Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

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/

The need for food security in a world with; a rapidly growing population, increasing age of Farmers in developing countries, and the need for employment opportunities to provide economic opportunities for Youths entering the labour force all establish a solid case for youth engagement in Agriculture and employment in agriculture and food systems. Thus, this makes the development of this report more relevant than ever.

Here are some notes on perspectives on the subject based on my experience in the developing world:

The declining interest of youths in agriculture is widely assumed or may be exaggerated.  Some relevant datasets may need to evaluated to establish the validity of this assumption. Agriculture may have fallen in the preference sectors for Youths to pursue a career, however, an enormous population of youths are still interested in the sector - some out of passion and interest, while for others it is one of the most accessible of their few career options. In 2017, the OpenFarm Network whose team I currently lead partnered with the largest youth Agricultural training school in Nigeria (6 campuses nationwide). For years, applications to its call for trainees have in multiples exceeded the available slots in the institute. Though it is targeted at youths with a secondary school leaving certificates, a majority of the applicants have a first degree and others have a second degree.

Openness to Careers in Agribusiness with Entrepreneurship as an Option. 

Though there has been a strong emphasis on entrepreneurship in recent years, which is commendable. This is not necessarily the recommended first step for the majority of Youths in the Agri-food sector. Several of the youths we interacted with at the training institute shared the intention of starting their own Farms (note: less emphasis on Agribusiness) on graduation. Once things do not work as planned - this becomes a big blow to several of them. Exploration of careers in the Agri-food sector offers a lower hanging fruit. Several Agribusinesses need youths to join their workforce. Internships and Programmes matching Youths to Agribusinesses can be established. This provides a springboard for several youths to establish a career in Agribusiness or further pursue entrepreneurship having gained some experience.

Emphasis on the Agricultural Value Chain and the Opportunities it Offers. Not “Millionaire Farmers”. 

Though Agriculture is the one of the most inclusive sector in terms of employment opportunities, as it becomes innovation-driven, it becomes less of a numbers game. To establish this point, compare the percentage population of Farmers in the developed world and the developing world. Though the former is far lesser, it remains incomparably more productive than that of the latter. This means there is a huge opportunity for Youths to contribute to improving the productivity of the currently large but inefficient population of Farmers by playing in other components of the value chain. Several nations need to go further beyond the call for Youth participation to a call for innovative solutions in the Agri-food sector. Though this is on the increase, there is a need to take these solutions beyond media-hype to the real-world.

There is a need shift from Attracting Youths to Fostering the Success of Youths in Agribusiness by Establishing Pathways for Growth.

On interacting with several trainees of this institution, I realized that though they were optimistic about having their own farms and aware of their challenges, they seemed not to understand how to overcome them. For example, we asked during a seminar how many of them knew about Agric insurance, less than 5% of the class had any idea. Though “Access to Information” seemed like a cliche to me due to its repetition as a barrier to success, it’s a real challenge. A commendation digital initiative was USDA’s Start2Farm to meet the information needs of new Agribusiness owners. This has since evolved to USDA NewFarmers’ Portal. We also replicated some of these ideas at OpenFarm. Success evangelizes itself, the more the barriers to success for youths in agriculture collapses and youths are successful in it, the more attracted youths become to it in an age of information going “viral.”  As several initiatives focused on attracting youths in the agricultural sector, there is also a clear need for initiatives to support the growth of Youths in agribusinesses and the training of entry-level professionals in the Agri-food sector. Some of these may be as simple as linkages to markets or complex as conditional-based access to resources such as meeting milestones.

Reliance on Pull Approach over Push Approach to Development. 

As shared by Clayton Christensen et al in the Prosperity Paradox, established markets draw to itself infrastructure. Nigeria’s Farm settlements were attempts to push infrastructure into rural areas to encourage more farming activities. Unfortunately, most of these declined with the decline in the Nation’s agricultural sector. Amenities for the improvement in the quality of living standards in rural areas can be best accompanied by developments. They are more of results than attempts.

The Agri-Food Sector Needs to Learn from other Booming Sectors.

