There are 223 million unemployed or underemployed youth  in developing and emerging economies (ILO, 2017). Wage  earning opportunities are few — for instance, Africa creates  only about 3 million formal jobs per year (Alam, 2019). Young  people lack opportunities for income generation, especially  in rural areas. Society, as a whole, stands to benefit by  investing in young people, their ideas and innovations, to  help shape the the agrifood system of tomorrow (FAO and  AUC, 2022). Policymakers and programme implementers  have developed a strong interest in promoting entrepreneurship for expanding employment, especially in rural areas and  the agricultural sector where many unemployed youth can  be found. Evidence is emerging that initiatives to promote  agripreneurship are improving business practices, revenue  and livelihoods of young people (Alam, 2019).

This brief defines youth agripreneurship and explains  its importance. It provides a framework for developing youth  agripreneurship, the types of human capital needed for  equipping youth for agripreneurship and ways of developing  these types. Finally, the brief presents factors that policymakers and programme implementers need to consider  when evaluating how to invest in youth agripreneurship.