[Addis Ababa, Ethiopia- 6 May 2021] Soil and More Ethiopia and the Eastern Africa Grain Council (EAGC) announced the launching of youth employment project supported by USAID CATALYZE: Market System for Growth (MS4G) program. The program aims to provide skills
training and employment opportunities for 2000 youth in the urban landscaping and greenery sector in Addis Ababa.
The City of Addis Ababa is grappling with a surge in rural-to-urban migration, particularly by young people seeking employment opportunities. Ethiopia’s youth unemployment stands at 27 percent (USAID, 2017), with Addis Ababa’s unemployment rate standing at 19.3 percent.
Soil & More in partnership with EAGC, MS4G and the City of Addis Ababa Government (“City”) is working to address urban youth unemployment by training and placing 2,000 youth in urban landscaping jobs. The trained youth will be deployed as part of the Agency’s plan to create 12,000 jobs in the urban landscaping and greenery sector to develop and maintain public spaces and parks across the city.
At the launching event that took place at Kolfe Keranyo Sub City, Addis Ababa, the representative of the Addis Ababa City Government River Basins Green Area Development and Administration Agency, [Mr. Lealem Tesera], noted that “there is a need to raise the maintenance standard of urban parks and public spaces as part of the country’s agenda to beautify its urban areas while providing jobs for the youths.”
In describing the program, Mr. Hussen Ahmed, Managing Partner of Soil & More Ethiopia, emphasised that the project’s demand-driven approach is designed to ensure sustainable impact by training youths on technical, administrative, and regulatory compliance matter while also equipping them with skills to market their services to other potential clients within and outside Addis Ababa. He further highlighted the potential of this initiative for upscaling to other urban
centres across the country that are grappling with similar challenges in youth unemployment.
Mr. Yohannes Assefa, USAID CATALYZE: MS4G in Ethiopia Country Director said, “the MS4G program is keen on strengthening the capacity of market led workforce skill building through publicprivate partnerships to bridge the mismatch between the demand for jobs and the supply of skilled labour in the urban landscaping sector. MS4G promotes competency-based training that focuses on equipping trainees to produce the desired outcomes and meet real-world performance expectations.”
Speaking on behalf of EAGC, Mr. Kimwaga Mhando, Trade Policy, Research & Advocacy Manager, encouraged the youth to seize this opportunity presented by the training and job placement program and said, “I call for greater collaboration between industry bodies, tertiary education institutions,vocational education programs and the government to address the mismatch between skills demanded by employers and those possessed by young people.”
Dr. Eshetu Lemma, Manager of the Addis Ababa city administration Solid Waste Management Agency welcomed the efforts by Soil & More Ethiopia and its partners to upskill youths that can provide high quality services to the Agency, and further called for the program to also consider supporting the Agency to enhance its internal capacity to manage urban spaces and city parks as per its mandate.
