Africa bets on technology to lure youth to farming

Thomson Reuters Foundation profiles young farmers who have stayed on the farms despite a drift of young people from farming in Africa.

According to the African Development Bank,  Africa has the world’s youngest population with 60% of its 1.2 billion people under 25. Yet Africa’s young people are off the farms.

There is hope that technology such as mobile telephony – where Africa penetration rates remain high – could be a rallying point to bring young farmers back to the fields. Meanwhile, developed nations turn to robots, blockchain, artificial intelligence and machine learning to solve agricultural challenges – the mobile remains a simple solution for Africa.

FAO has developed a free app which provides information on weather, market prices for crops and producing and conserving nutritious food.

Read more about how technology is luring back the youth to the farms.