Youth employment interventions and gender mainstreaming within agribusiness: who do development institutions refer to when working with young people?

Abstract

Youth employment interventions within agriculture have increasingly been seen as means to both engage a large size of the population in developing countries while also contributing to their economic growth. The rise in the matter has been heavily promoted and funded by both development institutions and governments in the Global North. Nevertheless there is a need for information with regards to how these institutions mainstream gender within these interventions and therefore adequately reach young people. Theoretically, developers are struggling to recognize the intersections of youth and this translates the practical implementation of the interventions. Through which this research question aims to address: To what extent do Dutch development institutions, operating in East African countries, mainstream gender within youth employment interventions in agriculture? This question is answered through the analysis of interventions developed by Dutch development institutions operating mainly in the African continent. Qualitative data was used to analyze to what extent the differences in gender were recognized and influenced the manner in which the interventions managed to connect young people with the labor market. Findings show that the creation of equal employment for young people is influenced by a complex network of actors that may each have their own perspectives and priorities with regards to gender equality. Additionally the current research demonstrates that development institutions succeed in applying indicators that reflect the participation of young women nevertheless fail in creating long lasting impacts due to a shortage of time and a lack of investment in monitoring tools. Overall development institutions are in a key position to enable a balanced contribution of all actors involved in agribusiness. This research makes a first attempt to look at how development institutions can appropriately address the intersection of age and gender when creating interventions geared towards creating economic opportunities for young people.