المنتدى العالمي المعني بالأمن الغذائي والتغذية

Youth – Feeding the Future. Challenges facing rural youth – preparing for the job market

Parallel debates in support of young people

The current debate is similar to one held two years back ‘West Africa – Finding Work for Young People[1]’ – crucial issues in most countries given population growth, limited commercial investment in agricultural production/industrialization and, importantly, the large numbers of young people leaving school and/or college and seeking employment each year. Wherever you are in the job market there will be competition – all sectors, ages and skills/knowledge capabilities.

Contribution from Charlotte Goemans

One of the more relevant contributions has come from your ILO correspondent in Tanzania Charlotte Goemans with her well-reasoned references to issues of age definition (and the reality of ‘youth’ that may span 15-24 years),  rural versus urban (migration and the modernization of agricultural production) and, equally important, the strategic planning required of governments to encourage young people to consider agriculture as a potential career and, then,  to provide them with the resources, facilities and opportunities with which to do so. It may not be sufficient to establish that pipeline if, crucially, the majority are unable to gain access to it and, when they do, then find few resources available after training/education to enable them to enter the industry with a reasonable chance of success.

Take the example of Egypt

You can find this paradox everywhere. Working out of an office in Cairo a short time back the easiest means crossing town was to take a taxi; this is where you meet those graduates – sure, people in their mid-20s or older and not your typical 15-17 year olds. Graduates are driving taxis. The young can be seen labouring, running messages, selling on the street and more – donkey carts clutter up the roads with huge quantities or recyclable materials with half-dozen young men managing the load. Each year the output from local universities is of the order 750,000 graduates seeking that personal space in the local economy.

Few young people venture into Upper Egypt to exploit the land and the economic and financial support provided for local agriculture. During the five years since the impact of the ‘Arab Spring’ an initial reduction in FDI has bounced back – but at the expense of another military government. With the impact of climate change on the horizon – and the delta of the Nile at serious risk of salination, inundation and loss of production, the development of agricultural lands in Upper Egypt becomes essential. With estimated 60% of Egyptians under the age of 29 years, mobilizing them into agricultural production/industries becomes a logical choice for self-survival into the next period. Migration – the #1 choice of the well-qualified – is no answer.

So far then, an interesting debate, but little that is not already well-known.

Peter Steele

Agricultural Engineer

Melbourne

Australia

Dear All,

Attached is a document for your information.

Additional personal opinion.

· How can policies and programmes overcome the challenges faced by rural youth in a cost-effective manner? If they target older youth, how could we apply them to support those under 18? Please share relevant examples and lessons from your experience.

·         What are the most binding capacity constraints that you or your institution/organization encounter when designing, implementing and evaluating policies and programmes aiming to address the issues affecting rural youth under the age of 18? What are the data gaps regarding the challenges affecting rural youth employment and livelihoods that you periodically encounter?

Challenge 1

Exclusion and information gap

Data and profiling of rural youths between 15-17 years in the 60,000 villages in localities is inadequate and or not accessible. Information on who  15-17 year age group are, who they will be in the near future, what they are doing, what they would wish to do, challenges/opportunities they face and solutions to them are either lacking, inaccessible or not exploited.

National/Regional/Global concerns/dynamics

Nations/Regions and the world are now global villages where shortfalls in one area are opportunities for another area and vice versa. Understanding such dynamics regularly can also inform policy so as to avoid giving blanket solutions that may trigger more challenges. There is thus need for regular information at different scales to inform the age group on change in opportunities over time and the need to persist even where times are bad. In Uganda a drop in prices of commodities discourages many from engaging on the same in the subsequent production seasons, yet those who persist are rewarded with fair prices.

Remedy

It would need studies and reports to inform on such questions over time. In Uganda, policy is more focused on how to address unemployment concerns of the 400,000 plus University graduates from public and private Universities. Such discussions on the FSN forum and associated publications may awaken leaders at all levels not to ignore the rural (15-17) age group.

Challenge 2

Service delivery concerns

Advances in ICT and the low cost to access associated services have changed rural areas. Radios, Televisions (DSTV & Star Times-in Africa) that broadcast live football in Uganda among other programs are deep rooted in rural communities. They have exposed the rural folk to the real world of sport and entertainment. Telephones have also exposed the youths to social media from where they learn a lot more except farming and other employment opportunities! The rural youths now want more, that one cannot access in the rural areas. They wish to enjoy a life more than what a rural area offers, even if it meant sleeping in a makeshift structure in an urban area and having a meal a day.

Remedy

Deliberate investments in other services including housing, electricity, health, recreation, and transport among others should be improved where appropriate in rural or peri urban areas where that age group is likely to be found, to motivate the youths to keep and work in rural areas. Facilities to inform the age group on good practice, employment among other opportunities may be established where they are with a message, “work in the village, stay where you desire”.  The pressure to keep their livestock and or crops from thieves will force them reside next to their wealth.

How can education and vocational training in rural areas be improved to support rural adolescents and youth to productively engage in agriculture or related activities? What are the skills and support they need? What does the school-to-work transition for rural youth aged 15-17 look like and what works to effectively support rural youth during this transition?

Climate change and associated impacts in all sectors is known. The curricula in all public and private institutions are not reviewed to include the remedies to climate change and associated impacts on Agriculture. Secondly, entry to vocational institutions has been limited to candidates that meet certain requirements/qualifications. A review of the curricular should be thought of as well as unconditional admission of candidates to selected vocational institutions in the proximity of a mass of 15-17 age groups. Projects may be encouraged to establish demonstrations that are climate smart to address  adaptation, mitigation and food security concerns. Most in that age group, drop out schools for a number of reasons. Such should not be ignored. Systems should be put in place to track drop outs wherever they are and reasons for it. Support to them wherever they are may then be tailored to their interests, circumstances and available opportunities.

