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
[1]. The contribution made earlier is attached; and is based upon a presentation made at a graduation service at Ambo College of Agriculture – part of the University of Jimma, Ethiopia – during a period in which FAO was providing technical support and project funding for ‘People with Disabilities in Agriculture’. The presentation highlighted the continuity of competition that existed in limited job markets wherein large numbers of people were chasing the few public and private sector positions available, and where there was little or no experience (and resources available) to provide for young people and enable them to establish themselves in their own appropriate-scale agricultural enterprise. Little has changed for the majority in the interim period to better prepare young people for a working life as an agricultural entrepreneur. This is as much a mind-set limitation for the young people themselves as it is for the society in which they live, wherein traditions and maturity typically take priority over ability and gender – meaning that the young, women/girls and those without connections usually lose out. It follows that the majority people in rural communities remain unsupported – and agricultural production/industries have little or no attraction to young people irrespective of age.
Dr. Peter Steele