Based at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Future Agricultures Consortium (FAC ),a multidisciplinary and independent learning alliance of academic researchers and practitioners involved in African agriculture, is hosting a conference on 19-21 March, 2012 in Accra, Ghana with an aim to analyze and discuss the opportunities and challenges for different categories of young people in different situations associated with on-going and likely future changes within the broader agri-food system.
Another co-host of the conference Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research (ISSER) is a semi-autonomous research institution within the Faculty of Social Studies at the University of Ghana.
ISSER is committed to carrying out research and training that is geared towards promoting the socio-economic development of Ghana in particular and Africa in general. The Institute strives to maintain its reputation for solid social science research, paying close attention to exploratory, explanatory and evaluative aspects of the dynamics of development.
Highlights of the conference will be to completely examine, from both research and policy perspectives:
-Dominant and alternative framings and narratives, and recent empirical data, relating to how young people engage with the agrifood sector in Africa (as producers, entrepreneurs, employees, consumers and citizens)
– The dynamics of change in different components of the agri-food sector and the implications of these dynamics for young people
– The implications for young people of alternative policy approaches to the development of the agri-food sector
The conference aims to help shift the debate away from questions such as “How can farming be made more attractive to young people?” toward a broader analysis of the opportunities and challenges for different categories young people in different situations associated with on-going and likely future changes within the broader agri-food system. Such an analysis should take account of changes not only in food production, but also in processing and transformation, marketing, retail, governance and so on.
Further details are available at this link.