·         What approaches are most effective in overcoming the additional challenges rural youth under the age of 18 face in accessing decent jobs, including (decent) green jobs (e.g. skills mismatch, health and safety conditions, discrimination, exclusion) or becoming entrepreneurs (e.g. barriers in access to finance, producers organizations and markets)?

Selected participatory approaches and associated tools including but not limited to seasonal calendars may be applied to understand the activities and challenges faced by the (15-17 year) age group in their farm/food systems. Secondly, though a study may be required to understand the impact of the approach whenever tried out, Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools offer an opportunity to understand the target group, understand their challenges in the community and inform them on remedies to a number of problems they face in the community. The study is centred on a crop or animal around which other livelihood and or life concerns including human health, nutrition are integrated and discussed. Its success is however hinged on the capacity of the facilitators to mobilize, train and follow up youths. Upon graduation in process, follow up actions on farming as a business, cooperatives and marketing of farm products may be addressed with other stakeholders. Its major concern has been the coverage in a locality where the number of vulnerable youths may be high compared to the number of the vulnerable youths (15-17 year) target.

In the event that pests and disease are a challenge to selected crop or livestock enterprise, Plant-wise(Plant clinics and or Animal clinics) targeting youths may offer additional knowledge and skills to youths upon good sensitization on their value to their livelihood activities. It would be great to learn other approaches as innovations are coming up in many locations.

India has one of the youngest populations with about 600 million younger than 25 and more than 60% residing in the villages. With this India is facing the biggest challenge of employment generation as the economy will generate jobs for only half of this population as estimated by the UNDP.

As urban India strives to emerge as the next superpower, rural India continues on a never-ending journey of poverty, exploitation and in some cases extinction. The ground realities add unpleasant hues to an otherwise shining picture of India’s progress. To make India’s growth story a truly inclusive one, it becomes imperative to help 833 million people residing in rural India, overcome their developmental challenges.

Rural India continues to suffer in the absence of access to adequate productive assets, connectivity, intellectual and financial resources. More than 85% of rural families own less than 2 hectares of land, which are sub-divided and scattered in several locations. These small holdings coupled with inability to invest in necessary agricultural inputs and adoption of advanced technologies means lower productivity leading to poverty which serves as the basis for various social problems.

We are working in the aquaculture sector as the employment generating activity. This sector has witnessed a threefold increase in the last decade with just 15% utilization or resources. There is ample scope to generate employment through this sector as there is a dearth of manpower in this sector. Aquaculture is the only hope left to fulfil the protein requirement of the world’s population. This sector is generating 32 lakh fisheries job opportunities in India and less fisheries graduates and hence industry is facing shortage of manpower.

The main reasons are:

- This form of culture is comparatively new as against the age old practice of aquaculture, poultry etc. 

- Poor understanding leads to poor planning and implementation. The government administration itself is less equipped with the technology. Inadequate training programs. 

-Lack of vocational training in aquaculture to generate the manpower necessary for the sector.

- The only education in aquaculture is available at the Fisheries Universities which are few for the vast rural population.

- Inability of the Government to popularise this sector. 

- Due to lack of knowledge the banks perceive this as a high risk sector thus denying the entrepreneurs financial aid.

- The common resources utilization makes it impossible for the qualified fisheries  graduates to take it up as the business enterprise thus denying them with the hands on field experience.

The model that we had tried is meeting the trained fisheries graduates to take up fish or prawns culture with the partnership of the village youth. This helped them university graduates gain field experience and demonstrated the fish culture practices for the entire crop cycle. This is a scalable model as this way we are generating employment for both the fresh  university graduates with scientific knowledge and rural youth.

Contribution posted on the FSN Forum in West Africa

English translation below

Je pense que la gestion sociopolitique des jeunes Etats africains pose véritablement des problèmes fondamentaux auxquels viennent se greffer tous les autres. Pourquoi ?

Les jeunes de  moins de 18 ans sont encore mineurs et n’ont de responsabilité que celle de leurs parents, or ces derniers sont confrontés eux-mêmes aux problèmes tels que :

1. Famille nombreuse : les villageois sont souvent fortement polygames avec une pléthore de progénitures qu’ils sont incapables de supporter correctement en termes d’éducation tout court.

2. Dans un système d’exploitation agricole très peu rentable,  difficile à appliquer et qui paraît être une corvée, les jeunes voient en l’agriculture un métier déshumanisant, salissant  rabaissant et dévalorisant, d’où leur refus d’aller vers l’agriculture. De ce fait, la main d’œuvre agricole manque cruellement dans les milieux ruraux, ce qui oblige les agriculteurs et surtout les agricultrices à intensifier le labour chimique par application d’herbicide total dans nos régions. D’ailleurs, la situation désastreuse de l’agriculture africaine s’est aggravée aujourd’hui avec les effets pervers du changement climatique dont les impacts sont évidents pour tout le monde, ce qui décourage davantage. Au Togo, cette tendance a amplifié l’exode rural et le système de transport en taxi moto communément appelé « zémidjan » dans les contrées les plus reculées du territoire et qui procure tranquillement le minimum de revenu à ces jeunes de moins et aussi de plus de 18 ans.

