Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

The engagment of youth in sustainable agriculture and food systems in Cambodia

I would like to offer some brief comments concerning the opportunities for, and constraining factors affecting youth engagement and employment in agriculture and food systems, particulalrly regarding youth access to training, education and mentorship programmes and to policy making processes in Cambodia.  These comments are based on experience with agricultural education and policy matters in Cambodia and other countries.  I am currently employed in Cambodia as an EU-FAO Policy Officer for the FIRST Programme supporting transformation to support sustainable food systems.

Cambodia has a youthful population, with tremendous enthusiasm to secure rewarding employment, pursue opportunities for enterprise and to innovate.  Cambodia has the potental  to secure a once only demographic dividend in coming decades.  This potential arises as the youthful population surges forward; dependency ratios for the workforce are falling; health is improving; and knowledge, skills and technology are all fueling economic and social development.  The dividend is by no means guaranteed. The right investments and policies are required to capitalise on the opportunity.  Handled skillfully, this is the opportunity for Cambodia to score on its sustaibnable development goals and to move rapidly onwards from Lower Middle Income Status.  

For the agricultural sector, the returns to labour and capital are lower than for other sectors.  Agricultural growth lags behind other sectors and agriculture is less and less attractive to youth as a source of employment or a course of study.

My key observations regarding the constraints and opportunities for youth in terms of access to training, education and mentorship are:

1. Such opportunities are limited for the general population, but improving quite rapidly in the face of demand.
2.  For agriculture, it likely the demand for access to these services in their current format will continue to decline. The skills provided to support employment in agriculture need regular review and in most cases, the skills on offer are not very relevant or attractive for youth.  The opportunities for youth living in rural and remote communities are much less than for urban settings.  
3. Particular care is needed to promote equity in access to these services and to examine the profound impacts of youth migration accompanying profound structural change in the economy.
4. Mentorship for rural youth considering employment in agriculture is particulalrly lacking. There are few role models, practical examples or clear paths to follow. 
5. There is a lack of resourcing for the research, innovation and enterprise that drives a successful agricultural industry and this is reflected in the educational offerings and the vocational training associated with the sector. These areas have been neglected in favour of development projects aimed at the aging population of farmers with little evidence of successful engagment of youth in productive and profitable activity in the sector.
6. There is no lack of enthusiasm for ideas and opportunities on the part of youth.  Yet there is insufficient attention to nuturing that enthusiasm for the pruposes of promoting sustainable agriculture. 

In terms of access to policy processes, youth have had little chance for access to those processes or voice in the policy dialogue. This situation is changing rapidly. Respect for elders and for tradition is embedded in Cambodian society. Whilst that respect is preserved, there is also recognition that youth are increasingly steering the way forward.  Opportunities for increasing youth engagement and voice in Cambodia relate to:

1. Increased access to quality education and freedom from child labour
2. Availability of youth platforms and networks giving youth an opportunity to see their needs and interests addressed.
3. Social media, which gives a youthful population with a phenomenal level of smart phone ownership a voice, albeit with all the possibilities for distortion of opinions and manipulation that have accompanied the rise of such media.
4. A rising popular culture accompanying increases in wealth, urbanisation and the freedoms enjoyed by youth, which amplifies certain aspects of youth opinion and aspirations. However, it seems that more effort is expended in promoting a mythical notion of a romantic rural existence, than in providing the any practical vision for employment and enterprise in agriculture.
5. An active movement on the part of government, development agencies and civil society to engage with youth and to give them voice.  Considering the potential, this movement is in a nascent state. 
6. Generational changes in the leadership of society.  

Overall, the key elements to support transformation for Cambodia lie in creating and sharing a vision, providing the leadership for strategic processes to support the vision and public resources to set the wave in motion.  The momentum will be sustained by youthful enthusiasm rewarded by profits. 

In the consultations and drafting of the National Strategy for Food Security and Nutrtion 20192-2023 in Cambodia, we have recognised the importance of gender and youth as cross-cutting issues and set each working group supporting the strategy with the task of implementing specific actions to address gender concerns and youth.

