About Us

About YEFFA

AGRA and The Mastercard Foundation have partnered on a USD350m five-year, Pan-African strategic partnership aimed at catalyzing dignified and fulfilling work for young people, especially young women, through the growth of inclusive Agrifood system, improved youth participation in governance and decision-making processes, and improved coordination and policy for youth engagement. 

YEFFA Program is designed to harness the power, creativity, and innovation of young people as a force across the continent to advance inclusive agriculture and food systems transformation. Through catalytic investments, YEFFA seeks to unlock systemic barriers and building resilience and capabilities to catalyse the inclusive growth of sustainable food systems while empowering young people and strengthening the ecosystems that supports youth 5- year partnership between AGRA and Mastercard Foundation – strategic partnership aimed at  catalyzing dignified and fulfilling work for young people, especially young women, through the growth of inclusive Agrifood system.

Program Delivery: The Youth Entrepreneurship for the Future of Agriculture (YEFFA) program is implemented through two main pillars: a continental pillar and seven country programs. 

 The continental pillar recognizes that collective action and market size matter when it comes to addressing the integrated challenges Africa faces of creating work opportunities for its youthful population, meeting its food security needs, and responding to the climate emergency.

 The country pillar facilitates youth entrepreneurship and employment within national value chains and food systems.

 

Our Vision

To catalyze dignified and fulfilling work for young people, especially young women, through investments that unlock system barriers, build resilience, and enhance capabilities to promote the inclusive growth of sustainable food systems while empowering young people.

Our Target

YEFFA targets 10 million unemployed and underemployed youth through its program activities, with 1.5 million young people (50% of them young women and 2% internally displaced persons (IDPs) or refugees) transitioned into dignified and fulfilling work opportunities.

At AGRA, we recognize that transforming Africa's food systems requires intentional investment in youth - not as a future consideration, but as a current driver of innovation, enterprise, and inclusive growth. Our commitment is to create enabling ecosystems, targeted financing, and capacity-building platforms that allow young people to lead solutions across the agri-food systems value-chain. Youth are not just integrated into agriculture - they are central to its transformation and AGRA has prioritized the need to galvanize critical partners to ensure Africa's youth thrive in food systems.
Alice Ruhweza
President of AGRA

Countries we operate in

YEFFA is transforming agriculture in 9 core countries:
Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia.

Additional countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, and Uganda, can opt into the program, ensuring a Pan-African impact.