Engaging Youth in our Research and Evaluation

The Foundation’s Youth Think Tank is a research group made up of young people from the Foundation’s programs. They conduct research in their communities, make recommendations based on their findings and advise the Foundation. 2015-2016 Youth Think Tank member, Hilda Namakula recently joined the Foundation on a four day site visit for a prospective project focused on engaging young people in the dairy value chain.

As Hilda explains:

The project visit answered my question— why dairy? Dairy farming has a variety of job opportunities for youth, including farming, transporting dairy products, marketing and distributing to retail agents. Jobs can also be found among the various value addition activities, such as producing yogurt, butter, cheese and pasteurized milk, as well as the provision of veterinary services.  When combined with integrated farming opportunities in other value chains, the list is endless.  Dairy farming is full of opportunities for young people. It also has the potential to help African countries contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals including Goal 1 on poverty eradication, Goal 2 on ending hunger and improved nutrition and Goal 8 on securing a decent job.

Having young people participate in stakeholder meetings with local and national government, employers, financial institutions and policy makers ensures we’re building their ideas directly into our program design.

The highlight for those of us on the site visit, was having Hilda lead a facilitated discussion with a local youthgroup. In this discussion she was able to directly engage with other young people and ensure their ideas and contributions are reflected in the development of the proposal and the refinement of the program model. This approach resulted in an open and energetic discussion about dairy farming, co-operatives and local perceptions of youth.

As we continue to develop our Youth Livelihoods strategy, we’re committed to identifying other opportunities to engage young people directly in the programs that affect them and have youth as active participants throughout our programming.

Our Youth Think Tank is an integral part of this commitment to elevating the voices of youth in our research and decision-making. Stay tuned to learn more about our 2015-2016 Youth Think Tank members and their  report set to be released in June 2016.