Rural girls under 18 are a vital force for rural communities and rural development, and constitute many of the world’s current and future farmers. Globally, most young women between the ages of 10 and 24 live in less developed countries and in rural areas – where the majority of today’s global poor can be found. Therefore, many girls in the 15-17 age group, age at which they are transitioning from childhood to adulthood, which often means early marriage and pregnancy, live in poverty and are at high risk of exploitation. These girls continue to face discrimination based on deeply rooted gender stereotypes, especially in comparison to their urban counterparts. They can easily succumb to child labour and face additional challenges in accessing decent employment opportunities, productive resources and services.

However there are several potential actions that could be undertaken to help rural girls thrive.

With the right gender-responsive policies, efforts that support youth aged 15-17 and rural communities can strongly contribute to the empowerment of these girls.

• Recognize the needs of rural youth, boys and girls, aged 15-17 globally and at policy level, supporting equal access to decent work opportunities, equal access to resources, and participation in social dialogue. Governments must coordinate and institutionalize action.

• Embrace the richness of agriculture in education, technical and vocational education and training (TVET), and technical schools to meet the needs of rural communities – and adapt learning programmes to the specific needs and aspirations of girls.

• Include young women in the new wave of agricultural development that is bringing innovation and technology to rural areas to improve the agricultural sector and tackle rural-urban migration, such as green jobs and agribusiness.

• Prevent child labour by building capacities of stakeholders in the private sector to ensure decent and equal working conditions and to improve agricultural practices, in collaboration with agricultural stakeholders, to prevent hazardous working conditions for boys and girls.

Action targeting the specific needs of girls must also increase to make a difference:

• Motivate and facilitate female-led youth collective mobilization to integrate their voice in policy processes and in agricultural organizations, empower them to have an active voice in the household and community creating a safe space for girls and women.

• Ensure social protection policies provide additional support to mothers and girls with care-taking responsibilities .

• Ensure that the importance of rural girls’ education is emphasized within education and rural development policy and programme development.

• Raise awareness and knowledge to challenge cultural and social norms that preserve harmful and constraining gender stereotypes in rural areas.

• Promote women’s and girl’s access to assets such as land, livestock, water; productive resources financial products, extension services, such as technologies and inputs; and services, land, such as information, training, credit, extension, transport - so that they are enabled to access markets and opportunities

• Foster introduction of innovative financial products and services according to this population, such as funds; integrated package of services (mentoring and training); modern collateral regimes; group lending; ICT-led solutions, among others, that enhance their entrepreneurial potential.

• Collect sex-disaggregated data about gender differences and inequalities in rural employment.

Main challenges faced by rural youth aged 15–17, including child labour

Special attention should be given in the HLPE 2021 report to the youngest category of youth (15-17) living in rural areas. These youth have reached the minimum age for employment (the general rule is 15 but some developing countries are allowed to set it temporarily at 14) yet are still considered children, therefore, they experience greater vulnerabilities in preparing and accessing for decent work opportunities.

Some of the barriers and challenges they face include:

• Limited access to secondary education: While education, in particular primary education, is compulsory in most countries, it does not always ensure that children in this age bracket are indeed in school for secondary school. Access to education can be further hindered by household poverty, school fees, long distances to school, poor quality of education and perceptions of irrelevance of curriculum to local life styles and needs, cultural norms, etc.
• Limited access to adequate (agricultural) education and skill development courses: courses are often not up-to-date and in line with market demand, and educational facilities can be situated in urban areas;
• Gaps in legal protection: for example, they may not be able to legally sign formal contracts which can push them into informal work or exploitative conditions;
• Exclusion from policy-making processes because these often take place in urban areas, and local leaders in rural areas often only interact with family heads;
• Limited experience and lack of competitiveness, when unemployment is widespread, youth are less competitive in terms of skills and expertise and often experience a skills gap compared with their urban counterparts. They may also experience more difficulties in accessing markets;
• Insufficient capital, which makes starting a business highly risky for youth;
• Minimum age constraints that impede access to land, financial services and business development services;
• Limited access to and participation in producer organizations, cooperatives and trade unions;
• Exclusion from government and employment related programmes where the focus is often on youth 18 and above.

