SHAPE Agri-entrepreneurship Systemic Action Learning and Action Research (SALAR) initiative for social innovation

According to United Nations, 60% of the jobless population in Africa consists of young people.  The unemployment rate amongst youth in South Africa stands at 29.2% compared to the global estimate of between 6.3-6.5% (World Bank, 2021).

This rate of unemployment hinders the economic growth of many countries. Agriculture is the mainstay of most African countries, and opportunities for youth employment creation exist in the sector.  Challenges affecting local farmers in Africa could be addressed by involving youth participation, particularly students.

Improving productivity through intelligent & sustainable technologies and developing localised solutions that the youth can widely adopt will provide employment opportunities.

The collaboration between the University of KwaZulu-Natal,  Swansea University UK,  Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), University of Cape Coast and Liv Agriculture-Liv Village aims to unlock opportunities within the agricultural sector in South Africa.

University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) proposes to develop a curriculum programme, to assist Honours and Masters’ students gain access to the field and support them in developing research outputs that address the climate change challenges around mitigation and adaption framework and inequalities.

The curriculum for post-graduate Honours will require completing a Service-Learning focused project and working directly with the farmers.  This will be followed by a trans-disciplinary Master’s Programme, which includes Entrepreneurship, Management, Agriculture, Economics and Education modules, as the course work component with an Action research dissertation.

The project will:

1. Establish a formal institutional recognised structure to formalise agripreneurship projects now and in the future.
   2.    Develop action learning and research-focused agricultural entrepreneurship curriculum at the post-graduate level to tackle climate change issues.

The inherent advantage of this project is that it will serve the interests of the young people & solve a felt need for them to attain their own life goals.

The British Council – Innovation for African Universities (IAU) programme is implemented by the Centre of Excellence (CoE), a partnership between the City, University of London, the University of Nairobi, and ChangeSchool UK.
The programme comprises 24 partnerships of UK universities, SSA universities and entrepreneurial ecosystem organisations.  The programme is running in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana & South Africa.

To find out more: https://bit.ly/3hUjYdL

Dr Thea van der Westhuizen? Rosemond 207105865 Boohene Luntu Hlatshwayo Dr Samuel Ebie Portia Nene Sam Kamuriwo Lydiah Zachary Julie Cege Sara Jones Prof Mary kinoti Rebecca Kuthera Evarita Kamau Viren Lall Meekness Lunga-Ayidu Adetomi Soyinka Etom Ofem

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