Youth Agripreneurship in Near East and North Africa
Hybrid Event, 30/08/2023 - 31/08/2023
Well-functioning agrifood systems underpin the global goals of poverty reduction, environmental sustainability, resilience, adequate nutrition, and a world free of hunger. Yet, in the Near East and North Africa, the functioning of these systems has come under threat by waves of economic, environmental and political crises and shocks.
One important pathway to achieve the needed agrifood system transformation lies within the region’s youth. As major drivers of innovation and entrepreneurship, young men and women have the potential to rapidly change the agrifood landscape. Roughly 65% of the region’s population is below the age of 35 and at least 25% of NENA youth are facing unemployment. With the right skills and resources, this underutilized human capital can be leveraged to build a reimagined agrifood system that leverages innovation and sustainable technologies.
Young entrepreneurs have already been paving the way for agriculture and rural transformation in the region with dynamic new start-ups and MSMEs. They are creating decent employment opportunities, generating economic value, bridging gender divides and coming up with new ways to produce more accessible, nutritious and safe food using less resources.
To untap the full potential of youth in transforming agrifood systems to be more nutritious, sustainable, inclusive and resilient, there is a need to a) invest in their skills and education and b) build enabling environments or entrepreneurship ecosystems that support the inclusion of young men and women in agriculture and food value chains. This is the principle objective of the Agrination initiative.
Launched in 2022 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Industry Disruptors Game Changers and Berytech, Agrination is the first regional business competition for idea stage startups in the agrifood space. The initiative strives to foster innovation, decent employment and youth inclusion in agrifood systems by helping innovative solution-oriented enterprises, led by youth, to achieve market and investment readiness. It also aims to strengthen national entrepreneurial ecosystems in the field of agrifood. At the national level, Agrination worked closely with graduates of the Impact Makers programme to roll out the initiative and help young entrepreneurs in each country make the most of this opportunity.
Marking the end of the first round of Agrination, FAO is organizing a regional meeting to take stock of lessons learned and map out next steps in creating a scaled up agrifood innovation and entrepreneurship programme in the Near East and North Africa.
Specific objectives
- Draw out lessons learned from the Agrination Initiative
- Create a networking opportunity for the 10 winning startups of Agrination and provide guidance and feedback to support their learning journey
- Understand challenges and needs of ecosystem builders in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region to address in future initiatives
- Co-create the next phase of the Agrination initiative to create an enabling ecosystem for youth entrepreneurship and innovation in the NENA
Agenda
*Simultaneous interpretation will be available in English, Arabic and French.
Time | Session |
Day 1
|
|
9:00-9:30 | Welcome and introduction |
9:30-9:40 | Presentation: Overview of Agrination results, achievements & lessons learned |
9:40-11:00 | Startup clinic: Overview of each startup including progress made, any pivots or changes to the business model, next steps and top challenges/priorities. Audience will have an opportunity to give coaching and feedback. |
11:00-11:30 | Coffee Break |
11:30-1:30 | Startup clinic (cont.) |
1:30-2:30 | Lunch |
2:30-3:30 | Breakouts: What are the key components of an effective agribusiness incubation programme?
Reflections from successful incubation programmes in the region (Berytech and Flat 6) |
3:30-4:00 | Presentation: Effective Entrepreneurship Ecosystems: What is needed to ensure an effective and well-functioning agripreneurship/ innovation ecosystem?
Wrap-up day 1 |
Day 2
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|
9:00-9:30 | Presentation: Regional investment trends in agrifood
|
9:30-11:00 | Breakouts: How do we make Entrepreneurship and Innovation Ecosystems more 1) inclusive 2) more age and gender responsive 3) more in line with environmental goals. What roles do different actors need to play. |
11:00-11:30 | Coffee Break |
11:30-12:45 | Impact makers panel: What are the challenges and needs of impact makers working in the agrifood space? |
12:45-2:00 | Development partners panel: lessons learned from other programmes in the region
|
2:00-3:00 | Lunch |
3:00-3:30 | Presentation: Re-cap of lessons learned and next steps
|
3:30-4:00 | Feedback: things you learned/gained, things that could be improved.
Closing |