The rural population in Africa south of the Sahara is growing, and its rural economy is still underdeveloped. The pressure to create jobs in rural areas is therefore particularly acute. There is cause for optimism, however. Evidence suggests that agriculture is transforming in many African countries, albeit slowly, and that youth are often participating in this process. Further research is needed to accelerate this progress.

Many people believe that Africa will struggle to create jobs for its rapidly-growing population, and that rural youth will eventually migrate to cities or other countries. This book uses survey data to create a nuanced understanding of the constraints and opportunities facing rural youth in Africa.

"Theories underlying the relationship between urbanization and transformation are being challenged by trends in Sub-Saharan African countries, since many have yet to observe their own "green" or industrial revolutions, despite moderate urbanization. Africa's trajectory is very different than those of other developing regions, a main reason for which is the region's significant "youth bulge" and the lack of a labor market outlet for this growing subpopulation. In many countries, the youth are driving the (albeit slow) movement out of agriculture, yet rather than migrating to urban areas, many are finding (usually informal) work in secondary cities, their peri-urban spaces, and the rural nonfarm economy. This book examines the overall trends in youth migration, policies, and political activism, then looks specifically at five African case studies to identify key trends and provide recommendations on encouraging youth to spur structural change. Conclusions reached in this book include that the rate of structural transformation varies among countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, but in most cases, it is the youth who are driving these changes. Education, access to financial services, and agricultural productivity contribute to this structural transformation and can act as pushes or pulls out of agriculture for the youth. However, when structural transformation policies are not pro-poor or inclusive, it can result in higher levels of youth under- and unemployment. Thus, the conclusions point to recommendations focusing on agricultural productivity, the rural nonfarm economy and informal sectors especially along agriculture value chains, access to finance and savings, infrastructure, and education."

"The series is sponsored by the Agence Francaise de Developpement and the World Bank."

Many people believe that Africa will struggle to create jobs for its rapidly-growing population, and that rural youth will eventually migrate to cities or other countries. This text uses survey data to create a nuanced understanding of the constraints and opportunities facing rural youth in Africa.

Today, the global youth population is at its highest ever and still growing, with the highest proportion of youth living in Africa and Asia, and a majority of them in rural areas. Young people in rural areas face the double challenge of age-specific vulnerabilities and underdevelopment of rural areas. While agriculture absorbs the majority of rural workers in developing countries, low pay and poor working conditions make it difficult to sustain rural livelihoods.

This paper provides a literature review on youth employment challenges in rural Africa. The rapidly changing demographic structure across the continent is expected to have important economic and social consequences, especially for employment. So far, despite sustained economic growth, African countries have not been successful in absorbing the fast-growing labor force, especially in the context of labor markets characterized by high levels of informality, underemployment and working poverty. As a consequence of life-cycle effects, relative to the measure of accumulated life experience; and generational effects, relative to the measure of the conditions prevailing during an individual's formative years, young people are exposed to several constraints in the labor market, including access to resources such as skills and innovation, finance and land. These challenges call for a comprehensive policy framework with complementary supply-side and demand-side interventions. Interventions that target girls and women can have particularly strong effects on their labor market outcomes. Food systems are increasingly recognized as potential catalyst for employment creation, given their future prospects and labor-intensive nature. Farming and self-employment in the agri-food sector are the dominant categories of youth employment in rural areas of Africa, and the latter is growing especially fast, even though it remains much lower than farming in absolute terms. Despite common perceptions, food system jobs play a significant role in youth's aspirations. Close to 25% of young Africans want to work in the food and agriculture sector, and the share is higher in some countries, close to 40% in Kenya, Liberia, Malawi and Tanzania. Accordingly, the average age of African farmers is not rising - it is also much lower than previously claimed, at 34 years of age and not 60. However, youth aspirations remain conditional on several factors that can make food system jobs attractive, including technology, investment, market opportunities, and decent earnings. Policies should prioritize interventions that will raise labor productivity in food system, along with the broader labor-market interventions.

"There are many accepted views about the role and position of youth in the African agricultural economy. This book challenges those assumptions by analysing new studies, particularly of gender and social difference. It is a major contribution to current debates and development policy about youth, agriculture and employment in rural Africa"--

The authors examine the challenges facing Africa's youth in their transition from school to working life, and propose a policy framework for meeting these challenges. Topics covered include the effect of education on employment and income, broadening employment opportunities, and enhancing youth capabilities. The book includes a CD-ROM of case studies of four countries and household data on 13 countries.

The much heralded growth and transformation of many economies in sub-Saharan Africa over the last decade continues to receive prominent attention in academic scholarship and among policy practitioners. An apparent feature about this transformation, however, is that Africa’s youth appear to have been left out. This book critically examines the extent and consequences of the marginalization of African youth. It questions conventional wisdoms about data trends, aspirational goals, and common policy interventions surrounding Africa’s youth that have been variously propagated in both the development studies literature and in mainstream donor policy reports. The book explores macro trends from both a temporal and cross-regional perspective in order to highlight what is distinct about contemporary African youth and whether their prospects and behaviours do actually vary from their counterparts in other regions of the world or from previous generations of African youth. Such studies include cross-country analyses of youth employment patterns and modes of political participation, in-depth examination of the behaviours and aspirations of the urban youth, and critical reflections on the impact of rural employment initiatives, vocational education, and learnership programmes. The incorporation of multiple methods and disciplines, as well as its attention to policy issues, ensures that the book will be of great interest to graduate students, researchers, and professional researchers whose work lies at the intersection of African area studies and development studies as well as those focused on development economics, political science, and public policy and administration.