Investing in young lives, shaping resilient futures.
The Foundation Alliance for Africa (SAfA) unites the Dirk Roßmann Foundation, the Hanns R. Neumann Foundation (HRNS), the Kühne Foundation and the Max und Ingeburg Herz Foundation (MIHS) behind a common vision: to pursue the welfare of youth in an impact-oriented manner. HWG represents MIHS in this consortium and directly supports the implementation of youth agricultural innovation groups, implemented by HRNS. The project is co-financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
KEY IMPACT METRIC
30% increase
of income for 70% of youth participants
KEY FACTS
WHERE
Ethiopia (Oromia Region, Buno Bedele Zone & Amhara Region, West Gojjam Zone)
WHO
HRNS (Implementation) & IFPRI (Evaluation)
WHEN
May 2021 – July 2025
GOAL
Increase income and welfare of youth
REACH
10.000 young farmers
EVALUATION
Difference in Difference
KEY IMPACT METRIC
70% increase
of income for 70% of youth
Approach
The SAfA project aims to improve livelihood prospects as well as SRHR (sexual and reproductive health and rights) of young people aged 15 to 29 years in Ethiopia through an integrated approach of three types of interventions:
(i) group-based youth training in agronomy, animal husbandry as well as business and entrepreneurial skills;
(ii) training in SRHR and provision of youth friendly SRHR services and
(iii) trainings in logistics, transportation, entrepreneurship, and supply chain management.
Our funding focuses on (i) group-based youth trainings implemented by HRNS. The approach entails the establishment of Youth Agricultural Innovation Groups (YAIGs) which are supported through capacity building and access to economic services.
This project component:
- Trains in agriculture, livestock, entrepreneurship, and life skills,
- Facilitates access to land,
- Promotes savings and improved access to credit,
- Facilitates cooperative membership and networking.
EVALUATION & LEARNING
The project is externally evaluated by the research institute IFPRI in collaboration with the University of North Carolina (UNC) and Ethiopia’s Policy Studies Institute (PSI) via a quasi-experimental study design (Difference in Difference) accompanied by qualitative methods.
Within 5 treatment arms, the evaluation addresses the following main objectives:
- What is the (causal) impact of the project on key outcomes of interest that the project aims to improve at the participating youth and community level?
- What combination of interventions has the greatest impact and what are the synergies to implementing all three interventions together?
- How were these impacts achieved, i.e., what are the impact pathways?
- What is heterogeneity of these impacts along gender and spatial dimensions?
IMPACT
We expect the following impact:
- 30% income increase reported by 70% of youth participants
- Stronger entrepreneurial and financial capabilities
- Better economic integration of young rural population