The Agri-food sector has been playing on the defensive in many countries in the recent decade. This has made it heavily reliant on government policies. There is a need to go further by understanding and tailoring agricultural interventions to how markets work. With youths marginalized in the governance of countries, reliance on favourable government policies is not likely the best bet on the long-term. However, the market in recent year is proving to be age and gender agnostic, and even breaking geographical boundaries until the recent USA-China Trade wars. Youths need to be equipped with information and tools to take advantage of markets.

Data Requirements for Supporting Policies

Some important datasets include the age and gender representation across the different activities of the Agricultural and Food system value chain. Another phenomenon worthy of note is the seasonality of youth engagement in the sector. In several agrarian states in Nigeria, youths go to the farm more actively during land preparation and harvesting activities, while they engage in other daily income-generating activities in-between. However, most of these data would be difficult to obtain in several developing countries and there may need to rely on observations and interactions with actors.

Concluding Thoughts

Beyond advocacy to spur youth interest in Agriculture and food systems, fostering the success of Youths irrespective of the gender difference should be of utmost report. This implies the need to extend beyond Advocacy to interventions tailored to provide Advisory and Access for youths in Agribusiness. Hopefully, the discourse would soon evolve into spreading the gains and ensuring quality assurance in an Agri-food sector with an influx of Youths.

Some observations are not unique to the Agriculture and Food sector, but are more of fundamental societal problems. It is therefore imperative not to be caught off trying to provide solutions to this problem. Examples of this are waste discrepancy against women and the need for investments to improve the quality of life in rural areas. Though it is noteworthy to factor this in and feature solutions, solutions for Youths and Women on these issues in the Agric and food sector may be highly dependent on other factors beyond the scope of the report.

Why is there a need to promote youth engagement and employment in agriculture and food systems? What are the key issues and opportunities?

The world population is on the upward trend with statistics estimating a projected population of 9Billion people by the year 2050. In order to sustain the growing population, there is an indubitable need to become more creative in food production and bolstering food systems and agri-food value chains. The youth demographic are known to be innovative with the agility required to make Zero Hunger a reality. In the wake of Climate Crisis, we have seen the youth at the fore in campaigning for a more sustainable environment. When it comes to Climate Smart Agriculture, the youth have the opportunity to be more adept in mitigating the effects of climate change while sustainably producing food. Though this may sound easy, there are challenges that youth agripreneurs face especially when it comes to access to markets and financing. We see that there are unequal market forces that put the farmer at a disadvantage while middlemen make the greatest kill. When it comes to youth access to finance, the loan requirements are quite steep and most youth in agriculture often lack the collateral required or some are considered “unbankable”. With the interventions on increasing youth access to agri-finance and market linkages, there has been notable improvement although there is still much ground to be covered.

I liked the comment of Florence Egal, wherein, many practical issues have been mentioed.

Again, sharing two most recent references that may be considered in this report.

Africa,  Asia & the Pacific region are dominated by huge youth population, where the governments are under pressure to create more and better jobs for the region’s young and rapidly growing population. The following two recent publications may beuseful while writing the report on youths.

1. Roehlano Briones. 2019.Investing in rural youth in the Asia and the Pacific region.IFAD

https://www.ifad.org/documents/38714170/41187395/18_Briones_2019+RDR_BA…

This background paper was originally  prepared for the Rural Development Report 2019 “Creating Opportunities for Rural Youth”. It characterizes the structural and rural transformation of the Asia and the Pacific region (APR), highlighting the implications for rural youth opportunities and challenges, and identifying and elaborating on the characteristics, opportunities and challenges related to rural youth inclusion.

2. YOUTH AND JOBS IN RURAL AFRICA: BEYOND STYLIZED FACTS, by Valiere Mueller & James Thurlow. The book launch Co-Organized by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) is scheduled on Jan 21, 2020 - 12:15 - 01:15 PM EST 1201 Eye Street NW, 12th Floor Conference Center, Washington, DC 20005, United States

http://pim.cgiar.org/2020/01/09/book-launch-youth-and-jobs-in-rural-afr…)

