December 16, 2024

By: Mr. Joseph Gaithuma and Ms. Ruth Waithira; Kavle Consulting, LLC

    In Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), nearly 146 million people face acute food insecurity, with the youth—who make up 70% of the population—being particularly affected. As young people continue to experience household food insecurity indicated by low consumption of animal source proteins, pulses, fruits and vegetables, their poor food choices are largely influenced by convenience. This is due to unregulated food environments in schools and community as well as economic constraints, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing conflicts and climate crises.

Impact of climate change on youth: Climate change has greatly contributed to food unavailability and inaccessibility, exacerbating hunger and malnutrition among the youth. Erratic weather patterns and climate change also contributes to inadequate access to essential youth-friendly healthcare services. The complex interplay between climate change, rising food insecurity and malnutrition in SSA requires meaningful engagement through addressing the inequities among the youth, many of whom are greatly affected by the negative impacts of climate change. Youth leaders have emphasized integrating their voices as a foundational pillar of the planetary health agenda, urging their country governments for accelerated climate action.

Youth in humanitarian crises: African continent is facing humanitarian crises exacerbating the challenges faced by vulnerable communities such as the youth. The UN launched the Compact for Young People in Humanitarian Action to increase youth involvement in five key areas—service delivery, data, resources, participation, and local action—but its practical implementation is lacking. UN’s World Programme of Action for Youth portrays young people as victims of climate crises and armed conflict; thus, it is crucial to bridge the gap between humanitarian aid and sustainable development by empowering youth to overcome vulnerabilities, contributing to long-term resilience.

Why involve African youth as drivers of change in nutrition, climate change and public health initiatives? 

    To address hunger and climate crises, young people must be central to designing, implementing, and monitoring health, nutrition, and climate resilience programs. The African Union’s Agenda 2063 and AU Youth Charter emphasize youth empowerment and participation in development. Meaningful Adolescent and Youth Engagement (MAYE) defined as an active, empowered, and intentional partnership with adolescents and youth as stakeholders, problem solvers, and change agents in their communities promotes youth as change agents, positively impacting health promotion and community engagement. However, gaps remain, as Sub-Saharan African youth are often excluded from decision-making and program design, limiting their transformative potential. Additionally, insufficient mentorship and structured capacity-building hinder young people from acquiring the skills and knowledge needed to drive meaningful change in food systems and health services. To address this, it is paramount to include adolescent and youth engagement into global and country policies and programs   

    Reflections from our commentary in the Maternal and Child Nutrition Journal: Empowering youth as agents of change: Gaps and opportunities for meaningful youth engagement (MAYE) for sustainable nutrition, climate and public health programmes  highlights four gaps and opportunities for actively involving African youth to effectively empower them as local change agents for nutrition, climate change and public health initiatives.

1. 1. Need to standardize age definitions of youth A standardized definition of ‘youth’ is lacking to guide country programmes design and implementation as policy documents vary in their age definitions. This inconsistency fragments data on how crises like hunger and youth-friendly health services impact young people, hindering youth-focused policies and programs, highlighting the need to standardize the definition of youth for better data harmonization and reduced missed opportunities.
   2. Develop capacity of youth to strengthen health service delivery Youth in Africa are often viewed as inexperienced, which potentially undermines their role in addressing complex issues related to food insecurity, climate change, and hunger crises. Enhancing youth capacity through mentorship and active co-creation of public health initiatives is crucial to address the imminent global health workforce shortage and empower the next generation of public health leaders to drive transformative changes in multisectoral nutrition and health efforts.
   3. Enhance youth leadership on multisectoral collaboration in food systems and health systems Fragmentation and lack of clear representation of some youth-led coalitions can hinder their ability to have a collective voice and effectively advocate for their interests. Empowering youth to lead and engage in food and health systems programming is crucial for addressing malnutrition and hunger, as their community-wide approach enhances healthy eating habits and ensures initiatives reflect their concerns and commitments. See examples of youth leadership across Africa discussed in our article.
   4. Capacity development for non-youth Sensitizing those who have reached adulthood about the importance of MAYE, which is crucial for addressing unequal power dynamics and fostering collaboration. Without such efforts, youth voices risk marginalization or tokenization, weakening initiatives aimed at resolving youth issues. Advocacy and mechanisms for youth representation empower active participation in decision-making, ensuring meaningful inclusion and effectiveness. 

    African youth are ready and capable of being actively involved in addressing challenges largely affecting the continent. Echoing the Kigali Youth Declaration on Food Systems and Climate Action, stakeholders need to amplify the voices of young people, address challenges faced by youth and support their potential to build a better future for Africa.

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