3. Le chômage endémique des frères aînés de ces jeunes également les décourage à poursuivre leurs études ils se disent : « à quoi ça sert d’aller loin dans les études pour revenir conduire zémidjan ? »

4. Pour les jeunes, les conséquences de tout cela sont d’ores et déjà l’oisiveté,  le vol, la tendance à la drogue, la divagation sexuelle avec une propension à devenir polygames comme leurs parents, la prison etc.

Approche de solution.

Les différents régimes politiques en Afrique doivent changer leur mode de gestion du territoire et aller vers une bonne gouvernance socio-économique par :

• L’élaboration  et la mise en pratique d’une politique de natalité dans nos pays.
• L’inclusion dans le système éducatif  scolaire des programmes d’éducation sexuelle dans un cycle convenable (primaire ou secondaire). Certes, en Afrique c’est un tabou de parler de sexe mais il est temps de faire entorse à la règle, en tout cas je crois que le résultat attendu est de voir les IST sensiblement diminués, d’appliquer un planning familial pour éviter de faire des enfants de manière intempestive, bref c’est de voir les familles africaines bien réglementées.
• La revalorisation du métier agricole en allant vers une professionnalisation, une mécanisation de l’agriculture et une maîtrise de l’eau.
• La déconcentration des structures éducatives en créant des collèges,  des centres de formation et d’apprentissage non seulement dans les villes mais aussi dans les préfectures et les grands centres ruraux capables d’accueillir et de former les jeunes ruraux in situ.

En conclusion, les gouvernants des pays africains doivent impérativement aller vers un changement radical de mode de gestion de leur territoire en appliquant une bonne gouvernance, en organisant au mieux la société civile et en tirant meilleur profit des aides bilatérales et multilatérales par une gestion judicieuse, collégiale et transparente des ressource de nos Etats.

ASSIGNON Komlan

Biotechnologue, Assistant de Recherche

Laboratoire National de Référence

de Biotechnologies et de Biosécurité

ITRA/CRAL, BP 2318 Lomé, TOGO

I think that the socio-political administration of young African States in reality presents fundamental problems on to which all others are grafted. Why?

The youth of less than 18 years of age are still minors whose parents remain responsible for them, and these latter are themselves confronted with problems such as:

1. Large family: the people in the villages are often very polygamous with abundance of offspring which they are incapable of supporting adequately in terms of a too short education.
2. In a system of agricultural exploitation which is not very profitable, difficult to implement and which seems to be drudgery, the youth see agriculture as a dehumanizing profession, dirty, denigrating and discredited; therefore they refuse to go into farming. Hence, there is a cruel lack of an agricultural manpower in the rural areas, which obliges the farmers and especially the women farmers to intensify the use of chemicals by the application of non-selective weed killers in our countryside. Incidentally, the disastrous situation of African agriculture is made worse today by the perverse effects of climate change whose effects are evident to everyone, which is yet more discouraging. In Togo, this trend has amplified the rural exodus and also the motorbike taxi transport system, commonly called "zémidjan", in the most remote areas of the country and which easily procures the minimum income to these youths of under and over 18 years old.
3. The endemic unemployment of the elder brothers of these youths equally discourages them from continuing with their studies, saying to themselves: What is the good of studying for a long time if in the end you will be a driver of zémidjan?
4. For the youth the consequences of all this are already idleness, theft, tendency to drugs, sexual promiscuity with a tendency to become polygamous like their parents, prison, etc.

An Approach to a Solution.

The different political regimes in Africa must change their way of administering their territories and move towards good socio-economic governance, through:

• The development and implementation of a policy on the birth rate in our countries.
• The inclusion in the school education system of sexual education programs at an adequate age (primary or secondary). Admittedly, in Africa it is a taboo to talk about sex, but it is time to break the rule, in any case, I believe that the expected result is to see the STDs noticeably reduced, to apply family planning to avoid having unplanned children, in short, to see African families well regulated.
• The upgrading of the agricultural occupation towards a professionalization, a mechanization of agriculture and a system of control over water.
• The decentralization of educational structures by creating colleges, training and apprenticeship centers not only in cities but also in the prefectures and the big rural centers able to receive and train the rural youth in situ.

As a conclusion, governments of African countries really must move towards a radical change in the way they run their lands by applying good governance, organizing civil society as far as possible and taking advantage of bilateral and multilateral aid with a wise, collaborative and transparent administration of our States’ resources.

Food insecurity is looming on to developing countries especially of South Asia, where climate change is hijacking the lives of the poor, be it in rural or urban centers, the issue of older children (ages 15-17) is that, they are largely out of school, and have little access to skills training's. Bunyad believes that education & literacy are the best solutions to make a difference in the lives of the rural youth, as education and literacy promote peace in the communities, enhance their skills for social development and prevent them from being involved in conflict, which ultimately leads them to positive thinking and use their energy for constructive work. Buyad’s approach is multi-sectoral, where in—literacy/ education progarmmes are linked up with---livelihood, environment, health & sanitation, and believes in working in partnerships with local communities, Districts, Provincial & Federal Governments and others.

