Capacity-building Workshop on Promoting Rural Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship through Digital Innovation

A capacity-building workshop on Promoting Rural Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship through Digital Innovation was successfully organized by the South-South and Triangular Cooperation Division (PST) and the Inclusive Rural Transformation and Gender Equality Division (ESP) in July 2022, in collaboration with the Center of International Cooperation Service (CICOS), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) of China. 

The workshop aimed to facilitate strategic discussions on potential contributions of digital innovation to agriculture and rural development, with the focus on the creation of decent rural employment and entrepreneurship targeting young women and men. The workshop brought together about 60 participants from 12 countries namely Kenya, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Viet Nam, Indonesia and Cambodia, and Papua New Guinea.

During the opening ceremony of the Capacity Building Workshop, Mr. Jianmin Xie, Counsel of the Department of International Cooperation, MARA gave the welcoming remarks. He stated that as China has been pushing forward all-round rural revitalization, digital transformation is vital to narrow the rural-urban gap. He emphasized that MARA attaches great importance to this virtual capacity-building workshop and is willing to share policies and practices of rural digital transformation with fellow developing countries through FAO's SSC platform, to strengthen employment and entrepreneur capacity of youth and contribute to world food security and agricultural sustainability.  

Mr. Yahui Zhang (PST) gave the opening remarks on behalf of Mr. Anping Ye, Director of South-South and Triangular Division (PST) of FAO. He emphasized the crucial role of the south-south and triangular cooperation to enable the transfer and exchange of these experiences and solutions among other developing countries. Digital agriculture and rural transformation has been one of the key areas of focus of the capacity-building activities under the Programme, with the focus on youth, women and other vulnerable groups.

In addition, Mr. Benjamin Davis, Director of ESP said during his intervention that around 68 million of youth people between the ages of 15 and 24 were unemployed in 2019.  In order to enable young generation to meet the demands of the digital economy, countries must overcome social, economic and institutional barriers to provide equal access to technology and training for them. It is important to develop and update education and training curricula taking into account the growing importance of digital and soft skills.

At the closing ceremony, Mr. Zhang Zhongjun, Assistant Representative of FAO-China Office pointed out that the workshop provided a platform to exchange experiences of digital rural transformation among developing countries, and further explored rural employment and entrepreneurship models.

The Information Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, the Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Freshwater Fisheries Research Center of Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Kuaishou Group, Ali Research Institute, and other institutions from Thailand and Kenya introduced relevant policies, practices and research outcomes of digital rural transformation during the workshop. At the same time, representatives of young agri-epreneurs from Asia Pacific and Africa shared their respective entrepreneurial journeys.

The workshop particularly addressed the issue of the digital divide. Several action points have been developed to address gaps constraining youth to take advantage of digital innovation and technology in the agri-food systems. Countries showed appreciation to this knowledge and experience exchange, especially between different regions. They expressed their expectations from FAO to provide more capacity building and technical support in this area, through SSTC, including learning exchange and visits/study tours.