With a rapidly growing population – more than half of this growth by 2050 expected to be in Africa – job creation is a top priority. Yet, there is no quick fix or simple recipe for providing increasing employment opportunities, in particular to an expanding youth work force, and even more so in fragile and conflict-prone contexts. This issue of GREAT Insights brings together a range of perspectives on the pressing question of how better to promote youth employment in fragile and conflict-affected countries. Two articles in particular tackle the issue of youth employment in agriculture and agrifood systems.