Although the 15-17 age cohort have reached the minimum age for employment, when they are involved in hazardous work, it is considered child labour. Moreover, because the cohort can experience greater barriers to decent employment, especially in rural areas, they are at greater risk of exploitation, including child labour.

According to the Global Statistics on child labour released by Alliance 8.7 in 2016, there are almost 38 million children – 24 million boys and 14 million girls – of this age cohort in child labour. This is reinforced by country-level statistics indicating that the 15-17 cohort in child labour suffer higher levels of work-related illness and injury than other employed children in this age range. They are also more likely than other employed 15-17 year-olds to have dropped out of school prematurely. Most of them work in agriculture and undertake hazardous tasks in crop production, livestock, forestry or fishing because of rural poverty, lack of access to quality education and training, the informality and the seasonality of agriculture and other aggravating factors, such as climate change,. Thus, the 15-17 age cohort require greater protection from occupational hazards and greater support in preparing and accessing decent employment opportunities in rural areas.

As an example of a project based on Youth engagement, I would like to introduce the activity that we have been working on currently underway in Cambodia.

‘’Empowering Youth for Food Systems Improvement and Healthy Diets ‘’

The activity is an initiative of the EU-FAO FIRST Programme in Cambodia and builds upon work by the Council for Agriculture and Rural Development, Hellen Keller International and WHO to conduct a series of Youth Forums in 2019 on the topic of healthy diets. The topic of healthy diets was chosen as one of the priority actions for multi-sectoral cooperation under the National Strategy for Food Security and Nutrition 2019-2023,  This successful series of youth forums generated a fresh enthusiasm and a new approach for the agencies involved in food security and nutrition in Cambodia, extending into further efforts to support the engagement of youth in 2020.

To address the general lack of understanding of food systems and to promote healthy diets amongst young people, the EU-FAO First Programme has reached out to key partners to conduct an Adventure Camp event for 2020 to empower and engage youth around sustainable food systems and healthy diets. The objectives of this camp are aligned with the Joint Priorities for Healthy Diets and Food Value Chains and Food Safety of the National Strategy for Food Security and Nutrition 2019 – 2023 in Cambodia and the mainstreaming of the cross-cutting issue Gender and Youth.

The objective of the Adventure Camp is to engage a group of Cambodian students in activities related to improving food security and nutrition. Fifty university students from different backgrounds will participate in a three-day event in Kep Province which will combine field visits with exploratory learning activities centered on food systems and healthy diets.  Other activities in the field are designed to promote a healthy lifestyle.

The students are selected through a social media campaign designed to foster wider interest and awareness of the issues amongst their peers.  The training of facilitators for the Adventure Camp is a preliminary activity and the Youth Champions developed by Hellen Keller International provide the nucleus for the event facilitators.  These Youth Champions are all young persons who have demonstrated interest and commitment to working in the field of food security and nutrition.

This initiative is about giving the keys to the young generation to have a real impact on their food environment by raising their awareness and giving them voice. The training is focused on the potential of the young generation as future leaders contributing to national objectives for food security and nutrition and the achievement of SDG2. The event has also been designed in recognition of the changing nature of nutritional problems in Cambodia and the need for double duty actions to combat malnutrition in all forms. Overweight and obesity are increasingly evident in Cambodia, particularly for women of reproductive age. Knowing that young people are increasingly independent in making food choices, it is vital that the education system takes account of this independence and that young people are recognized as decision makers.  The Adventure Camp is designed to recognize that independence and support healthy choices based upon a more comprehensive understanding of the food system,

It is to ensure that the participating students who are future leaders and agents of change, are aware of the basic issues and have an understanding of how food systems impact their lives and the social and economic development of the country. This could lead to increase their effectiveness in professional roles, now and in the future and to provide insights into prospective avenues for employment. 

Our key messages are : 

Food systems have a critical role in influencing nutrition and healthy diets 

Agriculture and food systems impact nutrition by influencing the quantity, quality and diversity of food produced, prices and purchasing power of producers, as well as consumer habits and diets.

In order to for young people to understand how the food system serves healthy diets, we have to unpack the linkages between nutrition and food system:

We need to introduce all the stakeholders of the food system: food production (farmers, fisher-folks); food processing and storage; food trade (cooperative, retail shops and markets); consumer habits and food preparation (cooking activities).

