This report is the result of a study on rural youth, their needs and potential at both the national and local levels in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). The findings were obtained through interviews with rural youth representatives and supplemented with a literature search. The study findings show that current national development policies in Lao PDR do not focus enough on rural youth and their needs. There is attention to youth, but it is a general perspective that fails to reflect awareness of the significant differences between rural and urban youth and the growing disparities between the rural and urban areas across the country. As well, there is no explicit focus on rural youth in the national development policies regarding how they can contribute to agricultural and rural development.
The study also reveals that national development policies when discussing youth, largely concentrate on academic education and improved access to primary (in particular) and secondary education; they give little attention to improved access to education through non-formal education and vocational training, with which rural youth can develop and improve their knowledge and skills about handicrafts, agriculture and other trades. There is also a need for training that can improve rural youth's opportunity to engage in alternative income-generating activities. Although vocational training centres offer literacy courses and training, these appear not to fully satisfy the needs and aspirations of rural youth. As well, there are a limited number of vocational training centres in the country, and very few of them have agricultural subjects included in the curriculum. Opportunity to receive training is further hindered by long travel distances to schools, lack of financial means to pay for school fees and accommodation, and ethnic traditions and customs. Another finding of this study is that students attending training schools fear that they will not have any possibility to use the newly acquired skills in their local community - a concern supported by the reality.
Due to the lack of training opportunities and weak extension services in rural areas, most rural youth are engaged in traditional subsistence agriculture where the main activities are rice production and small-scale animal husbandry. However, youth do not regard traditional subsistence agriculture as employment and many desire a job in other non-agriculture-based livelihood activities with higher income possibilities.
Despite the importance of youth to the nation, information about them is inadequate, especially information on the situation of rural youth. Thus, in cooperation with the Lao People's Revolutionary Youth Union (LYU), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) decided to conduct this rural youth study as a baseline understanding for future development activities.
This report presents an overview of the situation on rural youth in terms of their economic development and the main issues challenging them and thus the development of rural communities.