1. Challenges that rural youth face

A. Policy dissonance: more support needed for rural youth

More than 65% population of Pakistan is living in rural areas, and agriculture sector employs about 45% of the labor force, contributing to about 24% of the GDP, but the pace of urbanization is rapid, as the rural youth is not keen to live in rural areas, due to dearth of employment opportunities. Skill developments facilities are mostly in the urban areas, in rural areas are very rare, and where there is an opportunity in rural areas, the approach of implementation has itself a question mark. Though, the programmes for youth are designed, but they mostly benefit to the urban youth not the rural, as the access to the urban youth is easy for government personnel’s, institutions and organizations as compared to the rural youth, and there are also inconsistencies in Government policies. As the consultation workshops and conferences for policy making are mostly held in the big cities, only the academia, experts, and youth from the urban areas are invited, but the major portion of the rural youth is neglected in the consultations. In some cases, if the rural youth is invited to share their experiences, they have not much exposure, silent during the conversation; sometimes the working language of the workshops and conferences creates a major barrier in communicating and expressing the views by the rural youth. The local political leadership in the rural areas, who are the major stakeholders in policy making, have no interaction with the rural youth, the local politicians have interaction only with the heads of the families not the youth, as all the decisions in the rural areas are mostly taken by the heads of the families to support candidates in general and local bodies elections, but the situation in big cities is different, though the youth  under the age of 18 have not the right to cast their votes, but their movements to support the candidates in general and local bodies elections makes a difference during election campaigns, and the political leaders also consider the voice of the urban youth.  

B. Market demand: catering to needs with adequate supply

The current skill development courses are not according to the market demand, and also not futuristic, the females have the opportunities of skill development courses in embroidery & stitching, they are not considered to adopt another occupation, male members also not allow their females to join such a profession which also become a place for male members. More than 40% population of Pakistan is illiterate, mostly are women from rural areas, and has less information of youth skill development programmes, those who work in factories, agriculture field, not know the exact terms and conditions of employment, the employer exploit them specifically in the agriculture field, women are in worst condition, as they have to face the harassment from the agriculture employer and, delay in payments from the factories & stipend from skill development institutions/organizations.

C. Legality: the importance of literacy

Specifically to agriculture, some major issues are; no advance research in agriculture, rural areas have less access to laboratories for testing of soil for better yield, lack of appropriate education & experience and opportunities, in rural areas, those who are engaged in agriculture labour have not written document with their employers especially in agriculture and livestock sectors, they are appointed verbally, in some cases, they are given some advances, for which they are bound to employment, which leads in less chance to change their jobs.  The age 15-17 is the most crucial, as the birth registration of most of the children in Union Council offices is not documented due to illiteracy of their parents, the age for Computerized National Identity Cards (CNICs) is 18 years, the youth is deprived to make any legal document with their employers, as the CNIC is the most important document to make any agreement between the two parties.  

Not only education & literacy aware the people about their rights but also enforce to rethink about the importance of legal documents. Bunyad has strong linkages with the line departments and try to ensure the Computerized National Identity Cards (CNICs) of those who are 18 years of age, who are below 18 years, their birth registrations in the Union Councils (local administrative units) concerned are ensured, so that they can get form-B from their respective union councils, form-B is a legal document which is also useful for legal formalities to some extent.  

D. Gender disparity: making full use of Pakistan’s female labour force in agriculture

No country can move out of poverty unless half the populations, the women are given their place in the development process of their country. As more than half our populations live in the rural areas, where deprivation abounds, worse is the condition of women, whom the development process rudely bypassed. Gender disparity is the most critical thing in Pakistan, as misinterpretation of religion and intolerant behaviours poses a threat to women participation in the economy, women do work mostly in agriculture & livestock sectors, but their works are not recognized. In paid activities, mostly women are engaged in agriculture field specifically in cotton picking and labour in vegetables growing fields, but they are engaged without any written agreement, they are paid low wages, sexual harassment by the employers, no proper measures for health safety, long working hours and mental torture are the common issues of women. Rural women have little access to cities, transport is the major concern for them, and also not feasible for them to spend time in traveling for gaining of skill courses for decent work, they have to work in their household and look after their children, the average family is more than 6 in Pakistan, in rural areas, there are an average 8 to 10 children per couple.

2. The role of education and vocational training to help youth engage in agriculture activities

For better livelihood, prior skill and technical education from class 6 to 10 (the age of students in that period is between 10 to 16 years) must be included in the syllabus as an optional subjects. The young girls must be given training in agriculture, livestock sectors parallel to stitching and embroidery. Not only the counseling of the rural youth, not to leave their native villages, but also their training in relevant field must be focused, in the designing of skill development programmes, a specific % for the rural youth must be a part of the programmes so that the programme should not cater only the urban youth. Once the programme is designed for youth, its implementation and finance must be ensured, without consistency of programmes, sustainable development will only be a nightmare.

 Bunyad’s literacy curriculum includes components of Health, Life Skills, Personal Hygiene, Numeracy, and Conflict Resolution in social family settings and functional literacy, and in addition skill development orientations/trainings are also included as value added activity in literacy programmes.

 In addition literacy, Bunyad is also currently implementing another project under a title “Economic Empowerment of Rural Women”, the major components of the project are; basic literacy, household technology, kitchen gardening, livestock keeping, enterprise development & financial management training. The rural youth under Bunyad’s literacy, child rights and livelihood projects are linked up with Public District technical training institutes for their certification in different skills, certification by the public department, ensures their capabilities in technical skills which supports them in getting employment. 3 Mobile Rickshaw Libraries have been introduced by Bunyad, to promote reading habits and life skills among members of the communities especially the youth, these are fully equipped with Information Communication Technology (lap top, multimedia & projector screen) for e-learning, along with conventional printed reading materials. The tasks of the Mobile Rickshaw Libraries are; move in the targeted areas along with books of different fields; children magazines, women empowerment, youth, livestock, agriculture and financial literacy etc., give orientation to youth and other members of the communities through multimedia on women empowerment, youth, kitchen gardening, agriculture and financial literacy to develop their interest in reading, improve their skills and access to information.

