Young people are regarded as the drivers of a better future for societies. And rural youth represent the future of agriculture and sustainable farming systems now increasingly being acknowledged as key to solving some of the leading world challenges like food insecurity, livelihood dislocation, environmental destruction and widespread poverty. But the youth are losing hope in rural livelihood and agriculture is losing this vast and productive resource. In 2019, one in six persons in the world belongs to the youth, aged 15-24, totaling over 1.2 billion or around 16% of the global population. In the same year, the largest number of youth totaling 361 million came from Central and Southern Asia, followed by Eastern and Southeast Asia with 307 million youth (UN DESA). In 2015 India has the largest population of youth than in any country in the world numbering 242 million. The Philippines and Bangladesh had young people comprising around 20% of their country's population. (UN WPP, 2015)

While a vast majority of the world's youth are found in Asia (UNFPA 2014 ), the number is expected to decline from 718 to 711 million by 2030. Still, the region is expected to be home to the highest number of youth in the world (OECD). Except for China, the majority of young people in Asia still live in the rural areas.