Blog

Over 67 million youth are unemployed globally and the majority live in rural areas with limited economic opportunities. The fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic has overwhelmingly impacted youth whose employment fell by more than twice that of adults in 2020.

This post was originally published on Helvetas' website and written by Chalachew Gebeyehu, SKY Project Manager, Helvetas; Bettina Jenny, Head of Skills Development & Education, Helvetas; and Sabrina Würmli, Advisor for Skills Development, Helvetas. 

In the Sahel region of West Africa, small and growing businesses account for nearly 50 percent of new job creation. When these businesses are women-led, the potential to drive growth is even higher: a USAID study found that, globally, these businesses grow revenues 1.5 times faster and jobs twice as fast compared to male-owned businesses.

Youth — who make up a large portion of the potential workforce in developing countries — are often left out of markets systems, representing a significant lost opportunity to deliver social and economic benefits. 

In our recent webinar discussing the findings from the Feed the Future Advancing Women’s Empowerment (AWE) landscape analysis and case studies on women and youth inclusion in agricultural market systems, we were joined by RisiAlbania and ELAN RDC, two of the activities featured in the case studies. 

Najib Seguya of the Feed the Future Uganda Youth Leadership in Agriculture (YLA) activity’s Strategic Activities Fund team discusses key considerations to keep in mind when designing a pay-for-results (PfR) program, also known as performance-based financing.

This post highlights two youth dairy farmers through Feed the Future Kenya Investment Mechanism Program with the support of USAID Kenya.

In USAID, we need to worry more about aging populations than we do now. That includes, for those still in their working-age years, how to work longer, healthier, and smarter.

In West Africa, young people are struggling to find viable jobs in their communities. The myAgro program encourages them to become entrepreneurs by employing them to work with farmers and savings groups.

In 2016, the Global Communities' USAID Cooperative Development Program piloted a project in Nairobi to work with young, urban professionals interested in starting their own cooperative businesses.

The Victory Against Malnutrition Project (ViM) was established to is reduce food insecurity by increasing and diversifying agricultural and livestock production, improving farmers’ incomes and household health and nutrition.

USAID is helping the Government of Tanzania to improve communities’ understanding of land rights, support village land use planning, and clarify, document and certify property rights.

Youth savings groups promote positive asset building and introduces girls, boys, young women and men to the elements of personal finance, entrepreneurship, and life skills. 

Read up on emerging evidence on programming for a youth-inclusive economic transformation in rural and peri-urban areas to support youth employment and livelihoods, including entry into work.

Nutrition interventions alone cannot end malnutrition. Agricultural development programs need to embed nutrition-sensitive interventions into their planning and implementation.

The deeper understanding that comes from a robust review of evidence and lessons learned will identify good practices that enhance women’s, men’s, boys’, and girls’ livelihoods and well-being throughout agricultural systems.

Drawing from his travels in Rwanda, USAID's Jim Yazman shares his reflections on the importance of wage labor for the extreme poor.

Plan Canada assesses the benefits of the Youth Microfinance Project as well as its effect on youth economic empowerment.

What evidence is there to prove that economic strengthening models work? This post explores a few areas that have seen promising practices for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC).

IPA outlines several studies that test the impact of financial programs on youth.

This post highlights the November 20 webinar, hosted by Microlinks, titled “Youth Savings Services: Are They Worth It?”

Jason Wolfe, Senior Technical Advisor for the PEPFAR program, interviews Andrew Meaux and Barri Shorey from the IRC.

Brookings Visiting Fellow John W. McArthur delves into this issue and tries to answer the question that impacts in nearly all African countries: How do we increase economic opportunities for our rapidly growing youth population?

Business schools in the developing world are finding they need to incorporate entrepreneurship education in their offerings. For these schools, building a curriculum is not just a matter of imitating their long established counterparts.

Making Cents International’s Youth Economic Opportunities Conference was an important opportunity to gain greater consensus on best practices and emerging trends.