• It is important to frame the report in the context of sustainable food systems and avoid falling back into a supply driven approach to food and agriculture The reason youth are not engaging in agriculture any longer is that the prevalent economic model has led to the degradation of rural livelihoods and migration to cities. Youth leave in search of income (including remittances to send home), opportunities and social services. The experience of developed and transition countries is particularly enlightening, and pushing for more of the same will just not work.
• The emergence of neo-rurals (whose parents were not farmers) who engage in alternative production systems may provide useful insights on what attracts youth to engage in agriculture and food systems, learn about their experiences, understand the challenges they face and identify the support they may need.
• Insufficient attention has been given in recent years to post-harvest activities. Food processing can contribute to local economies, add value to local food production and facilitate access to safe and convenient foods. And it can provide jobs for youth.  Territorial development policies should be based on an inventory of local biodiversity and experience with a view to make the best of sustainably managed natural resources.
• Catering and food delivery is probably the most effective source of employment and means of integration of youth (including migrants) at local level and this will increase with more and more people eating out of home. Here again, learning from recent experiences could contribute to understanding youth expectations and creating an enabling environment. Housing (in particular for young women) is a critical dimension. A rights-based approach will be essential to ensure appropriate protection and regulations. 
• The necessary reorientation of food systems will require major changes in training and financial services. Youth should not be pushed into indebtedness to finance unsustainable business models.
• The present economic system has led to closing social services in increasingly deserted rural areas, leading in turn to acceleration of outmigration in search of social services. Inversing the trend by investing into schools and cultural activities in rural areas and supporting off-farm activities (e.g. eco-tourism, rural hospitality) can provide employment activities for youth (keeping local youth and attracting young entrepreneurs). [See SongYang consensus attached].
• The integration of young migrants into increasingly deserted rural areas would provide an opportunity to maintain, strengthen and revive local food systems.

Dear Team,

Many thanks for this important subject.

Indeed, it is a misconception that youth have little love for Agriculture. The truth, the odds don’t support their thriving in Agriculture. Worldwide, it is a known fact that Agriculture is capital intensive - which capital, youths can’t easily access given that for most economies particularly in developing nations, Agriculture loans are not offered citing the high risky nature of farming. To your surprise, even insurance agencies are reluctant to take on Agriculture investments saying there are too risky for their risk-related interventions. This leaves farmers especially youths who are resource constraints at crossroads.

Secondly, Agriculture is driven, regulated and grown by markets. For the sake of developing countries, youths are reluctant to engage in agriculture because the market thereof is rather distorted - its a market that consumes whatever is dropped on it irrespective of the quality. There is no price incentive for quality yet youths will always what to engage where there is a premium for quality so they can put their innovative ingenuity to use - with certainty of the associated financial rewards.

Thirdly, our governments keep singing the song of how important Agriculture is to our economies, however, this emphasis is not reflected in national curriculum and budgets - thus development programmes. This where the youth would have been easily recruited into Agriculture with minimal effort.

In summary, the above challenges have not only limited youth recruitment, retention and engagement in Agriculture but also greatly deterred their interest in same.

Thanks Team,

Kenneth Senkosi

Officer Agriculture

Kampala Capital City Authority, Uganda

1. Why is there a need to promote youth engagement and employment in agriculture and food systems? What are the key issues and opportunities?

The global population is aging. Within this pattern we have the farmer’s population is aging as well. Globalization has brought many benefits and opportunities, but youth is needed to uptake and implement these changes. However, young people are increasingly aiming at non-agricultural professions and careers, thus creating a gap in the agricultural sector! On top of that, we need youth more than ever, given the growing population and hence demand for feeding them. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) including smart phones, social media and internet are bringing new vibrancy and potential to agricultural practices worldwide. Such tools and approaches can make it easier to address many potential future challenges of our food systems, including limited arable land, weather patterns unpredictability, and on-/off-farm losses. However, leveraging these tools to their fullest potential necessitates a certain set of skills and technical expertise. Young people are more ready and enthusiastic to master and apply such technologies to agricultural and food systems. This promises increased productivity and attainable solutions and simultaneously can help youth see agriculture as a viable and profitable business opportunity, while increasing interest and attraction of agriculture and food system related career paths to them!

