Kola Masha: How farming could employ Africa's young workforce -- and help build peace
كولا ماشا: كيف تستطيع الزراعة توظيف القوى العاملة الشابة بأفريقيا والمساعدة على بناء السلام
Kola Masha is the founder of Babban Gona, the first for-profit social enterprise in history to be awarded the prestigious Skoll Award, due to its financial sustainability and highly scalable impact. The organization is part-owned by the farmers they serve. Full bio
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at the University of Sussex
in armed conflict.
of getting a coveted job
died that day, applying for a job,
لقوا حتفهم ذلك اليوم بحثًا عن عمل.
for a few thousand open positions.
شواغر وظيفية قليلة.
have entered the Nigerian workforce alone.
دخلوا ضمن القوى العاملة النيجرية
is under the age of 18.
in the next 20 years.
في العشرين سنة القادمة.
entering the workforce
يدخلون مجال القوى العاملة
in northern Nigeria,
شمالي نيجيريا
most recently hit
brutal bombings and searing poverty,
وتفشي الفقر
to halt the spread of this insecurity,
لإيقاف انتشار عدم الأمن
as a job-creation engine?
لفرص العمل؟
in countries like Thailand,
في دول كتايلاند
the same economic challenges as us.
الاقتصادية التي نواجهها.
two million cars a year --
مليوني سيارة سنويًا..
profitable small farmers,
of less than one percent.
the productivity of its small farmers,
صغار مزارعيها بشكل هائل
to start to dominate
they attracted investment
like starch from cassava.
مثل النشا من كسافا
with investment in education,
to even higher-value manufacturing.
وصولاً إلى التصنيع عالي القيمة.
and follow a path similar to Thailand,
واتباع طريق مشابه لتايلاند،
young farmers on farming.
أن نقنع المزارعين الشباب بالزراعة.
discussion, we'll call "Saminu,"
سنطلق عليه اسم "سامينو"
that this would not be easy.
in northern Nigeria.
of playing for hours with his friends,
لساعات مع أصدقائه
the beautiful rock formations
he would leave.
work so hard as farmers,
وهما يكدحان كمزارعين
to pair with their hard work
بما يتوافق مع عملهم الشاق
most of it at fire-sale prices,
they could get 50 percent more.
الحصول على أكثر من ذلك بخمسين بالمئة
that life was not easy.
more patches than tires,
أكثر من كونها إطارات
would be ripped away from him,
والعزيزة عليه،
who were not so lucky --
once they'd lost their motorcycles,
out to wreak vengeance
had turned its back on them.
they joined insurgent groups,
in bombings and kidnappings.
التفجير والخطف
on their small farms,
في مزارعهم الصغيرة
to make a life for themselves;
has grassroot-level leadership,
على المستوى الشعبي
and investment to scale
على نطاقٍ واسع
"great farm" in Hausa.
أي "المزرعة الكبيرة" في هوسا
of our partners,
and triple their net income
وكسب ثلاثة أضعاف دخلهم الصافي
to start a goat-rearing business,
لتبدأ تجارة تربية الماعز،
ولكن اثنتان
"بابان غونا"
are entering the African workforce,
لمجال القوى العاملة الأفريقية،
having opportunities in agriculture.
through models similar to ours,
لما فعلنا،
a year in financing.
في التمويل.
it is a small number --
التجارية، سيصبح الرقم صغيرًا..
in the world today,
في العالم اليوم،
agricultural development programs.
التقليدية.
that our model works,
in small farmers in Africa.
في صغار المزارعين في أفريقيا.
of young men across Africa,
المندفعين والطموحين
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Kola Masha - Agricultural leaderKola Masha is the founder of Babban Gona, the first for-profit social enterprise in history to be awarded the prestigious Skoll Award, due to its financial sustainability and highly scalable impact. The organization is part-owned by the farmers they serve.
Why you should listen
At Babban Gona, Kola Masha oversees Nigeria's largest corn producing enterprise through a program that franchises thousands of mini corn farmer cooperatives across northern Nigeria, increasing the profitability of the smallholder farmers by three times above the national average. This dramatic increase in net income is accomplished by delivering an integrated holistic package of training, farm inputs and marketing services, on credit. Babban Gona has been able to deliver this credit while maintaining one of the highest repayment rates in the world, currently above 99.9 percent. The project was created to attract youth to agriculture and away from the looming instability of extremist groups.
Prior to moving back home to Nigeria, Masha held multiple leadership roles in leading global organizations, including General Electric and Abiomed. Upon moving home to Nigeria, he gained extensive public and private sector experience as a Senior Advisor to the Nigerian Federal Minister of Agriculture and as CEO of a subsidiary of the Notore Group, one of the country's leading agricultural conglomerates.
Kola Masha | Speaker | TED.com