This report examines obstacles faced by households and firms in meeting the youth employment challenge. Its main focus is on productivity in agriculture, nonfarm household enterprises (HEs) and in the modern wage sector. Productivity is linked to higher earnings as well as to more stable, less vulnerable, livelihoods. Specific areas are identified where government intervention could reduce those obstacles to productivity for households and firms, leading to brighter employment prospects for youth, their parents, and their own children.