Agriculture: These are the nine most attractive sub-sectors for Togolese youth according to the World Bank
Saturday, 05 October 2019 19:52 
(Togo First) - In Togo, the nine most profitable agricultural sub-sectors for the youth are pineapple, beekeeping, aquaculture, shea, sesame, soybeans, mushrooms, fonio, and vegetables.
This was revealed during a meeting that regrouped representatives of the World Bank, GIZ, NGOs, Togolese authorities and agricultural actors last Thursday. It was a workshop held to validate a preliminary study to identify sectors with a high market and job potential. The study which assessed 22 sectors overall was led by the World Bank and co-financed by GIZ. It assessed options fostering the youth's economic inclusion and ultimately aimed to improve their revenues and create new jobs.
In opposition to the above-mentioned sectors, cotton, coffee-cocoa, and cashew are the least attractive sectors for the youth. Regarding cotton, while stating that it is Togo's most exported crop, the study says harvesting it is tedious as it is mostly done manually. For coffee and cocoa which are mainly produced for export, these sectors are less attractive for the youth due to frequent fluctuations in their global prices.
The final results of this preliminary study should in addition to identifying all attractive economic sectors in the country also clearly determine key actors' needs for investment and skill development towards improving youth employment and empowerment. This is in a context where the youth represent 58% of the country's active population and also where 60% of jobs are concentrated in agriculture (which contributes 40% of Togo's GDP).
Commenting on the validation workshop, the minister of grassroots development, youth and youth employment, Victoire Tomegah Dogbé said: "The validation of this study's findings brings the opportunity to initiate a dialogue with private and public partners on the importance of better economic inclusion of youth in our various agricultural sectors."
For her part, the World Bank's representative in Togo, Hawa Cissé Wagué, declared: "Supporting profitable value chains will enhance the integration of the supply and demand of labor in the agricultural sector which holds great potential for growth and job creation in Togo."
In this regard, it should be recalled that one of the World Bank's flagship projects aimed at boosting the youth's economic inclusion is the Job Opportunity Project for Vulnerable Youth (EPV) in which the Bretton Woods institution poured XOF9 billion.
