Celebrating Graduation Season
For many young people around the world, May is graduation season. It represents a time of new beginnings—a sense of excitement about the future, often mixed with apprehension and uncertainty about what comes next in life.
Almost 90% of the world’s youth live in low-income countries, and nearly one billion of these young people will enter the job market in the next 10 years. Ensuring these youth can access meaningful economic opportunities is essential to reducing poverty and ensuring secure, stable societies.
TechnoServe works with young people across the developing world to build self-confidence, obtain critical business skills, identify local market opportunities, and pursue meaningful livelihoods through entrepreneurship or employment.
Get to know a few of these inspiring young people below, and remember to vote for your favorite photo!
PHOTO 1:
Youth in Rwanda Learn About the Coffee Sector
Rwanda’s lush hills and temperate climate make it ideal for growing specialty coffee, and the industry has been rapidly increasing in recent years. More than 400,000 farming families grow most of the country’s coffee. However, the average age of a coffee farmer in Rwanda is 51, and attracting younger generations to the industry has become a challenge.
Through TechnoServe’s training programs, Rwandan youth are not just gaining skills but also a newfound appreciation for the coffee industry and its potential for their future. With the skills and knowledge acquired through the program, young people like Dismas Nsegiyaremye and Yvonne Kurujyishuli are not just well-positioned for gainful employment in the coffee value chain, but they are also providing hope for the future of Rwanda’s coffee sector.
PHOTO 2:
Creating Youth Opportunities in El Salvador
In El Salvador, many youth face a gloomy future because of limited job opportunities and high levels of unemployment. Small businesses like Cochecito play a vital role in the economy and serve as essential places of employment.
From the outset, owner Nieves Rocio Requeno’s entrepreneurial spirit has driven Cochecito’s success. Her positive evolution as an entrepreneur is evident: from a one-woman online project to employing nine people and running a successful business with two brick-and-mortar stores. Nieves sees her success not just in terms of business growth but also in her ability to positively impact the lives of her employees and the community.
The journey wasn’t always easy. During the pandemic, Nieves struggled to keep her business afloat. When the situation receded, she sought help to continue developing her business in the new economic landscape. That’s when she learned about the CRECE program, funded by the Citi Foundation and implemented by TechnoServe. CRECE is a business accelerator focused on young people ages 18-35 with early-stage enterprises that have the potential to achieve high revenue growth and job creation.
PHOTO 3:
New Vocations for Rural Youth in India
At 18 years old, Suresha had already completed his schooling and had even taken an additional course at an industrial training institute. Still, he felt no closer to creating a solid future for himself. Walking around his rural hometown of Bannikodu village in Davangere, India, Suresha couldn’t see an avenue to a prosperous livelihood. That is until he passed by Bannnikodu’s community center, where he spotted a poster announcing an agricultural fellowship program for rural youth.
When Suresha joined the program, he and 14 other fellows began a month and a half of practical training at the University of Agricultural Sciences in Dharwad, Karnataka. The university setting fostered an innovative environment where program participants could focus on how and where they can build careers in agriculture.
In only six months, Suresha’s initiatives effectively doubled the revenue potential of his family’s farm. The protein-rich fodder has improved his cows’ health and production. The increased profit margin amplifies the benefits of his techniques, proving the transformative opportunity available to rural youth when they apply best practices to their farms and begin to think of agriculture as a business and profession.
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- Learn more about TechnoServe’s youth economic opportunity work
- Empowering African Youth Employment Through Entrepreneurship
- Youth in Central America Need New Economic Opportunities. What Role Can Small and Growing Businesses Play?