Participants should also consider the food system from the perspective of the consumer’s nutritional needs for healthy diets and to learn how the elements of the food system can impact directly on their health.

A sustainable food system depends on a productive farming systems and stewardship of the natural resource base

Agriculture and food systems also have an impact on water, health environment and caring practices, which are important drivers of nutrition. They have to understand the environment stakes of supporting small farmers/producers instead of big productions. They should have an overview of the natural resource base (water, soil, air, climate, biodiversity) and which impact it could have on livelihoods, farmers and sustainable food security and nutrition for all. We will give them a comprehensive context about food resources, agro-ecology, seasonality of production and income, access to productive resources, market opportunities and infrastructure, health and care environment.

Gender impacts on the roles in food systems and on the impacts of the food system

Women play a key role in household care and nutrition. Many nutritional challenges are also linked to gender issues. We have to teach them that agriculture and food systems can significantly impact women’s time use, decision-making power, income, inequity. They have to understand that women are the cornerstone of household care and nutrition and by privileging food produced by women they support them.

Young people have the power to have a real impact on food environments

Education around healthy diets and sustainable food systems aims to increase the awareness of urban youth on the nutritional value of foods, how to read labels and why it is important to limit salts, sugar and fats in the diet. This information will help them to make informed consumption choices and also to support smaller producers for a sustainable food system.

The Adventure Camp is launched in partnership with Helen Keller International and the involve the Council of Agriculture and Rural Development (CARD) and other line ministries as well as World Food Program and UNICEF. It is also the opportunity to reinforce cooperation between UN organizations and civil society in supporting the achievement of the objectives of the National Strategy for Food Security and Nutrition hand in hand with the government.

I wish to recommend also a useful reference for the purposes of the consultation as attached.

El Comité Directivo del HLPE agradece sus aportaciones a esta consulta electrónica. En particular, le invitamos a:

Aportar sus comentarios a las siguientes preguntas -identificando cualquier cuestión de género- para orientar la preparación del informe:

1.    ¿Por qué es necesario promover la participación y el empleo de los jóvenes en los sistemas agrícolas y alimentarios? ¿Cuáles son las cuestiones y oportunidades fundamentales?

La alimentación saludable y sostenible debe promoverse, la participación de la población joven en la motivación y compromiso hacia esa alimentación es necesaria para garantizar mejor salud humana y ambiental.

2.    ¿Cómo afectan la evolución y las transiciones de la agricultura, los sistemas alimentarios y la nutrición a la participación y el empleo juvenil? ¿Cómo puede resultar el empleo en la agricultura y los sistemas alimentarios más atractivo para los jóvenes, teniendo especialmente en cuenta la continuidad entre el espacio rural y el urbano? ¿Qué se necesitaría para mejorar los niveles de vida y los servicios en las zonas rurales y en las ciudades medianas, para retener a los jóvenes y a las familias jóvenes?

En Costa Rica existen iniciativas que promueven agricultura sostenible, orgánica, especializada en productos novedosos, se preparan platillos como ejemplo de cómo pueden utilizarse.

La separación entre rural y urbano esta muy diluida y no debe ser el parámetro de políticas publicas orientadas a que todos los habitantes se comprometan con la alimentación saludable y la producción agrícola sostenible.

3.    ¿Qué transformaciones son necesarias en la gobernanza para facilitar y alentar la participación de los jóvenes en los sistemas agrícolas y alimentarios, y qué medidas se requieren para dotar a los jóvenes de las habilidades y confianza necesarias para participar plenamente en estos procesos de toma de decisiones?

Los sistemas alimentarios han cambiado mucho y se han venido deteriorando. Esto tiene un costo económico muy alto para el sistema de salud. La formación desde la niñez en una alimentación saludable y la producción agrícola sostenible son elementos fundamentales. 

4.    ¿Cuáles son las vías más prometedoras para transformar los actuales sistemas agrícolas y alimentarios de los países en desarrollo y hacerlos más atractivos para los jóvenes?

Promoción y capacitación como mecanismos para motivar a los jóvenes hacia las granjas familiares y cosas parecidas.

