African Youth are Truly Rising: Can Africa Feed itself

Q3 Social Sciences
Ruth Khasaya Oniang'o
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

AFRICA RISING: This is a term coined in 2011 to describe the rapid economic growth across Sub-Saharan Africa since 2000 and the anticipated continuation. The Financial Times defines Africa Rising as a "narrative that improved governance means the continent is almost predestined to enjoy a long period of mid-to-high single-digit economic growth, rising incomes and an emerging middle class" [1]. The term was first coined by The Economist in December 2011 [2, 3]. Was that term Africa Rising timely then? Going by what is going on in my mother country of Kenya, I believe this is now truly Africa Rising. Why is that so? This is a new era in the world, a unique era, a turning point, the era of the internet, the era of AI, the era of fast growth, and meta data, an era of going to the bottom of the ocean, to the skies and the orbit, it is an era of information overload, it is an era of Innovation and Kenya and Africa will not be left behind. But things can only work when there is good governance and political good will. Africa has a huge youth population and the youngest population in the world; there is no doubt we are sitting on a powder keg if we cannot think of how best to manage this population. This is currently being demonstrated in Kenya. The genesis is in when primary education was made free at the start of year 2003. The adult literacy rate in Kenya is over 83 percent, and the graduate output is about 50, 000 per year, yet very few job opportunities. As a country, Kenya has invested very well in education, but the question is: where do the so many well educated Kenyans go for jobs? We come from a terrible past of colonialism (1920-1960) and a hard won independence. The Mau Mau struggle (1952-1960) during which many Kenyans were massacred, mutilated, executed and separated from their families. To date, as a nation we have never recovered from the atrocities of the colonial era. We are told the Kenyan coffers were empty when power changed hands. The initial freedom fighters might have had a good vision, and hopes for their people to have better prospects in life. The political elites and opportunists took over and just continued with "things as usual", without addressing what the struggle was all about. Sixty years later, after independence in 1963, the young generation are at a loss as to what freedom we actually got, just for a few? They cite a myriad of problems starting with bad governance which leads to: joblessness, theft of public resources, inept public services, promotion of mediocracy and refusal to recognize and promote talent and innovation, high cost of living, over taxation without much to show for it, and so on. As I have grown older, I appeal to the young people of Africa to work on ridding the continent of the indignity of hunger, malnutrition, poverty and disease. This for me is the start of Africa rising, a new phase that will run for a couple of decades or so, as we try to change African citizens’ mindsets. Good luck to all of us. Surely it has to start with being able to feed ourselves. As of now, no one knows where it is headed but the latest poll by reputable firms shows that the protests by our youth has over 80 percent support nationally.
非洲青年正在真正崛起:非洲能否养活自己
非洲崛起:这是 2011 年创造的一个术语,用来描述撒哈拉以南非洲自 2000 年以来的快速经济增长以及预期的持续增长。英国《金融时报》将 "非洲崛起 "定义为 "一种观点认为,治理的改善意味着非洲大陆几乎注定会长期保持中高个位数的经济增长,收入不断增加,中产阶级不断涌现"[1]。该词由《经济学人》于 2011 年 12 月首次提出[2, 3]。当时,"非洲崛起 "一词是否恰逢其时?从我的祖国肯尼亚的情况来看,我认为现在才是真正的 "非洲崛起"。为什么这么说呢?这是世界的一个新时代,一个独特的时代,一个转折点,一个互联网的时代,一个人工智能的时代,一个快速增长的时代,一个元数据的时代,一个走向海底、天空和轨道的时代,这是一个信息过载的时代,这是一个创新的时代,肯尼亚和非洲不会落后。但是,只有具备善治和政治意愿,一切才能奏效。非洲青年人口众多,是世界上最年轻的人口;毫无疑问,如果我们不能想到如何最好地管理这些人口,我们就会坐在火药桶上。肯尼亚目前正在证明这一点。2003 年初,肯尼亚开始实行免费初等教育。肯尼亚的成人识字率超过 83%,每年的毕业生人数约为 50,000 人,但就业机会却很少。作为一个国家,肯尼亚在教育方面的投入非常大,但问题是:这么多受过良好教育的肯尼亚人去哪里找工作?我们曾经历过殖民主义(1920-1960 年)和来之不易的独立。毛乌斗争(1952-1960 年)期间,许多肯尼亚人遭到屠杀、肢解、处决并与家人失散。迄今为止,作为一个国家,我们从未从殖民时代的暴行中恢复过来。有人告诉我们,肯尼亚的国库在权力易手时是空的。最初的自由战士可能怀有美好的愿景,希望他们的人民有更好的生活前景。政治精英和机会主义者接手后,只是继续 "一切照旧",并没有解决斗争的根本问题。60 年后,即 1963 年独立后,年轻一代对我们究竟得到了什么自由感到茫然,仅仅是为了几个人?他们列举了无数的问题,首先是治理不善导致失业、公共资源被盗、公共服务无能、助长庸才、拒绝承认和促进人才与创新、生活成本高昂、税收过高却没有多少回报,等等。随着年龄的增长,我呼吁非洲的年轻人努力使非洲大陆摆脱饥饿、营养不良、贫困和疾病的屈辱。对我来说,这是非洲崛起的开始,在我们努力改变非洲公民观念的过程中,这将是一个持续几十年左右的新阶段。祝我们大家好运。当然,这必须从能够养活自己开始。到目前为止,还没有人知道非洲崛起的方向在哪里,但由知名公司进行的最新民意调查显示,我们年轻人的抗议活动在全国范围内得到了 80% 以上的支持。
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来源期刊
African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development
African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development Agricultural and Biological Sciences-Agricultural and Biological Sciences (miscellaneous)
CiteScore
0.90
自引率
0.00%
发文量
124
审稿时长
24 weeks
期刊介绍: The African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND) is a highly cited and prestigious quarterly peer reviewed journal with a global reputation, published in Kenya by the Africa Scholarly Science Communications Trust (ASSCAT). Our internationally recognized publishing programme covers a wide range of scientific and development disciplines, including agriculture, food, nutrition, environmental management and sustainable development related information.
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