contribution by Dr. Fatima Olanike Kareem and Dr. Olayinka Idowu Kareem
High agricultural prices affect developed and developing countries alike, but the problem is aggravated for the latter through the lack of or inadequate resilience measures. Dr. Fatima Olanike Kareem, AKADEMIYA2063, and Dr. Olayinka Idowu Kareem, University of Hohenheim, explain what can be done to mitigate the negative effects on food security.
The consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine have enabled many countries to open up new export markets for their agricultural goods. However, smallholder farms have been largely left out. Drawing on his experience in India, our author gives a brief overview of how this can be changed.
A contribution by the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development
Two years following the UN Food Systems Summit, the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development and the Shamba Centre for Food & Climate hosted an official side event at the UNFSS+2. The event explored how public donors can increase the impact of their investments.
Iraq suffered many years of war, sanctions and economic crises. However, Ally-Raza Qureshi from the World Food Programme in Iraq sees progress. But now the effects of climate change are becoming apparent in the country. What is to be done?
The world is currently experiencing a historic food crisis. High fertiliser prices are part of the problem. In addition to the necessary short-term aid measures, the crisis ought to be made use of to develop and implement longer-term fertiliser strategies for sustainable, in particular smallholder increases in production in the Global South.
In a world facing crises – from pandemics, armed conflicts, and climate change – how do we ensure everyone has enough food within planetary boundaries? A new podcast by Food4Transformation discover solutions talking to government officials, scientists, NGOs and farmers around the world.
The Gaza Strip depends heavily on humanitarian aid, more than ever with the current war. Gaza population is very young: Half of them are children. What is their situation on the ground? Questions for Lucia Elmi, Unicef Special Representative to the State of Palestine.
Women and girls in poorer countries are affected in particular ways by the multiple crises the world is currently facing. Uncovering the linkages between gender, resilience and food security, experts from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) look at ways to support women and girls’ capacity to respond to crises.
The armed conflict between Israeli forces and the Hamas is escalating. What does this mean for a Gaza, region that was already heavily dependent on external aid? Questions for Dr. Muriel Asseburg, Senior Fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Berlin.
Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Podcast of the Federal Government
At the start of World Food Week around World Food Day on 16 October, Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed that the fight against global hunger will only be successful with international responsibility and solidarity (german only).
From measures to promote biodiversity in Germany to more sustainable cocoa cultivation methods in Ecuador: WWF works at many different levels. At the Green Week, it will be demonstrated just how multifaceted nature conservation work is and what role each individual's decision plays.
The Agriculture and Food Security Cluster of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in Zambia shows how synergies among different projects and partner organisations can help people to eat healthier, diversified food. A delegation of the Bonn based Division of Agriculture and Rural Development learned this in a field visit in the Eastern Province of the Southern African country.
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