Public policies and the future of agriculture in Cameroon: A case study of the “Tree Year Special Youth Plan”

Abstract

While national statistics report a seemingly low youth unemployment rate, a closer look reveals a dominance of underemployment, particularly within the informal sector, and there exists a critical gap regarding the effectiveness of government intervention design to address this challenge. The objective of this paper is to study the effect of the Tree Year Special Youth Plan (TYSYP) on enterprise viability and the improvement of youth employability in the rural sector of Cameroon. This highlights the urgency of addressing this issue in Africa, particularly considering the high rates of youth underemployment in rural areas. Analysing the effectiveness of Cameroon's TYSYP programme, this study offers valuable insights to inform policy decisions and contribute to achieving the SDGs for decent work, sustainable food production, and gender equality. In this study, we adopt a positivist stance using a hypothetico-deductive approach. The data used come from the database of the National Youth Observatory (NYO) and the Department of Youth Economic Empowerment (DYEE), which consists of 1108 young people financed and set up by the TYSYP. Preestimation tests (correlation tests) combined with ordinary least squares regression led to two major results. The TYSYP has a positive and significant effect on the viability and employability of rural youth businesses. The sensitivity analysis shows that government policy, represented here by the amount of the project, has a positive and significant influence on the viability of the projects. However, although this policy has a positive and significant impact on employment for men, it is not significant for women. This study contributes to policy discussions on youth empowerment, rural development, and agricultural investment in Cameroon by highlighting the importance of intensifying the program to provide more comprehensive support for young rural entrepreneurs, particularly by focusing on financing larger-scale processing projects. Additionally, targeted initiatives are needed to address gender barriers and encourage young women's participation in these activities. This combined approach has the potential to increase long-term investment in the agricultural sector and develop rural areas through infrastructure.