3. Effective approaches in overcoming challenges in rural employment

A. Value-added chains: two-track approach for subsistence and income generation

Bunyad implemented child rights & protection and livelihood projects, but kitchen gardening and livestock promotion are the part as a value added activities in Bunyad's education & literacy programmes, which encouraged young women to start Kitchen Gardening, initially to give them a feel of their activity which saw improved nutritional levels in there girls. Lest we forget TB, and malnutrition coupled with stunting, women face a very negative conditioning in their environment, thus Kitchen Gardening is a practical activity to improve their nutrition & give them a skill for the local market. As excess of vegetables are sold by their girls to their neighbors. Bunyad is working to improve the stock of the livestock by improving the milk yield of these animals by artificial insemination, better fodder & more diligence's in improving the lives of the animals. On an average, a buffalo gives 6 kg per day, but with proper management------ it can rise to 10 kg daily.  

 Kitchen Gardening for food security, must be promoted at household level. Government departments, International and Non-Governmental organization should design programmes for training especially women in Kitchen Gardening, agriculture and livestock. Use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) should be promoted, CDs can explain a large number of illiterates, how to work in livestock & vegetable farming, to improve & then forward with entrepreneurship skills.

B. Local partnership: virtuous cycle of comprehensive rural development

Bunyad also has a strong network with its local resources, which not only allows effective implementation of the programmes but also provides a lasting, sustainable solution to the challenges the youths and disadvantaged females face. Through such ties, the local government can become more involved and actively incorporate policy suggestions from the organization’s facilitators and managers, which permits better aligns policy efforts from the field to papers. It also provides empowerment to those who serve in the field, as their efforts are recognized and further supplemented with support of external institutions.

 Bunyad has also developed liaison with academia i-e Departments of Social Work, University of the Punjab and Lahore College for Women University and Gender & Development Studies Department, University of the Punjab. An MOU was signed between University of Agriculture Faisalabad and Bunyad; the salient features of the collaboration/ MOU are; distance learning, short courses for community development especially kitchen gardening, internships of students in Bunyad’s field area, participatory development approaches, training of staff and clients, entrepreneurship start up and applied/ on form research.  The internship of the students of the academia are arranged in Bunyad’s programmes/projects so that the students can acquire hands-on experiences of the issues that the youths face, while participating in the education and development programmes to reach out to their own communities. In return, the students who were beneficiaries of the education programmes provided by Bunyad become teachers and facilitators providing education to the successive students, thereby creating a healthy cycle of education that leads to more education of others and increasing employability of the student.

4. Policies and programmes that can support rural youth

The youth between the ages 15 to 17 years, those who have skill, should also be given a chance of decent work for income generation, as the employers do not give employment opportunities to those who are below the age of 18 years, or they do not make an agreement with them. An amendment may be made in the international and national conventions/policies that if the youths between the ages of 15 to 17 have skill, should be given skill certificate by the competent authority; it should be considered a legal document for employment of youths between the ages 15 to 17. The International community must understand the difference of socio-economic conditions of developed and underdeveloped countries while developing the policies.

English translation below

Cheres toutes et chers tous,

J'ai lu avec un grand intérêt les contributions des différents intervenants.

Je pense qu'il est temps que les pays en voie de développement fassent le l'Agriculture un véritable moteur de développment comme les dirigeants aiment à le dire dans leur discours à travers notamment les actions cocrrètes suivantes:

- l'allocation d'une part impotante du budget national au secteur de l'Agriculture;

- la mécanisation de l'agriculture;

- la création de petites unités de tranformation des produits agricoles;

- l'incitation des jeunes à se tourner vers l'Agriculture par des mesures attractives (exonération, accès au crédit, allocation de terre, de matériels agricoles et d'intrants agricoles etc...);

- la promotion de la formation professionnelle et l'apprentissage adaptée au milieu agricole;

- la promotion d'une éducation de qualité accessible à tous

- la lutte contre le travail des enfants.

Par rapport à ce dernier point, le Mali avec l'appui de ses partenaires a élaboré une feuille de route pour lutter contre le travail des enfantts dans l'Agriculture suite aux constats suivants:

- la perception du travail des enfant dans l'Agriculture;

- les problèmes liés à l'éducation en milieu rural;

- l'insuffisance du revenu et la vulnérabilité socio-éconimique des ménages en milieu rural;

- les difficultés liées au système de production agricole;

- la traite et l'exploitation des enfants dans l'Agriculture;

- les difficultés d'appilication du cadre juridique;

- la faible prise en compte du travail des enfants dans les stratégies et politiques de développement agricole et rural;

- l'insuffisance de la concertation entre les différents acteurs concernés par le travail des enfants dans l'Agriculture; 

- la compréhension de laproblématique du travail des enfants.

Suite à ces constats, la feuille de route porte sur sept (07) axes suivants:

1. La sensibilisation et lamobilisation communautaire sur le travail des enfants dans     l'Agriculture;

2. L'accès à une éducation gratuite, de qualité et obligatoire;

3. L'amélioration des revenus et la réducation de la vulnération des ménages agricoles;

4. L'appui aux exploitations agricoles familiales;

5. L'amélioration des cadres juridique, politique et institutionnel pour lutter contre le travail des Enfants dans l'Agriculture;

6. L'amélioration de la compréhension du concept travail des enfants dans l'Agriculture;

7. La mobilisation des ressources pour lutter contre le travail des enfants dans l'Agriculture.

Pour que les jeunes puissent jouer leur partition afin de nourrir l'avenir, les pays en voie de développement doivent les protéger dès l'enfance, les proposer des alternatives  meilleures. Ces mesures contribueront à empêcher les jeunes à s'engager dans des aventures sans lendemain en allant grandir le lot des terroristes ou en prenant le chemin de la migration vers l'Europe avec son cortège de morts sur les océans.

