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The challenges of rural youth employment in Africa
a literature review

dc.contributor.authorKubik, Zaneta
dc.date.accessioned2022-05-06T07:59:38Z
dc.date.available2022-05-06T07:59:38Z
dc.date.issued05.2022
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11811/9788
dc.description.abstractThis 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.
en
dc.format.extent56
dc.language.isoeng
dc.relation.ispartofseriesZEF Working Paper ; 212
dc.rightsIn Copyright
dc.rights.urihttp://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
dc.subjectAfrica
dc.subjectEmployment
dc.subjectYouth
dc.subjectAgricultural production
dc.subjectFood processing
dc.subjectSkill development
dc.subject.ddc030 Enzyklopädien
dc.subject.ddc320 Politik
dc.subject.ddc330 Wirtschaft
dc.subject.ddc630 Landwirtschaft, Veterinärmedizin
dc.subject.ddc670 Industrielle und handwerkliche Fertigung
dc.titleThe challenges of rural youth employment in Africa
dc.title.alternativea literature review
dc.typeArbeitspapier
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.48565/bonndoc-22
dc.publisher.nameCenter for Development Research (ZEF)
dc.publisher.locationBonn
dc.rights.accessRightsopenAccess
dc.relation.issn1864-6638
dc.relation.urlhttps://www.zef.de/fileadmin/webfiles/downloads/zef_wp/WP212.pdf
ulbbn.pubtypeZweitveröffentlichung


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