Skills for Trade and Economic Diversification: Malawi's Oilseed and Horticulture Sectors
Skills for Trade and Economic Diversification: Malawi's Oilseed and Horticulture Sectors
The International Labour Organization is the tripartite U.N. agency that promotes Decent Work through employment, social security, labour standards and social dialogue. Its work on skills development is guided by the conceptual framework on Skills to improve productivity, employment growth, and development agreed in 2008 by representatives of Governments, Employers’ Associations and Workers’ Associations. Research, policy advice, and pilot projects and technical cooperation programmes to apply good practices in different circumstances across its 185 member States aims to boost the employability of workers, the productivity and competitiveness of enterprises, and the inclusiveness of economic growth. The ILO Secretariat in offices in 40 countries works with Ministries of Labour, employers’ organizations, and trade unions to integrate skills development into national and sector development strategies in order to better meet current labour market needs and to prepare for the jobs of the future; to expand access to employment-related training so that youth, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups are better able to acquire skills and secure productive and decent work; and to improve the ability of public employment services to provide career guidance, maintain labour exchange services, and deliver active labour market programmes.For more information regarding the ILO’s work on skills and employability go to: http://www.ilo.org/skills/lang--en/index.htm; for ILO/Cinterfor's Knowledge Management Plarform, see: http://www.oitcinterfor.org
Matching skills to labour market demand requires reliable sectoral and occupational information and institutions that connect employers with training providers. Sector based strategies and institutions have proved effective in engaging all stakeholders in promoting both pre-employment training and life-long learning.
Working papers, reports, and other publications from international organizations, academic institutions and bilateral agencies. Research findings to stimulate informed debate on skills, employment and productivity issues.
The Skills for Trade and Economic Diversification (STED) methodology takes a forward-looking perspective, asking not just what skills are in demand today, but what skills will be in demand in the future, in order to match skills demand with skills supply in the labour market. STED also builds upon the ILO’s unique tripartite structure and its ability to bring together governments, workers, and employers to work together for more and better jobs.
In the Malawian context, the STED methodology was applied as a response to the recommendations of the Malawi National Export Strategy (GoM, 2012) which identified three export sectors in which country has a comparative advantage: (i) the oilseeds and oilseed products sector, covering the sunflower, soybean, groundnut and cotton subsectors, (ii) the sugarcane and sugarcane products sector, and (iii) the manufacturing sector, including the agro-processing subsector (dairy, horticulture, wheat, maize pulses), the beverages subsector, the plastics and packaging subsector and the assembly subsector. While the STED methodology could be applied to all these sectors and/or clusters, this report focuses on the oilseed and horticulture sectors prioritized by stakeholders. The purpose of the STED analysis is to help identify and anticipate the skills needed to improve productivity, trade performance and employability in the two sectors, as well as to provide a demonstration that will inspire similar analytic work in other sectors.
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