Dear all

I have read with great interest the contributions of the different participants.

I think that it is time that the developing countries make Agriculture a real driving force of development, as the leaders love to say in their speeches, in particular through the following concrete actions:

- the allocation of an important part of the national budget to the agricultural sector;

- agricultural mechanization;

- creation of small units of transformation of agricultural products;

- encourage the youth to work in agriculture with attractive incentives (exoneration, access to loans, allocation of land, agricultural materials and  farming inputs, etc...);

- promotion of professional training and apprenticeships adapted to the agricultural environment;

- promotion of quality education accessible to all

- the fight against child labor.

In relation to this last point, Mali with the support of its partners has developed a roadmap to fight against child labour in agriculture in response to the following appreciations:

- the perception of children working in agriculture;

- the problems related to education in the rural setting;

- the insufficient income and the socio-economic vulnerability of  rural homes;

- the difficulties related to the agricultural production system;

- the trafficking and exploitation of children in agriculture;

- the difficulties of applying the legal system;

- the inadequate taking into account of the work of children in strategies and policies of agricultural and rural development;

- the insufficient co-ordination between the different actors dealing with child labor in Agriculture;

- the understanding of the problematic nature of child labor.

Following these findings, the roadmap is oriented towards the following seven (07) axes:

1. Awareness and mobilization of the community towards child labor in agriculture;

2. Access to free, good quality and compulsory education;

3. Improvement of income and re-education for vulnerable farming  households;

4. Support for family farming;

5. Improvement of legal, political and institutional frameworks to fight against child labor in agriculture;

6. Improvement of understanding of the concept of child labor in agriculture;

7. Mobilization of resources to fight against child labor in agriculture.

So that the youth may play their part in providing food in the future, developing countries must protect them from infancy, offering them better alternatives. These measures will help to restrain the youth from engaging in adventures with no future by going to help the terrorists or by taking the migration road towards Europe with its trail of dead in the seas.

Dear Moderator,

I hope I am not getting to the nerves by appearing to be making excess inputting into the forum. If so, please bear with me for I cannot help it because as per as I am concerned the issue on hand is equivalent to designing new molding machine to produce building blocks for rebuilding the failed Nigerian state. I am so happy to be part of it all with the hope things will pick up for better of future Nigeria.

I concur with Mr Robert Kibaya of KIRUCODO Uganda on youth lacking seriousness. You see, In Nigeria youth negative attitude to agriculture is also a product of ‘LIVE GOOD WORK LESS’ system that was perpetrated by unpatriotic corrupt leaders. Generally, youth of the age in focus are at two-barrel social-gun point. One barrel is leadership system that flourish corruption of the highest order and it radiates from petroleum fortunes of the country but not agriculture or taxpayer’s. The second barrel is life style demonstrated by off-springs of the corrupted leaders and their cohorts. The effect on up-coming youth is loathing agriculture, its practitioners and advocators alike. Corrupt leaders are all over the place rural and urban hence their off-spring too who cannot hide their gaudy life style of riding latest car models at under 18, dressing in exquisite movie-styled local attire, distorting marriage folk norms and living in electricity wired tall concrete fenced house often referred to as ‘private prison’ by victims of the system.

Poisoned minds of ‘normal youth’ suddenly develop into a rush to make money and live similar pseudo life style. In school they pursue accountancy and banking courses with the intension to become cashiers in secured employment but certainly not interested in pursuing agriculture-based courses or become owners of farm business. Those that failed to continue schooling because the social disease has become serious canker worm boring deeply inside them, such youth can list all the team members of Manchester united football club off-head with no mistake. But for sure ask them to differentiate maize and bean at germination stage you will be disappointed.

Whether we like it or not, these youth will by next 30 years be children bearers and leaders by design or mistake, let us work towards the positive. Majority of all religious disaster in the country have large youth content. Just recently, youth of the lower post 18 are found involved in kidnapping for a ransom (emerging fast money making industry in Nigeria), latest involving woman senator that which has now prompted national and state assembly debate to pass a bill with heavy penalty - to hopefully contain escalation of the crime?

The challenge is herculean. Restoring youth mindset on agriculture, give them knowledge and skill, encourage legitimate productivity, create sustainable opportunities for them and strategize to retain them on the job to the point they become mentors and advocators of agribusiness to new upcoming youth generation.

Thank you.

Based on your experience, what are the specific challenges rural youth aged 15-17 face (different from those over 18) in making a (current or future) living in agriculture and related activities?

My Organization Kikandwa Rural Communities Development Organization (KIRUCODO) is operating in rural communities of Uganda and we who usually move around the villages this is what we see on the ground:

In Uganda, most of the elderly people live in rural communities. Their main job is to look after their grandchildren (left behind by their deceased children or by their children who cannot afford to look after them) and growing food for home consumption. Most of the children begin to stay with their grandparents at a tender age and when they reach age 15-17 they are unruly as their grandparents are too weak to always be on their neck or simply are (grandparents) very busy looking for food for the family. This age range (15-17) of the youth is mostly unserious with life simply because they grow up having all the liberty and decide on what to do even if it is not helpful. They are unserious in that at times you find their grandparents busy in gardens but for them are just relaxing busy betting, etc. Not all the youth are like that but majority in our villages are like that. In rural Uganda the problem is not land (land is available and most of the people of all ages have access.) but unserious youth who don’t want to work yet they need to have good life. This is like this because in Uganda most of the youth falling under this age group (15-17) are usually helped by their parents or guardians. So you find that most of the youth cannot think beyond being helped by their parents but always to wait to be provided for by the same.

