Landscape Review: Mobiles for Youth Workforce Development

The landscape review identified 80 initiatives, organizations, projects, products, and services, and approximately 275 publicly available documents describing efforts that use mobiles to support mobiles for youth workforce development (mYWD). The review also involved key informant interviews with 30 experts and practitioners in various fields from ICT to workforce development.  While it covers the range of employment and skills development opportunities for youth, agriculture is a key sector covered by this extensive report. One key finding of the review is that while there is a great deal of research on how ICTs foster agricultural development, not much of this research focuses specifically on youth.  Among the other findings is that mobiles for youth in agriculture include helping youth access financial services, creating buying and selling platforms, and providing helplines for farmers. Mobile supports radio programming in the rural agriculture industry by making it more accurate, timely, and accessible to listeners. Mentoring is a critical element in successful entrepreneurship and business development efforts, especially for girls and young women, who are seriously underrepresented in technology fields.