Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

Re: Promoting youth engagement and employment in agriculture and food systems - e-consultation on the Report’s scope, proposed by the HLPE Steering Committee

I suggest, Report should also address, Role of Social media in constructive engagement of youth

  1. I published a blog, Youth and social media: A leverage for agripreneurship

https://ypard.net/2018-07-31/youth-and-social-media-leverage-agripreneurship

I believe, Social Media (SM) offer the potential to promote opportunities, and eventually facilitate positive youth development. Considering the importance of social media among youth, it is critical to understand how to use it as a tool to foster youth development. Social media is not just about “posting cat videos”, it also gives young farmers and entrepreneurs opportunities to promote their ideas or businesses online. Social media presents an enormous opportunity for young entrepreneurs to continue finding creative ways to build their brands, dynamically serve their clients, cultivate relationships with colleagues and consumers, and explore new frontiers within this young digital society. The resources and platform it provides enables young individuals to act entrepreneurially in a way that was recently not possible.

 

  1. How digital apps and services are boosting rural employment

http://www.fao.org/fao-stories/article/en/c/1149534/

There are some new ways of working in agriculture that harnesses digital and technological innovations, rendering it more efficient and, not as a small byproduct, providing new opportunities and services for young entrepreneurs.

  1.  Tata Consultancy Services completed a study “Social Media is Serious Business: A View from European Youth” about social media usage across Europe, where they surveyed 5,000 young people from 15 countries. The results of the study and the #GenerationDirect campaign indicate that the importance of social media among young (i.e., Millennial) entrepreneurs cannot be overstated. Thirty-three percent of this group utilizes social media on a daily basis, with its uses ranging from hiring, client communication, networking, collaboration and skill development. Specifically, 60% of young entrepreneurs indicate that social media helps them find freelance employees, and 41% are in touch with their clients via social media on a daily basis. Furthermore, 62% of the sample uses social media to grow their business network. In essence, social media has become a fundamental aspect of growing and sustaining a business for Millennial entrepreneurs. The emphasis on social media among young entrepreneurs reflects a larger generational shift regarding the demographical makeup of the global workforce. Millennials (those born between 1982-1994) will make up 75% of the world’s workers by the year 2025 and are considered ‘digital natives’ as the first generation to come of age with the internet and smart phones. For this generation, the use of social media is second nature and a natural part of their daily existence. Beyond their comfort level with technology and their every-increasing presence at work, this generation has received wide spread attention in popular media for their perceived workplace behavior, stereotypically being seen as a job-hopping, entitled bunch.

Social media is making young people more entrepreneurial than ever

https://digitalempowers.com/social-media-making-young-people-entrepreneurial-ever/