Deben existir 

5.    ¿Cuáles son las mejores estrategias para implicar plenamente a los jóvenes -en particular a las mujeres-, en oportunidades para adquirir las habilidades y posibilidades de formación adecuadas para desarrollar sus conocimientos y permitirles liderar la innovación en la agricultura y la transformación los sistemas alimentarios?

Por medio de incentivos que les permita acceder a recursos para poder producir y vender.

6.    ¿Cuáles son las políticas más apropiadas para eliminar los obstáculos y empoderar a los jóvenes para iniciar y/o ampliar actividades en la agricultura y los servicios relacionados, la cadena de suministro de alimentos, la agroecología y el entorno alimentario, así como en la nutrición y la innovación, de acuerdo con sus habilidades, aspiraciones, activos y contextos?

La realización de ferias agrícolas en comunidades, escuelas, colegios que incentiven sobre la producción familiar y sobre las ventajas de una alimentación saludable.

7.    ¿Cuáles son las políticas e iniciativas más adecuadas para facilitar la transición del sistema educativo al mercado de trabajo y la incorporación y permanencia de los jóvenes en las actividades relacionadas con la agricultura y los sistemas alimentarios? ¿Cuáles son los nodos y actividades de las cadenas de suministro que tienen un mayor potencial para generar empleo juvenil decente? ¿Qué nuevos tipos de formación se necesitan para fomentar enfoques más agroecológicos de la agricultura?

Los ministerios de agricultura y de educación deben trabajar en conjunto, incorporar en el programa educativo la alimentación saludable al igual que la producción agrícola sostenible. Sobre todo que se realicen capacitaciones prácticas, incluyendo clases de cocina.

8.    ¿Cuál es el alcance de las disparidades salariales para con los jóvenes -en particular las mujeres-, en los sistemas agrícolas y alimentarios, y qué ejemplos de experiencias exitosas hay en la eliminación de esas diferencias salariales?

Desconozco.

9.    ¿Qué datos se necesitan para contribuir a la formulación de políticas que aumenten la participación y el empleo de los jóvenes, y para concienciar sobre las necesidades, vulnerabilidades y oportunidades específicas de los jóvenes desfavorecidos?

Desconozco.

Sharing the most recent reference that should be considered in this report.

Yesterday, I watched the livestreaming of the book launch by the IFPRI.

Youth and jobs in rural Africa: Beyond stylized facts, authored by Valerie Mueller, ed., James Thurlow, ed. This 323 page book published by IFPRI &  Oxford University Press is one important document which could be useful in preparing the report.

I liked when it was being emphasised: policies that are grounded in local evidence rather than stylized facts.

More details:

https://www.ifpri.org/publication/youth-and-jobs-rural-africa-beyond-st…

My names are Mary Michelle, CEO, and Founder of KIwonnongo Foundation Inc (KFI) of Uganda/USA, an NGO that assist communities with free education to about 400 children in Lunya- Kiboga District of Uganda and provides assistance to women and youth groups both under the umbrella of the NGO. This organization started in 2012 and has changed Lunya and its surrounding communities. Once a community with 98% illiteracy rate, children marriages, poor nutrition, droughts, unrepresented women, children, and youth, now has a voice. The speed at which our socio-economic growth is very slow to lack of government support and the last war devastation that wiped the communities off the map. Currently, 400 children in primary school have education and we have 0.1% of school drop out. Where there was no school, children now spend at least 8 hours a day gaining education. Youths and women gaining self-sustaining skills.

Why is there a need to promote youth engagement and employment in agriculture and food systems?

Youths in Lunya and Kiboga district as a whole are not represented, education is non-existing and youths tend to lose interest, get frustrated and resort to going to the city where they become beggars. Kiboga used to be the best district producing bananas, now, they are starving, youths have no voice, no advocacy, no hope, no financial capability or skills training capacity. The few that grow food, are unable to financially profit from it due to lack of transportation, no strategies, and no corporations. Since they are not educated, the system that could be available for them does not invest enough time to engage in a community that has to be groomed from ground level. They have no role models. KFI has started to cultivate the arena for inclusiveness, but the pace is very slow due to a lack of representation.  This village is only 64 miles from Kampala, but have no clean running water or electricity. No quality education system and no representation.

