Hope for Africa s youth
The youth essay competition launched by CTA in collaboration with the Africa Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPS) attracted nearly 50 entries from all over the continent and all of a consistently high standard. Asked to write on the theme: Science and technology creating employment and wealth for youths in Africa, competitors put pen to paper. First place went to Winnie Alum from Uganda, second to Muthoka Christine Ndune and third to Philip Mutuma Munyua, both from Kenya. The three winners have each received prizes of 200. Their essays can be read in full on CTA s Knowledge for Development web portal. Children and youth account for more than 50% of the population of Africa, a proportion which is rising fast, partly due to HIV/AIDS. Other factors including high unemployment rates and lack of educational opportunities combine to make Africa s youth a particularly vulnerable sector of society. Yet Winnie Alum is convinced that Africa s young people represent the best hope for the continent s future. For this reason, it makes sense to invest in African youth, she says. In her prize-winning essay, Winnie speaks convincingly of the need for more projects geared towards improving the living conditions of young rural people, through the promotion of science, technology and innovation which target this sector. These can be initiated and sustained by the youth themselves, she writes. Muthoka Christine Ndunge reminds us that technical progress is the single most important determining factor for achieving sustained economic growth of a country or region. She remains convinced that agriculture invigorated by science and technological innovations is the best hope for the future of Africa. Moreover, she describes how the development of tissue culture bananas and the introduction of water harvesting and soil conservation technologies in Kenya have improved yields and incomes for small-scale farmers, showing young people that there is indeed a future in farming. Phillip Mutuma Munyua looks at two practical examples of how new crops in this case passion fruit and grain amaranth can increase farmers incomes and help convince young rural dwellers that farming is a rewarding and remunerative activity. http://knowledge.cta.int
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| Formato: | News Item biblioteca |
| Idioma: | English |
| Publicado em: |
Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
2005
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| Acesso em linha: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/48030 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/99624 |
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