Majority of the rural households are small-scale farmers and they mostly grow food for home consumption. Though most of the rural household farmers are always busy in the field, majority of them are still living in poverty. To the youths who have been watching their parents struggling with life, they always distance themselves from any agricultural-related activities. On the other hand, some of the youths between 15-17 years attend school and they have no time to engage in agriculture because they always keep at school from morning up to evening.

How can policies and programmes overcome the challenges faced by rural youth in a cost-effective manner? 

If they target older youth, how could we apply them to support those under 18? Please share relevant examples and lessons from your experience.

Now that majority of the rural youths under 18 years usually don’t get proper guidance while growing up, there is a need for governments to begin creating Youth Community Recreation Centers at every sub-county. These centers can be utilized to offer life skills, mentorship and leadership programs to the youths with a focus of helping them to change their mindsets and begin to look at things in a different way. This can be initiated by engaging area Members of Parliament, and youth Members of Parliament. The youths themselves can be mobilized to forward in their petition to the parliament through their respective area Members of Parliament, youth groups and youths Members of Parliament.

What are the most binding capacity constraints that you or your institution/organization encounter when designing, implementing and evaluating policies and programmes aiming to address the issues affecting rural youth under the age of 18?

* Lack of necessary key skills in advocacy

* Lack of required exposure to the policy environment

* Lack of financial resources 

What are the data gaps regarding the challenges affecting rural youth employment and livelihoods that you periodically encounter?

* In Uganda, it is hard to find data on the number of unemployed rural youths in a particular village, parish, sub-county or county.

* In Uganda, it is hard to find data on the number of rural youths who don’t live with their real parents.

* In Uganda, it is hard to find data on the number of rural youths who have no access to land.

* In Uganda, it is hard to find data on the number of youths who lost their parents.

* In Uganda, it is hard to find data on government employment opportunities.

How can education and vocational training in rural areas be improved to support rural adolescents and youth to productively engage in agriculture or related activities?

Though Agriculture is one of the subjects taught in secondary schools in Uganda, it is more theory than practical. There is a need of creating an Agricultural Demonstration Field (ADF) at every Primary and Secondary school. The skills gained by the youths from such ADF need to be implemented practically by youths themselves and it is from this implementation that a youth in school can be examined. The implementation does not require a youth to own land but to have where he or she stays. For example at my Organization we usually train youth how they can plant tomatoes in plastic bottles and be able to earn a living:  (https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153591330298212&set=pcb.510449...) 

Marks awarding can be based on: innovation exhibited while implementing, field organization and management, implementation costs verses anticipated profits, etc. So in this case, the respective educational institutional curricular need to changed in a way which encourages hands-on learning for that particular youth. 

What are the skills and support they need?

* Agricultural extension skills

* Agribusiness and entrepreneur skills

* Profitable Small-scale Agriculture management skills

What does the school-to-work transition for rural youth aged 15-17 look like and what works to effectively support rural youth during this transition?

The guiding principal need to work towards changing the mind-sets of the youths and begin to look at Agriculture as a profitable venture for any youth anywhere in the world. Schools need to prepare the youths in the direction they should confidently take from that moment not to wait till they finish school. For this to happen, there is a need for new policy directions to be undertaken and a strong political will. Lastly, there is a need of preparing the youth before and in respect to the new life-changing directions they need to systematically follow.

What approaches are most effective in overcoming the additional challenges rural youth under the age of 18 face in accessing decent jobs, including (decent) green jobs (e.g. skills mismatch, health and safety conditions, discrimination, exclusion) or becoming entrepreneurs (e.g. barriers in access to finance, producers organizations and markets)?

There is a need to sensitize the youths under 18 and to equip them with key information they need while accessing decent jobs or becoming entrepreneurs. This needs to be done right from schools, then at the Community Youth Recreation Centers, etc.

With sensitization I  base on our practical experience at KIRUCODO with our small-scale profitable poultry keeping. With this project, before engaging any youth, we first sensitize him or her on how to keep chicken as a business not as their parents used to do with the free-range poultry keeping system which was more of keeping chicken with no major commercial objective. From this experience and based on the tangible results on the ground, we now know that a properly sensitized youth is far better in business than unsensitized one.

All,

Many thanks for sharing your experiences particularly those on peri-urban/urban challenges and opportunities (Dr. Diana Lee-Smith and Ms. Veronica Kirogo), the need to examine the barriers faced by young men and young women (mentioned by Ms. Goemans in her description of the IFAD project in Niger), and the disconnect between elders and youth as described by Mr. Rabiu Auwalu Yakasai.

Mr. Chris Manyamba stated "The interventions for this age bracket with regards to accessing decent work may vary geographically depending on the economic status of a country."  I'm sure, Mr. Manyamba, you would agree that there are also variations between regions of the country as well as between communities and households.  Context is an important factor to consider as well as targeting.  As pointed out by many contributors, young women will have different needs and goals compared to young men.  Youth with little formal education will have different skills than those who have completed schooling and vice versa.  Interships and other types of on-the-job training, as discussed by Ms. Anna Yeritsyan, provide the hands-on experience those with formal education may lack.  