What are the key issues and opportunities?

*Lack of basic education skills.

*Lack of representation and advocacy.

*Lack of financial routes to fund start-ups with a well-organized team that can guide them at their level of understanding and function.

*Lack of hope due to broken promises by the government, the higher stakeholders that don't reach them as they promise.

*The local NGO are burnt out due to so many complex social-economic issues that have to be addressed prior to addressing key factors (such as local cultural beliefs of child marriage, polygamy, poor believe if education, poor women emancipation and continued oppression of women and girls even if they are the sole breadwinners of the family, lack of support of women and girls rights, beliefs that women must produce as many children to extend generations despite the fact that there is no economical support for that kind of growth and the worse of all is the women are not given a role on the platform of governance either at the family or community level), and so many others.

But, if youths are reached, met at their level of function, they are capable of being productive and commit to being accountable for their economic growth. They are willing, they are energetic, they are healthy, they have knowledge, but need structure, need guidance, need a starting base for growth.

They need training and awareness that child production does not mean just producing offsprings. They need awareness about HIV, deeper poverty, education, human rights, women empowerment, and inclusiveness. A majority of them practice their ancestors' beliefs of culturally oppressing women and girl children and polygamy. They need to be aware of HIV, early pregnancy deaths, STDs, malnutrition, education, climate changes, effects of deforestation, land rights, self-reliance and above all, they do not know what their civil rights are.

They need projects and training skills to acquire running or clean water as a community instead of waiting for foreign aid or government. This shall train them with decision-making processes before implementing any planned project.

They need access to finance start-ups.

They require gardening equipment access, more so as a cooperation instead of individualism that currently exists and has not worked all these decades. This would be done to improve standards of living and services in rural areas and mid-sized towns, as it would lead to retaining youths and young families in their small towns. Youths do not really want to go to cities, this avenue shall entice them to stay in the town, villages or small cities.

What are the most promising pathways to transform current agriculture and the food systems in developing countries to make them more attractive to the youth?

Youths must be shown that there are financial gains from agricultural products, that there is market and that they can be self-sustaining on agricultural products alone- if that is what they chose to pursue. The majority of the youths are attracted to monetary gains, to being able to support their lifestyles and their little or large family. When they grow their products, they must be able to sell them without loss.

Youths especially women, need to be included in all decison- making processes, to be able to contribute to the process that is involving the,- which is all aspects of life and they want to be allowed to be part of the government because they are the breadwinners in Uganda. Young women need the skills to make better decisions and learn to wait before becoming mothers themselves when they are not ready just because the culture tells them so. They need training centers than can accommodate their levels of understanding- any level and these accesses must find them at the grassroots level so that they can feel included and not displaced. They need equipment to farm. Growing any product using manpower is not productive at the rate of this rate of consumption and demand.

In Kiboga District, there is a need for training about cooperation and its benefits. Facing the lack of rules and laws in the country, little can be done at this level, but small groups are capable of making their constitutions and form cooperations and produce agricultural products at a higher rate and then learn/be trained on food security and proper nutrition.

There are numerous food security and preservation systems that have worked on grassroots levels for decades, youths need professional direction and guidance

What are the most appropriate policies to remove obstacles to empower youth initiate and/or upscale activities in agriculture and related services, in the food supply chain, in agroecology, and in the food environment, as well as in nutrition and innovation, in accordance to their skills, aspirations, assets, and contexts?

The best approach to empower current NGOs and Civil Society mechanisms and private entities at grassroots levels. The government is too corrupt to assist community-based devastation. For the communities to benefit fully and quickly from any higher stakeholders, it is imperative to engage, empower, work with, link, network with locally-based NGOs. In many communities, there are no policies, if there are there, people are not well represented and advocated for, many government agencies are corrupt and cannot reach grassroots communities, which lead the youths to run out of villages to cities where there is some hope- if at all deeper poverty is hope. But they are not aware of political preferences in Uganda, they find out when it is too late. Youths need to be educated at their level of understanding and capability. Not displaced.

What is the extent of wage discrepancies against youth and women in agriculture and food systems, and what are some successful experiences in removing such wage differentials?

