Factors influencing livelihood strategy choice and food security among youths in Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe.

Several governments and development practitioners view youths as critical to the strategy of enhancing food and nutrition security and sustainable livelihoods in rural Africa. Despite youths being at the centre of food and nutrition security, their contribution to household food security remains understudied. The lack of such evidence has made it difficult to develop and implement effective and sustainable solutions to food insecurity and poverty in rural Africa. Thus, the study examines the factors influencing livelihood strategy choice and food security among youths in three districts of Mashonaland East Province, Zimbabwe. A total sample of 200 randomly selected youths was analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results show that agriculture was the main livelihood strategy followed by remittance dependant, self-employment, migration, and cross-border trading. In terms of remuneration, cross-border trading was found to be the most remunerative livelihood strategy followed by remittance dependant, self-employment, migration, and agriculture. The youths associated their choice of livelihood strategy with factors such as gender, age, land ownership, access to the internet, social group membership, access to credit and level of education. The study also finds food insecurity, notably severe food insecurity to be a general characteristic among the respondents. The nature of the livelihood strategy of the youths, their socioeconomic characteristics and livelihood capital were found to significantly influence household food security. The study recommends that the government implements strategies to make agriculture a sustainable livelihood option and policies to support youth in the non-farm sector should be a priority.

'Is there value for us in agriculture?' A case study of youth participation in agricultural value chains in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Developing countries in Africa face an unemployment crisis, with many unemployed youth. Agriculture has been identified as a strategic sector for employment creation targeted at youth, including those who may not have agriculture-related qualifications. However, various challenges limit the effectiveness of youth participation in the agriculture value chain. The study aimed to (i) determine youth awareness of agricultural value-chain opportunities, (ii) determine their perception of their role in the value chain, (iii) determine their perception of agricultural programs targeting youth and their opinions on who is responsible for attracting youth into agriculture and, (iv) to characterise the dynamics of youth empowerment in agriculture. Data was collected using focus group discussions and an online survey and analysed using SPSS and NVivo. Poor knowledge, low levels of awareness of agricultural value-chain activities and careers, and not meeting the minimum requirements for employment in processing and retail businesses were identified as key challenges. Most youth were interested in non-primary activities such as agro-processing, which are less labour-intensive and have a quicker return on investment than agricultural production. However, support services and programs for promoting youth participation in agriculture mainly focus on primary activities, signifying a mismatch between youth aspirations and current support. Understanding youth aspirations, perceptions and dynamics underpinning youth empowerment and participation in value chains is critical for promoting participation and formulating relevant and responsive policies. Additionally, improving access to information and building awareness of agricultural value chains is crucial in reducing barriers to entry. Policymakers should integrate agriculture and food systems knowledge into the primary education curriculum to promote youth awareness and evoke interest in agri-food system careers at an early age.

The Impact of Entrepreneurial Competencies on Household Food Security Among Smallholder Farmers in KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.

This paper investigates the impact of entrepreneurial competencies on food security among rural farming households in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa (SA). A total of 513 rural households were randomly selected, and the descriptive results indicated that 51% of these households were food insecure, and they were somewhat negative about their entrepreneurial competencies. The estimated results indicated that entrepreneurship had a positive impact on food security. The study findings suggest that stimulating entrepreneurship through developing entrepreneurial competencies among the farming households is important for improved food security among rural households in SA.

Promoting food security and well-being among poor and HIV/AIDS affected households: lessons from an interactive and integrated approach.

Participatory and interdisciplinary approaches have been suggested to develop appropriate agricultural innovations as an alternative strategy to improve food security and well-being among HIV/AIDS affected households. However, sustainable implementation of such interactive approaches is far from easy and straight forward. This study reports of the Interactive Learning and Action (ILA) approach, a methodology for agricultural innovation which has been adapted to the context of HIV/AIDS. Role players in agriculture and health were brought together to stimulate and sustain innovation among three support groups for poor and affected households in a rural high HIV/AIDS prevalence area in South Africa. The effectiveness of the approach was evaluated using both outcome and process criteria. The results indicate that an interactive approach in which service providers/researchers engage themselves as actors to explore the livelihood system and develop appropriate solutions in joint collaboration with resource users has potential. However, it also revealed that cooperation among participants and stakeholders at the interface of agriculture and HIV/AIDS is complicated and sensitive to erosion. Of particular concern was the difficulty of mobilizing members from poor and affected households to participate and to overcome stigma and discrimination. Lessons and potential applications for the further development of interactive approaches are discussed.