Webinar
Virtual
Featured
Youth Engagement in Cross-Border Trade and Agrifood Systems Webinar
Friday, June 26, 2026
2:00 PM
EAT
Nairobi (Zoom Webinar)
Past Event
About This Event
Agrifood systems remain a critical pillar of economic growth, employment creation, food security, and livelihoods across East and Southern Africa. The sector provides employment opportunities for millions of young people who participate as producers, processors, traders, service providers, innovators, and entrepreneurs along agricultural value chains.
The establishment of regional economic communities such as the East African Community (EAC), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has created significant opportunities for intra-African trade through market integration and trade liberalization. In addition, regional trade instruments such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and Simplified Trade Regimes (STRs) provide opportunities for small-scale traders and youth-led enterprises to access regional markets more efficiently.
Despite these opportunities, youth participation in cross-border agrifood trade remains constrained by several challenges, including limited access to trade information, non-tariff barriers (NTBs), complex customs procedures, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) requirements, inadequate financing, weak market linkages, and insufficient knowledge of available trade facilitation mechanisms. These constraints disproportionately affect young entrepreneurs, women, and informal traders seeking to engage in regional markets.
At the same time, digital innovations, expanding regional value chains, e-commerce platforms, and ongoing trade facilitation reforms present new opportunities for young agrifood entrepreneurs to access markets beyond their national borders. Strengthening youth participation in regional trade is therefore essential for promoting inclusive economic growth, creating employment opportunities, enhancing food security, and accelerating agrifood systems transformation.
Against this backdrop, AGRA, SADC, EAC, and SAYoF propose to convene a regional webinar
The establishment of regional economic communities such as the East African Community (EAC), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has created significant opportunities for intra-African trade through market integration and trade liberalization. In addition, regional trade instruments such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and Simplified Trade Regimes (STRs) provide opportunities for small-scale traders and youth-led enterprises to access regional markets more efficiently.
Despite these opportunities, youth participation in cross-border agrifood trade remains constrained by several challenges, including limited access to trade information, non-tariff barriers (NTBs), complex customs procedures, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) requirements, inadequate financing, weak market linkages, and insufficient knowledge of available trade facilitation mechanisms. These constraints disproportionately affect young entrepreneurs, women, and informal traders seeking to engage in regional markets.
At the same time, digital innovations, expanding regional value chains, e-commerce platforms, and ongoing trade facilitation reforms present new opportunities for young agrifood entrepreneurs to access markets beyond their national borders. Strengthening youth participation in regional trade is therefore essential for promoting inclusive economic growth, creating employment opportunities, enhancing food security, and accelerating agrifood systems transformation.
Against this backdrop, AGRA, SADC, EAC, and SAYoF propose to convene a regional webinar
