Enabling Youth to take leadership in Animal Resources: Defining a New Future

In July 2018, the African Youth in Livestock Fisheries and Aquaculture Incubation (Network AYL- FAIN) was launched in Egypt by the African Union InterAfrican Bureau of Animal Resources (AU- IBAR) in partnership with African Agribusiness Incubators Network (AAIN). The event was a culmination of a broad and extensive mapping of vibrant youth engaged in animal resources across Africa.

The mapping of the youth and their enterprises was focused on identifying youth with complementing capacities, with potential to transform the sector and lead the sector to the next level of growth and impact. It involved a thorough vetting of the businesses, ideas and concepts. It was followed by a call for transformative leaders from the sector. Several consultative meetings were held in Senegal, Southern Africa and Ethiopia. Eventually, in July 2018, youth from 44 African countries congregated under one roof in Egypt to launch the network, with a mission that is buttressed by the call of “Africa Above All”. The network is focused on driving the establishment of agribusiness incubators and hubs across Africa. This aimed at attracting youthful individuals and enterprises to take charge of the economic potential locked in the sector and estimated at well over 2 Billion US dollars. The upside potential is is over a Trillion US Dollars by 2030.

The AYL FAIN is ringing the bells of change in the Animal Resources Sector. The network is curating agribusinesses focused on animal resources using incubators and hubs as a means to deliver impact and value. To achieve this business objective, the network needs to develop robust governance and management systems which will become the bedrock to mentorship support, and key to the drive for technology uptake, spurring of innovations, and for the acceleration of impact enterprises.

Photo credit: Incubation TV

The objective of AYL FAIN is to engage youth in agribusiness, trade and investment and to lead in changing and growing enterprises in Africa. The network aims to support youth and women through incubation. Therefore, one of the key activities will be the establishment of at least one incubator or hub per country that will be youth lead and leveraging on the existing assets in the animal resources sector. The incubators will galvanized agribusiness experts, government agencies, private sector companies, donor community, Venture Capitalists, Start-ups, NGOs, innovators in agribusiness, and ICT Developers to catapult and accelerate the change needed in the sector. This will be achieved through the building of catalytic partnerships.

Continental Mandate

AYL FAIN has a continental mandate to develop strategies that will get the youth and women supported and derive benefits from the delivery of the CAADP, Malabo, and the AU Agenda 2063. In this regard, the continental executive and leadership will work with AU-IBAR and AAIN to coordinate the delivery of business solutions and a unified agenda for youth and women focused driving a dynamic and inclusive animal resources sector to deliver decent jobs, wealth and employment.

It is imperative that the top leadership is equipped with the right skills to drive such an agenda. For this reason, AU-IBAR and AAIN organized a leadership orientation workshop for the executives of AYL-FAIN. The leaders were from all regions, besides the North. During the leadership training workshop, the executives from the other regions successfully facilitated the election of the leaders and executive members of the Northern Africa Region.

Regional Mandate

The AYL FAIN elected regional executives have a mandate to coordinate the strategic business development and execution at the regional level. One of their key partners for engagement at this level are the RECs.

Photo credit : Peter kuria .The Northern Africa Executive (From Left Mahfoud Bousta, IR Emma Jelassi, Nader M. H. Elkhouly and Amira Mahmoud)

AU-IBAR and AAIN will continue to mentor the regional executives on how to deliver then AYL-FAIN at the RECs level. Working with RECs will stimulate the business potential and clarify the business agenda for the countries along the trade policies for example.

Country Action: Incubator and Accelerator Mapping and Development

One of the key functions of the country chapters will be the development of an active network of business actors in the animal resource sector. This involves communicating effectively about the services of the AYL-FAIN to the incubators, incubator hubs and SMEs within the countries. The value of the network will be seen in different forms including the acceleration of SMEs where prudent to deliver on jobs and wealth creation.

Mapping of SMEs or MSMEs will be critical, as well as profiling enterprises specifically driven by youth. The aim is to match those identified with incubators or accelerators. In the case where there will be none in existence, an incubator ecosystem mapping will be used to explore the possibility of establishing new incubators.

About AYL FAIN

African Youth in Livestock Fisheries and Aquaculture Incubation Network( AYL_FAIN ) was established in July,2017 in Dakar with the support from AU IBAR and AAIN and launched in Cairo , Egypt in july 2018. The network brings together youth from the 55 Pan African countries to establish business incubation hubs at country level and 5 regional hubs in North, East, Central, West and Southern Africa.

The vision is to see Africa in which youth owned agribusinesses in animal resources contribute to poverty reduction and food security by creating wealth and jobs.

The Agribusiness incubation is an integrated support program provided by AU-IBAR and AAIN, with the intention of creating and maturing of budding value-added agribusiness-based enterprises. It is designed to speed the commercialization of livestock and fisheries by effectively linking talents, technology, capitals and know-how in order to accelerate the development of new enterprises.

About AAIN

The African Agribusiness Incubators Network (AAIN) is a private sector entity and an internationally-recognized organization set up to incubate incubators for job and wealth creation in Africa.

AAIN was registered in Ghana as an international company limited by guarantee in 2015 with the core business of supporting the establishment and growth to African agribusiness incubators. AAIN is a technical partner of the African Union Commission’s Department for Rural Economy and Agriculture (AU DREA) for issues concerning agribusiness incubation. This responsibility is implemented as a component of the AAIN-African Union’s African Agribusiness Incubation Programme (AAIP), which covers all 55 African Union member countries.

AAIN is a continent wide network of paid up member agribusiness individuals, incubators, firms, SMEs, organizations, associations and institutions. AAIN works with incubators, agribusinesses, financial institutions, youth networks, banks, development partners, regional economic bodies such as the Sub Regional Research Organisations (SROs), African Farmers Organizations, Agriculture Development Banks and International research institutions. AAIN is a business development partner to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the African Union Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU IBAR) and AfDB.

AAIN’s support to its member incubators includes training incubator management and staff, helping establish their standard operating procedures, linking them to mentors and financial institutions. AAIN also assists agribusiness incubators in identifying business opportunities for their incubatees.

About AU IBAR

The African Union – Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) provides leadership in the development of animal resources for Africa. By supporting and empowering the African Union (AU) Member States and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs), AU-IBAR's vision is that of an Africa free from hunger and poverty in which animal resources make a significant contribution within the global arena.

Founded in 1951 to study the epidemiological situation and fight rinderpest in Africa, AU-IBAR's mandate covers all aspects of animal resources, including livestock, fisheries and wildlife, across the entire African continent. At the same time AU-IBAR fills a unique and strategic niche by working at the continental and regional levels, with the RECs being key partners.

By Communication and Public Relation of AYL_FAIN, Paul Atsu

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