The Mastercard Foundation And Technoserve Announce Groundbreaking New Phase of African Youth Entrepreneurship Program
The STRYDE 2.0 program will address youth unemployment and food insecurity, while building local capacity in East Africa
Washington, D.C. – The MasterCard Foundation and TechnoServe are announcing today a five-year, $25.9 million partnership to generate increased income and economic opportunities for 48,000 young people in rural East Africa.
Building on the success of their Strengthening Rural Youth Development through Enterprise (STRYDE) program, the expanded STRYDE 2.0 initiative will provide young people in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda with the skills to start small businesses, secure formal jobs or explore opportunities in agriculture. The new program is noteworthy not only for its scope, but for its partnerships with local institutions to ensure sustainability.
The STRYDE programs address the significant problem of unemployed or unengaged youth in Africa, where more than a quarter of young people ages 15-24 are neither working nor studying. At the same time, since the average age of the African farmer is around 60, there is urgent need to involve young people in agriculture in order to ensure food security.
The first STRYDE program began in August 2011 and this month exceeded its target milestone of 15,000 youth trained. After participating in this first program, young people increased their incomes by an average of 233 percent, with 70 percent now saving regularly – a sevenfold increase from before the training.
To help young women and men take advantage of these economic opportunities, STRYDE 2.0 will provide training and mentoring in business development, agribusiness practices and personal effectiveness and finance. It will also reach more than three times as many youth participants as were trained in the first phase, and will expand into Tanzania and new districts in northern Uganda. Using a “systems” approach unique in the field of youth economic engagement, TechnoServe will train local public and private sector partners to deliver the STRYDE program for 40 percent of the participants, preparing these partners to continue the system once STRYDE 2.0 has been completed.
“Agriculture represents tremendous potential to employ a large number of young people. TechnoServe’s innovative approach has successfully engaged youth in the agriculture sector through relevant skills training and direct links to local markets,” said Ann Miles, Director of Programs, Economic Opportunities for Youth & Financial Inclusion at The MasterCard Foundation. “We are excited to expand this successful program with TechnoServe to achieve even greater impact to transform the lives of rural youth.”
“We are proud to be working with The MasterCard Foundation to address the critical issue of youth economic engagement, particularly in agriculture,” said William Warshauer, President and CEO of TechnoServe. “With a strong track record of success, STRYDE 2.0 will help nurture the next generation of African business leaders, while strengthening local institutions to continue this important work.”
About The MasterCard Foundation
The MasterCard Foundation is an independent, global organization based in Toronto, Canada with over US $9 billion in assets. Through collaboration with partner organizations in 57 countries, it is creating opportunities for all people to learn and prosper. The Foundation’s programs promote financial inclusion and advance youth learning, mostly in Africa. Established in 2006 through the generosity of MasterCard Worldwide when it became a public company, the Foundation is a separate and independent entity. The policies, operations and funding decisions of the Foundation are determined by its own Board of Directors and President and CEO.
About TechnoServe
TechnoServe is a nonprofit organization that develops business solutions to poverty. We work with enterprising men and women in 30 developing countries to build competitive farms, businesses and industries. By linking people to information, capital and markets, we help them create lasting prosperity for their families and communities. With more than 12 million people positively impacted by TechnoServe’s work since 1968, we believe in the power of private enterprise to transform lives.
For nine straight years, TechnoServe has earned a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator, placing us in the top 1 percent of all its rated nonprofits.
For more information, please contact:
Rebecca Regan-Sachs, Director of Communications, TechnoServe
Tel: +1 202 650 5713; email: media@technoserve.org
