Engaging Youth in Agriculture for the Feed the Future South Sudan Food, Agribusiness, and Rural Markets (FARM) II Project

Making Cents International (MC) conducted an assessment of youth in agriculture in the Equatoria region of South Sudan. This activity was done at the invitation of Abt Associates under USAID’s Food, Agribusiness and Rural Markets (FARM) II project, a Feed the Future initiative.

The MC team found  that  FARM II needs to integrate youth into pilot activities and infrastructure investments help the creation of functioning agriculture markets and seeing markets function more effectively is a powerful incentive for youth, helping them perceive the economic opportunities in agriculture.

Recommended activities for FARM II focus on moving from youth-neutral (neither promoting nor blocking youth participation in project activities) to becoming youth-aware (actively encouraging youth participation across project offerings). Recommendations for follow-on projects focus on becoming youth-inclusive (actively addressing barriers to the relevance and accessibility of project offerings to youth).