Rwanda: youth meet in Agroecology national Summit 2020
Young people are increasingly joining agriculture in Rwanda
Kigali –On 16th-22th October, 2020, at Grand Legacy Hotel, AgriProFocus Rwanda in collaboration with Minagri, Rwanda Youth in Agribusiness Forum (RYAF), Agriterra, Action Aid Rwanda, PELUM, Help a Child Rwanda, Rwanda organic Agriculture Movement, Stewardship Agribusiness Incubation Center, YEAN Network, and University of Rwanda are organizing a Youth and Agroecology National Summit2020, with a theme: “Agroecology as a pathway towards sustainable food systems and unlocking business opportunities for youth”
The objectives of Youth and Agroecology summit 2020 are to create awareness about Agroecology and related business opportunities for youth, linking youth to expertise and opportunities around Agroecology, sharing knowledge about youth in Agroecology and business, support the formation of coalitions and learning between Agroecology stakeholders and youth, and showcasing and connecting the right people and knowledge to emerging opportunities.
The summit will gather 100 participant’s offline; 50 youth and 50 other stakeholders from different organizations that promote agroecology and youth empowerment in Rwanda. As the summit will be held both offline and online, we are expecting to have more than 500 participants following the summit via online channels (Zoom, Youtube, Twitter, and Facebook).
The summit targets young innovators who are already passionate and motivated about Agroecology and business, and are ready to be change makers, and youth agribusiness leaders in drive to transform the food systems in their communities. The summit will also involve the media which will cover and feature the activities during the entire event
On the last day of the summit, AgriProFocus Rwanda and co-organizers will bring together youth leaders, stakeholders in Agroecology, Finance institutions, relevant Ministries, research institutions, farmers, agro-processing industries, and development partners purposely to effectively engage each other in order to draw actionable commitment , support to youth in Agroecology and formation of strong coalitions. Below is a series of activities that will take place on each day of the event;
AgriProFocus is an international multi-stakeholder network in the agri-food sector representing private sector enterprises, government, knowledge institutions, and finance institutions, civil society organisations for making agribusiness work for development in Africa &Asia through linking, learning & leadership activities.
AgriProFocus also with support from IKEA Foundation is currently implementing a three year 2020-2022 initiative “Youth in Agroecology and Business Learning Track Africa (YALTA)” which is aimed to support young agripreneurs to apply Agroecological principles and to co-create networks around them, in view of contributing to the increased sustainability of food systems and youth employment.