With regards to access to finance, the YouthSave program has yielded positive results but not without its challenges.  Save the Children was part of the consortium, working with partners in-country to bring savings products to youth. A 2015 research report outlines data on youth savings habits: http://csd.wustl.edu/Publications/Documents/RR15-01.pdf

Many thanks,

Ms. Kristi Tabaj

Contribution posted on the FSN Forum in West Africa

English translation available below

J'aborde la discussion sous l'angle de la lutte contre le Travail des Enfants dans le secteur de l'Agriculture.

Dans les pays en voie de développement, l'Agriculture est le secteur qui emploie le plus grand nombre d'enfants travailleurs, alors que leur économie est essentiellement dominée par le secteur agricole qui occupe plus de la moitié de la population active. Cette situation soulève l'urgente nécessité de lutte contre le travail des enfants dans ce secteur qui comporte des risques chimique, biologique, ergonomique, physique etc...

Cette lutte doit être articulée autour de trois principales stratégies.

1-La prévention:

Il s'agit, entre autres, d'aborder et de faire face aux causes de la mise au travail précoce des enfants dans le secteur agricole rural avant l'âge minimum d'accès à l'emploi à travers la mise en  oeuvre d'Activités Génératrices de Revenu (AGR) au profit des parents d'enfants les plus démunis, la promotion de l'accès et du maintien des enfants à l'école ou dans une structures de formation professionnelle ou d'apprentuissage, enfin, le renforcement des capacités, l'information et la sensibilisation des populations des zones rurales sur les risques et contraintes liès au travail des Enfants dans l'Agriculture et le droit des enfants à l'éducation et à la formation professionnelle.

La prévention consiste également à:

-offrir des opportunités d'études adaptées, notamment la vulgarisation agricole et la formation dans les secteurs et métiers ruraux porteurs;

-améliorer les contrats de travail et de location pour les adultes;

-étendre la couverture de la protection sociale en l'adaptant au contexte agricole et rural;

-identifier et promouvoir les travaux non dangereux pour les enfants en âge légal de travail;

-promouvoir et vulgariser en rendant accessible les machines agricoles afin minimiser l'implication des enfants dans les travaux agricoles.

2-Le retrait:

Il s'agit de retirer les enfants des situations de travail dangereuses, les offrir des soins et de l'aide pour leur réhabilitation et leur réinsertion sociale.

Le retrait doit cibler prioritairement les enfants engagés dans le  travail en appréciant la faisabilité de la démarche dans un contexte rural car tout travail des enfants n'est pas une exploitatin dans la pratique socio-culturelle africaine. La famille est la meilleure source du bien-être des enfants.

Il faut s'assurer de la disponibilité et la proximité d'infrastructures éducatives, de formation professionnelle et d'apprentissage pouvant accueillir les enfants retirés. Le retrait nécessite la sensibilisation préalable des parents et des enfants.

3-La protection:

Il consiste à réduire l'exposition des enfants du milieu rural aux dangers des travaux agricoles en veillant à:

-la fourniture et l'utilisation de matériels de protection individuelle et collective contre les dangers mécaniques et chimiques afin de minimiser le risque des dangers;

-la sécurisation et la sureté du lieu de travail;

-les horiares de travailbien adaptés.

Ces mesures peuvent contribuer à parvenir à un travail décent pour les enfants de 15 à 17 ans du secteur agricole.

I approach the discussion from the angle of the fight against child labour in the agricultural sector.

In the developing countries, agriculture is the sector employing the greatest number of child workers, while their economy is essentially dominated by the agricultural sector, occupying more than half of the active population. This situation gives rise to the urgent need for the fight against child labour in this sector which includes chemical, biological, ergonomic, physical risks, etc.

This fight must revolve around three main strategies:

1. Prevention:

It is a question, among others, of tackling  and facing up to the causes of children being put to work early in the rural agricultural sector before the minimum age of employment, through the implementation of income generating activities that will benefit the parents of the most deprived children, the promotion of access to and maintenance of children at school or in some system of  professional training or apprenticeship, in fact the strengthening of  the competence, information and awareness of the people in rural zones on the risks and constraints related to children working in agriculture and the right of children to education and professional training.

Prevention also consists in:

- offering opportunities of study compatible with in particular the popularization of agriculture and training in productive rural sectors and trades;

- improve the contracts for work and leasing for adults;

- extend the social protection coverage by adapting it to the agricultural and rural context;

- identify and promote non-dangerous work for children of legal working age;

- promote and popularize by making agricultural machinery accessible so as to minimize the involvement of children in agricultural work.

2. The withdrawal:

It is a question of removing the children from dangerous work situations, offering care and help for their rehabilitation and social reintegration.

The withdrawal must target as a priority children engaged in work while assessing the feasibility of the approach in a rural context because not all the work done by children is exploitation in African socio-cultural practice. The family is the best source of well-being for children.

We must ensure that educational infrastructures, professional training and apprenticeships are available and accessible and able to accommodate the children withdrawn from work.  The withdrawal needs parents and children to be made aware first.

3. Protection:

Consists of reducing the exposure of children in rural areas to the dangers of agricultural work, by ensuring:

- The supply and use of individual and collective protection equipment against mechanical and chemical dangers, so as to minimize the risks involved;

- The safety and security of the workplace;

- The most suitable working hours.

These measures could contribute to achieving acceptable work for children aged between 15 and 17 in the agricultural sector.