FARMING: A POTENTIAL SOLUTION TO YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT - Dr. Issahaku Unemployment among the youth is one of the most acute problems affecting a developing country like Ghana. However, there are no accurate figures from the statistical service to show the exact percentage of youth who are unemployed. Nonetheless, unconfirmed figures state that about 250,000 youth join the labor force annually; over 30% of this population has either diploma or professional certificate. This makes over 75,000 per annum joining the labor force. This brings to light that the majority of the youth who join the labor force every year are not literate. This makes a total of 175,000 annually, representing 70%. Out of this figures, the formal sector is able to employ only about 5,000, whilst the rest survive in the informal sector or remain unemployed. Youth unemployment is further compounded by the fact that a large portion of the populace tends to be youth and the formal sector is not just creating enough opportunities to absorb this constant supply of labor-seeking youth. Among the most possible solutions to youth unemployment being touted today is the greater involvement of the youth in farming. Farming remains the bedrock of most developing countries and Ghana is no exception. Farming is paradoxically, not viewed as a job by many, who instead scramble for non-existent employment ventures that require clean clothes and a desk. Yet, for a generation of young people entering adulthood, farming offers the best opportunity to move out of poverty and build satisfying lives. Farming is important to the development of our economy and should be attractive to employ the youth and serve as a springboard for the country’s overall economic fortunes. It is the major sector that can rescue our country from its current economic challenges. In fact, it can be an important contributor to our local economies. I believe that every discussion on the development of our economy must start with farming. Local economic development is driven both by producing and selling locally. Farming is the major supplier of raw materials to manufacturing industries and sustaining households with daily income. Our industries are failing to perform and many have collapsed because the country has not invested much time, energy and resources in farming. In fact, little attention has been given to our key industrial crops like palm, cotton, sugarcane, just to mention a few. It is also a venture that requires little or no technical know-how, and this shows how it is accommodating to beginners. Markets for food are booming globally and in Africa. Recent trends in income growth and diet have created a sharp rise in demand for food. It is true that we can produce great food on small farms in Ghana since everybody is a potential customer, for everybody eats. Unemployment is not a permanent state of human live. So we must help change the fortunes of young people in this country by promoting rural and urban development in farming, though it is a huge challenge to make this business work. But there is growing evidence that sustainability can be achieved! The farmers can offer prices at which they can pursue broad, customer base as we have great local support for our products. Through direct sales we think prices can be maintained at acceptable prices. The participation of the youth in agriculture even with the introduction of a government program known as “YOUTH IN AGRICULTURE” has been very low largely because the sector has not been made attractive due to risk, cost, and its labor intensive nature. We therefore need a multi-level intervention to increase youth participation in farming. It must be made attractive to reduce youth unemployment; both literate and `illiterate alike must be sensitized and lured into farming. How should this be done? It behooves on the Government to invest significant amount in the rehabilitation of this sector. A positive response is to encourage partnerships with the education sector to compulsorily integrate farming into the primary and secondary curriculum; its broad base and compulsory inclusion with the appropriate resources will help to motivate the youth towards having a more favorable view of employment opportunities in the agricultural sector. Similarly, those youth outside of the formal education system must also be targeted and wooed towards farming. Young people must not be turned off by the many plagues affecting the agricultural sector, such as irregular and unpredictable rain patterns. The Ministry of Agriculture together with the Ministry of Information must create a system on on-going initiatives to support youth in agricultural enterprises and also create opportunities to showcase their successes in order to attract more young people and make labor markets more flexible with the potential of helping young people to find jobs out of the agricultural sector. Government through partnership with the private sector should establish a fund to make capital and credit accessible for young people who want to enter into farming. There should also be new innovations to overcome these barriers and achieve sustainable outreach to smallholders. Some of these innovations; self-help groups, savings and credit associations, community-based financial organizations, rural and community banks and cooperatives among the organizational innovations that need to be developed to address the high costs and risks and also allowing alternative forms of collateral such as warehouse receipts and future harvests can reduce the cost of credit for young people. Acquiring land is very expensive for most young people who want to venture into farming. Government through the National Youth Authority (NYA) should therefore set up a committee which will directly negotiate on behalf of young people with chiefs of various communities to lease lands. Also, open access to equipment with less collateral than is the case for purchase to young farmers should be encouraged since farming with machete and hand hoe has become disincentive and scary to the youth. In order to take advantage, the youth need skills to handle a range of tasks and equipment, which requires government initiative in this direction. Linking agricultural credit to extension services can address the needs of young farmers for finance and information simultaneously. With support from government and non-governmental organizations, matching grants must be used to promote improved technologies, empower farmers to hire service providers, build linkages with private firms through productive partnerships, and provide rural infrastructure. The country soon must recognize the importance of farming as a source of growth and a major employer of the country’s young people, and redouble efforts to transform the sector. Leadership should design and implement measures needed for the sector to deliver its full potential. Investment in farming can absorb a larger number of new job seekers and offer meaningful work with public and private benefits. For this to happen, constraints to land, capital, and skills must be addressed and features to make programs friendly to the needs of the young enhanced. Existing programs in finance, land and education and extension can be reviewed and adjusted to the specific needs of the rural young people. Farming that attracts young people will have to be profitable, competitive and dynamic. These are the same characteristics required for agriculture to deliver growth, to improve food security and to preserve a fragile natural environment. Farming offers a handsome youth dividend that will benefit young people. With clarity of vision and political commitment from leadership, farming will ever be an engine of growth to our economy. Our arable land is crying unceasingly for the aid of fresh young hands to put it to acceptable use for which it was purposely created for. This is a clarion call, a reminder, for posterity will least forgive us if we fail in our diligent duty as a people; in our actions or inactions to make farming an agenda in every community group as a potential antidote for fighting the acute unemployment challenges that have bedeviled our homeland. The time to act; to recognize farming as potent solution to youth unemployment is now! Article by Dr. Musah Yamba Issahaku Principal Dambai College of Education P. O. Box 84 Dambai Volta Region GBCONLINE ---DECRYPTED---