IN our communities, there is no such a thing as wage in the agriculture sector.  When a woman is empowered, they produce as much as the men and possibly more because they celebrate women emancipation at that level. In general, as everywhere in the world, women get lower wages than men for the same job description, women are less admitted to jobs considered extreme such as mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, construction and jobs or courses that require physical strength. But to break this cycle, women and capable girls need to be afforded the same opportunities as men and boys- if applicable. Public awareness must increase to allow women to know that they too, can do what they qualify for and desire. The vulnerable and disadvantaged need representation too, the major issue is the numerous existence of already complex issues to deal with.

Empowering and supporting current NGOs, Civil Society movements and private entities, holding them accountable for their roles is the key to global socio-economic development in Uganda and particularly in Kiboga District- that has been neglected for the last 3 decades. 

Data that is necessary to create this awareness is through the already existing local nongovernment and other private entities such as religious entities, these sectors have all the data that is needed to start a journey of self-sustaining communities. These entities are ready, many communities have survived years of poverty due to the small assistance of NGOs and private and religious entities. These entities' support is crucial in a country torn by greed, inflation, corruption, and government neglect. For example at KFI, we serve several communities. The schools and community groups have existed since 2012, community members have come to know us and come to us for advice, training, advocacy, and representation, but the issues are so many and complex and we cannot tackle all issues without the presence of an effective supporting system. We cannot grow food for the community schools with manpower alone and without water, we cannot teach children modern technology without computers and power, we cannot train all community members and replicate our great services to reach vulnerable children if we have no local teachers with skills. 

We need collaboration with high stakeholders to move faster and more effectively. The youths cannot wait for our slow system.

In conclusion, I am proud to be part and continue to innovate standards that are saving girl children; educating at least 400 per year, training youths and women and contributing to decreasing the 98 % illiteracy rate in Lunya, Lwamata sub-county, in Kiboga District. Communities without clean water, without electricity, communities that are not represented.

Thank you.

Mary Michelle

CEO and Founder

Kiwonnongo Foundation Inc.- Uganda

Activities on the platform

2interactive games

1lesson

1verification test recipes

habits and life styles questionnaires

3interactive games

3lesson

3verification tests recipes

habits and life styles questionnaires

Duration

10hours

14hours

Necessarytools

The games  and tests must be carried out individually on PC

The games and tests must be carried out individually onPC

Prerequisites

-      Knowledge   of   percentage calculation

-      Basics  of  food  technology (production of milkandits derivatives; productionof bread, pasta, cake, biscuits; preservationsystems)

-      Knowledge of the digestive process

The report can benefit from good practices and successful experiences from across the world, especailly from developing countries, that are  improving youth engagement. I am impressed by the ADB supported youth  training programme in Bangaldesh.

ADB is training half a million youngsters in Bangladesh for employment, so far, 260,000 young people have been trained with new skills in 10 high priority areas, including the booming garments industry. Every year 2 million youths enter the job market in Bangladesh – ADB is training half a million of them with the skills needed to succeed in the workplace. With a well-trained workforce, Bangladesh aspire  to transition to a developed country.

https://www.adb.org/news/videos/new-skills-better-future-bangladesh

Many developing countries have youth skilling programmes, some are very successful, which could offer some insights for furhter finetuning and upscaling.

For instance, Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK- Farm Science Centres) in India is also responsible for skilling youth and women. For developing the skills of the rural youth and to increase their productivity, Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW), India signed an agreement on 20th March, 2018 . Skilling would not only ensure that agriculture becomes technologically and entrepreneurially attractive to youth but also meet the emerging demand of Para Professionals in Agriculture, Horticulture, Dairy, Poultry and Fisheries. 100 KVKs are implementing Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture (ARYA) project to attract and empower the youth in rural areas for taking up various agriculture and allied sector enterprises.

Hello, 

Many thanks for the opportunity to contribute to this crucial topic. I would like to share a piece of my work with you. I believe it would serve well a great input into this discussion and documentation. Kindly see the link below.

ROLES OF YOUTH IN AGRICULTURAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/roles-youth-agricultural-economic-develo…

Thank you all.