1. How do the evolution and transitions of agriculture, food systems and nutrition affect youth engagement and employment? How can agriculture and food systems employment become more attractive for youth, especially considering the rural-urban continuum? What would be needed to improve standards of living and services in rural areas and mid-sized towns, to retain youth and young families?

With all these opportunities at hand, it is important to examine the evolution of agriculture, food systems and nutrition and how it can affect youth engagement and employment. Food systems have evolved dramatically over recent decades to feed billions of people. However, the ‘triple burden’ of malnutrition (hunger, insufficient nutrients, and overweight and obesity) is increasingly recognised, in parts of the world, as the ‘new normal’. On the other hand, we cannot ignore the fact the food sector is responsible for anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and contributes to decreased biodiversity, water pollution and soil degradation. At the same time, a great amount of food produced is wasted or lost along the food supply. Food systems are, however, an important source of livelihoods and a driver for a large number of businesses, enterprises and markets. Employment in food production, manufacturing and service is some of the lowest paid work – therefore attracting lesser and lesser youth. These, and many other problems are all interconnected, and tend to have no single solution or line of responsibility. Solutions and improvements in the functioning of food systems are often expected to derive from technological — and especially agricultural — innovations driven by youth. Yet, we cannot look to these alone to address all the challenges. New approaches based on ‘food-systems thinking’ are required, involving young people (both males and females) and equipping them with the skills, tools and capabilities to better understand and manage food-system complexity for food security, for the environment and for health. At the moment, young people that want to engage in agriculture and food systems, particularly rural youth, face difficulties accessing proper training, financial services, ‘green jobs’ and markets.

1. What governance transformations are necessary to enable and encourage youth participation in agriculture and food systems, and what actions are required to equip youth with the necessary skills and confidence in fully engaging in these decision-making processes?

There are opportunities and it is time to provide solutions by shifting the perception of farming and agriculture within communities and populations, exposing youth more and early on to agriculture, involving the in all aspects of the value chain (rather than just farming and introducing agriculture problems to youth to resolve them – as there will be a time that they have to face these challenges alone!

1. 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?

Youth participation has an important role in policy dialogue and decision-making on food systems, and policy-makers should be encouraged to work not only for but also with youth, engaging youth in all phases, since inception of processes and projects as well as conducting participatory assessments of their needs and aspirations, migration patterns and rural/urban labour markets trends. For more youth engagement in agri-food systems, governments and development partners need to create enabling environments that foster decent work, promote large-scale programmes and innovations, enhance youth’s access to financial resources, land, markets, agri-business development services, education & training, knowledge, and ICT.

1. What are the best strategies for fully engaging youth, in particular young women, in opportunities to acquire adequate skills and learning opportunities to further develop their knowledge and enable them to be leaders in innovative agriculture and the transformation of food systems?

Engaging youth and particularly young women to take ownership and leadership of change and progress in agri-food systems, would require an organized approach at country-level that will support on youth employment issues, with emphasis on agri-food systems and young women. This will require investment and capacity building.

1. 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?

This is a lot to consider, however, I think it boils down to inclusion of youth (both males and females) from the very beginning into policy processes and implementation. Actions and projects should be linked to the country leadership, infrastructure and capacities and youth must be organized, such as in the case of farmer’s associations, but real power should be given to them, by placing them in the discussion tables where important decisions for the agri-food system are made.

1. What are the most appropriate policies and initiatives to facilitate the education-to-labour market transition and youth recruitment and retention in agriculture and food systems’ related activities? What nodes and activities in supply chains have the highest potential for generating decent jobs for youth? What new types of training are needed foster more agroecological approaches to farming?

Addressing systemic problems across the agri-food system needs people skilled in systems thinking and equipped with soft skills to allow them to be capable within an often-challenging and increasingly demanding working environment. Food systems need to be understood and managed from different and multiple perspectives, and there is a growing need for people skilled in food-systems thinking across the sector. New approaches based on ‘food-systems thinking’ are required, drawing on innovative types of learning, analysis and institutional arrangements, coupled with greater collaboration between economists, agriculturalists, policy makers, ecologists, engineers, food and crop scientists, and business, among many others.

1. 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?

