Jirapa, (UW/R)-Ghana, Aug. 16, GNA – ActionAid Ghana, an international Non-governmental Organization (NGO), has urged young people to take advantage of green businesses to earn a living rather than depending on the government for the scarce white-collar jobs.
It said venturing into green businesses in areas like tree crop farming, horticulture, aquaculture and sanitation management among others, could prove viable to their economic emancipation, contribute to reducing negative climate change effects and eliminate unemployment in the country.
“As young people, we need to challenge ourselves and work to create jobs to employ ourselves and others in the green economy.
There are many opportunities around us in waste management, water conservation, renewable energy, environmental protection and other forms of green skills that the youth can take advantage of to earn a living and reduce vulnerabilities,” Madam Abiba Nibaradun, the Acting Programme Manager at the Wa office of ActionAid Ghana, said.
She was speaking at a youth forum in Jirapa to mark this year’s International Youth Day (IYD) on the theme: “Green Skills for Youth: Towards a Sustainable World.”
The forum was organised by ActionAid Ghana to create a platform for young people, particularly the youth network of the NGO called “Activista” to discuss the available opportunities in the green skill sector and build their capacity to take up those opportunities.
Members of the “Activista” groups from across the region and representatives from the Jirapa Municipal Department of Agriculture and National Youth Authority (NYA) attended the forum.
Madam Nibaradun said the youth were faced with many challenges including unemployment, poverty, increased exposure to risky lifestyles, violence and conflicts, but added that self-employment in green skills could build their resilience against those myriads of challenges.
She explained that venturing into the green skills sector for tree planting could also help reduce the negative impact of climate change on the country.
“Don’t allow yourself to be used by the politicians to cause violence for their personal gains. You can make a change and the opportunities are there for you to explore,” she admonished.
Mr Issahaq Abass Caesar, the Acting Jirapa Municipal Director of the NYA, encouraged the youth to take up volunteerism as a means of building their talents and gaining experience in the competitive job market.
He said some people were exploiting the resources in the environment without recourse to the consequences of those actions and cited illegal mining as one act that had devastated the environment over the years.
He encouraged the youth to take practical steps to preserve the environment saying, “It will be a slur on the present generation if the environment is not preserved for the future generation.”
Mr Abu Baayirinaa, the Jirapa Municipal Crop Officer at the Department of Agriculture, entreated the participants to take advantage of the government’s interventions in the agricultural sector including the Rearing for Food and Jobs and Planting for Export and Rural Development.
He also advised those with interest in farming to form farmer groups to access the available support in the sector including funding opportunities as no individual could access such support.
Some participants raised concerns about the politicisation of government interventions to the disadvantage of the youth even when they qualified to benefit from such interventions.
The participants pledged their commitment to initiating green business and to share their success stories in the coming year.
