According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), one out of five people in Africa suffers from hunger and starvation. Also, youth unemployment is a major issue which has caused millions to risk their lives relocating in search of better opportunities in Europe.
Worse still, Africa has 65 per cent of the world’s uncultivated arable land, according to the African Development Bank, and greater investment in agriculture could turn it from a food importer into an exporter, and by so doing, create jobs for young people.
This is the vision that Rwandan entertainer, Sherrie Silver hopes would come to life.
Choreographer, Sherrie Silver was born in 1994 when Rwanda was convulsed by a genocide that killed 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus and moved to Britain with her mother when she was five.
Till date, her most high-profile project to date is “This is America”, a searing indictment of police brutality which has garnered almost 550 million views on YouTube.
After tackling U.S. racism in Childish Gambino’s Grammy award-winning “This is America”, choreographer Sherrie Silver’s latest project features her dancing to Afrobeat on a farm with dozens of young Cameroonians, in a bid to end poverty and hunger.
At February’s Grammy awards, the video won both record and song of the year, making history for becoming the first hip hop track to win either of the top categories in 61 years.
She is currently teaching choreography to a group of young people for another video with the soundtrack of Mr. Eazi’s song, “More Farming, More Freedom”.
She is asking young people to record and share a 15-second dance video with the hashtag #DanceForChange in support of the U.N. International Fund for Agricultural Development-led campaign, which was launched on Wednesday.
Today, Silver now hopes to boost funding for agriculture and youth development in Africa by making her “Freedom” dance move go viral online.