What on earth does a peanut-butter sandwich have to do with youth unemployment? A lot, it turns out. Years ago, Nicola Galombik of Yellowwoods Ventures told me that in the test phase for a youth employment hub the firm had helped to design and sponsor, it found young interviewees were performing badly in applications for work. Their concentration levels were low because they were hungry. Harambee, the youth employment accelerator organisation, started giving the job applicants peanut-butter sandwiches and juice, and their performance improved measurably.
A visit to Harambee last year still counts as one of the best assignments I've ever been on. CEO Maryana Iskander invited a few of us to lunch with some of the graduates of the programme. The assembled young adults were about to start their first jobs after graduating from a set of courses meant to make them work-ready. Iskander asked the group to explain what having a job meant. For most of the graduates, their jobs meant freedom, not only for them but for their families, too. Half of the 10 graduates said they would be the only breadwinners in their families. Harambee's office, in a converted building in Johannesburg's mining district, was buzzing...