Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program showcases African youth driving climate innovation | African Development Bank

The Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP) – a joint initiative of the African Development Bank and the Global Center on Adaptation – recently demonstrated its initiative to harness the dynamism and leadership of African youth to drive innovation in climate adaptation .

On the sidelines of the recent 3^ed Gobeshona Global Conference, AAAP brought together participants in its YouthADAPT program to share their experiences with the program as well as strategies for scaling youth-led approaches to adaptation

In his opening remarks, Dr. Kevin Kariuki, Vice President of the African Development Bank for Power, Energy, and Climate & Green Growth, highlighted the integral role of youth in Africa’s sustainable development.

“Young people are the backbone of Africa’s population, making up more than 60% of the population. The sustainable development of the continent depends on harnessing this demographic dividend,” said Kariuki. “The AAAP, through its YouthADAPT pillar, has so far supported 35 youth-led enterprises in 14 African countries with $3.5 million to drive climate action in sectors such as agriculture, waste management, renewable energy, water and sanitation,” added Kariuki up to it. YouthADAPT is one of the four pillars of AAAP for accelerating climate adaptation.

Caroline Mukuhi Mwangi, founder of Kimplanter Seedling and Nurseries Limited, said her company already recognized the benefits of participating in the program. Kimplanter supplies drought-resistant seedlings that boost food production and food security in Kenya.

Mwangi said: “We have ventured into new markets in semi-arid regions and expanded our seedling varieties, increasing our sales by 36% as a result of AAAP support. Our customer base has also grown from 8,000 to 16,000 farmers and we have expanded our workforce from 17 to 32, all women or young people.”

Aramide Abe, the Jobs for Youth & Entrepreneurship program leader at the Global Center on Adaptation, confirmed that the participating companies are already starting to see results. She said some have seen revenues increase by as much as 50 percent. A fifth has ventured into new markets, raising more than $106,000 in additional funding from a variety of sources.

Juveline Ngum, the founder of Bleaglee Waste Management Limited, a Cameroon-based start-up company that uses drone technology to tackle waste management, also highlighted the benefits of participating in YouthADAPT.

“We have expanded our waste management solution from Western Cameroon to Douala, effectively using drones to detect clogged sewers and using data for demand-driven waste management,” said Ngum. Now we want to expand across national borders to Dakar, Senegal.”

Noël N’guessan’s Ivory Coast-based company, LONO, a winner of the 2022 YouthADAPT Challenge, has a patented technology for organic fertilizer production. The company has also introduced modular and mobile biodigesters for the agri-food sector. Biodigesters use microbes and other bacteria to break down organic waste, including grease, fats and even animal manure.

Still, Nguessan said there were still challenges. “The cost of prototyping hardware equipment can be prohibitively high, resulting in long project development cycles,” he said. He pointed out that financial management training is essential for youth-led businesses.

The session also featured presentations from partners from the African Development Bank and other global organizations that have rolled out similar initiatives for YouthAdapt.

Sandra Simbiri, Program Specialist at UNICEF’s Generation Unlimited, said:

“Supporting entrepreneurs through STEM principles is essential to prepare young people for technological innovations.”

Alfred Asiko, Senior Market Engagement Manager for the ClimateTech program at GSMA, a mobile technology association, said he has played a role in encouraging young people to use technologies such as the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and blockchain to tackle climate challenges. to deal with.

“Through our innovation fund, we offer grants to climate start-ups, with a focus on supporting resilient solutions that use groundbreaking technologies. We also provide skills development and training to help entrepreneurs scale their innovations,” said Asiko.

He said venture capital (VCs) firms had a critical role to play. “We need to see more VCs come forward and take over from development finance institutions (DFIs) in providing funding and support to youth-led businesses,” he added.

YouthADAPT aims to reach 10,000 African youth-led enterprises by 2025, fostering innovation and inclusive growth for youth in climate-resilient jobs and by fostering the development of youth enterprises. The other three pillars of the AAAP are climate-smart digital technologies for agriculture and food security; the African Infrastructure Resilience Accelerator and the Innovative Financial Initiatives for Africa

The third annual Gobeshona Global Conference, hosted by the International Center for Climate Change and Development, took place virtually from March 10-16, 2023. It focused on monitoring Locally-Led Adaptation (LLA) and resilience.