According to the African Development Bank (AfDB), youth make up 60% of Africa’s population, and one in three are underemployed or discouraged. The continent is caught in a cycle of poverty and unemployment. But how do we break this cycle? Could the rise of green jobs provide the vantage point Africa needs to see beyond the mountain of systemic challenges?
Let’s talk about cycles—patterns that repeat when we lack the clarity of vision to chart new paths.
A Glimpse into the Past
Walk with me down history lane. Pre-industrial Africa was thriving. We cultivated millet, sorghum, cotton, and flax. Our trade networks spanned deserts and oceans. Our craft industries—pottery, textiles, iron smelting—flourished. And our kingdoms, often governed with matriarchal insight, held political and economic sophistication that rivaled the world.
Then came the disruption. The transatlantic slave trade dismantled societies. Colonial conquest followed, draining her wealthy resources to feed Western industrial revolutions. Indigenous knowledge—spoken in the drumbeat of a thousand tongues and whispered through generations—was dismissed as primitive. Africa, once written in the stars and sung in the winds, was buried under exploitation.
Resilience Rooted in the Soil
Yet, Africa’s spirit endured.
Through it all, our farmers preserved biodiversity. They intercropped, composted, and practiced agroforestry long before it became a buzzword. Women—those matriarchs of resilience—safeguarded seeds, knowledge, and the soul of our agricultural systems.
Today, as climate change disrupts lives and global food insecurity rises, the world looks to what Africa has long known: indigenous, climate-resilient crops are not relics of the past; they are beacons of the future. Women-led restoration efforts and community farming initiatives are now recognized as powerful tools for sustainable development, climate resilience, and economic inclusion.
A Future Reimagined
Is this Africa’s moment?
Can we now reclaim our vantage point—rebuilding from the roots up, grounded in natural context, heritage, and innovation?
Green jobs—rooted in sustainability, community, and climate solutions—offer more than just income for millions of young Africans. They restore dignity, protect ecosystems, and create resilient economies for generations.
Africa is listening. Her youth is rising. The land remembers.
Will you invest in youth-led green enterprises? Will you support local farming systems steeped in indigenous wisdom?
Because the cycle must be broken. And the future—reimagined.