Similar to other sectors, women and girls in agri-food system encounter challenges related to land access, productive resources, managing income from land, education, financial services, and information. Empowerment of women can increase farm productivity, agricultural outputs and ultimately contribute to economic development. Considering that particularly young women face challenges related to agri-food training, land and property access, and a lack of mentorship, resulting in an even greater need to find ways to provide them with support, is crucial to consider social support and protection schemes and policies that make it easier for women to acquire the access, skills and information they need. This way the wage differences can be reduced and even eradicated.

1. What data is necessary to support policy development to enhance youth engagement and employment, and to create awareness of the specific needs, vulnerabilities and opportunities of disadvantaged youth?

All data on youth is crucial at this point. Mainly the estimates of current numbers (both males and females) involved in the agri-food systems, training information and needs, etc. Good decisions are based on good data, and in many countries, particularly low and lower middle-income countries, the availability of timely and reliable rural, agricultural and food system statistics is largely lacking. This should be the focus.

While looking for the recent references on what are the most appropriate initiatives to facilitate the education-to-labour market transition and youth recruitment and retention in agriculture and food systems’ related activities? that should be considered in this report:

I found that ADB approved new $400-M loan to back Jobstart program in Philippines. This will support the Department of Labor and Employment’s (DoLE) Jobstart scheme for at-risk youth in Phillippines. JobStart is a five-year-old DoLE program to enhance employability via one-on-one career coaching, technical skills training, and paid internships with private sector employers.The ADB helped design and implement the JobStart pilot project to assist the school-to-work transition of at-risk youth — those who are out of school, unemployed, and not getting any training.Young people struggling to find jobs after they leave school is a persistent problem in many developing countries including in the Philippines. Thus, creating wage jobs for the youth is critical to helping reduce poverty and income inequality in these countries.More than 200 employers have so far partnered with the government under the JobStart program, benefiting more than 20,000 out-of-school youths about three-fifths of whom are women and more than two-thirds coming from low-income households.The ADB and the government of Canada helped fund the pilot program, now,  there are 35 Local Government Units (LGUs) administering the program nationwide in Philippines.

More Information:

https://www.adb.org/news/features/giving-hope-young-filipinos-through-j…

https://www.bworldonline.com/adb-approves-new-400-m-loan-to-back-jobsta…

https://policyblog.uni-graz.at/2017/08/jobstart-philippines-a-promising…

I published," Walking the talk; mentoring rural youth to Make agriculture attractive" at YPARD on 23rd May, 2017. Among several other articles on youth engagement,  I published, "Youth and social media: A leverage for agripreneurship" at YPARD on 31st July, 2018 & another, "Train, engage, employ and retain" published on 28October, 2017 at YPARD . The links of these articles given here:

https://ypard.net/2017-may-23/walking-talk-mentoring-rural-youth-make-a…

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

https://ypard.net/news/train-engage-employ-and-retain

While browsing literature on youth and agriculture, I came across some interesting articles in context of India. I am sharing them here:

i.How to inspire India's youth to take up farming?

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/agriculture/how-to-inspire-india-s-…

ii.How Can Agriculture Be Made 'Cool' For India's Youth?

https://www.epw.in/engage/article/how-can-agriculture-be-made-cool-indi…

iii.CONSULTATIVE WORKSHOP ON “OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUTH IN AGRICYURAL DEVELOPMENT”22nd–23rd September-2016: REPORT

https://www.manage.gov.in/publications/youth.pdf

When analysing all these publications on youth and agriculture, we find some issues very common:

i. Youth doesnt find agriculture exciting enough, least attractive preposition

ii. Youth wish to migrate to cities, looking for white collar jobs

iii. Youth can be retained in agriculture provided agriculture is made attractice by way of provinding financing for youth agriventures

iv. Handholding required

v. Value chains attract youth

vi. Smart farming- being persued by new generation farmers, even those who have no background in agriculture, can lure rural youths

vii. Youth need skilling, training, mentoring, financing

viii. Agripreneurs suits more to youth  than a mere farmer

Please see attached the IAFN/PSM position paper on ENGAGING, RECRUITING, AND RETAINING YOUTH IN AGRICULTURE as a contribution to the discussion on scoping of the forthcoming HLPE report.

with thanks and regards

Brian Baldwin