Policy Support and Governance Gateway

Decent Rural Employment

Over three quarters of the world’s poor live in rural areas. Most depend on agriculture and their own labour to earn a living. However, rural employment opportunities are often precarious, informal, poorly remunerated and even hazardous.

Creating more and better rural employment opportunities.

Poverty and hunger cannot be eradicated without addressing the inadequacy of employment conditions and opportunities in rural areas. FAO works to generate decent farm and non-farm employment, including by supporting responsible investments in agriculture and food systems and inclusive policy dialogue. 

FAO influences global, regional and national processes on key issues such as youth employment, migration, child labour, green jobs, working conditions, and availability of data and evidence. FAO proactively supports governments in the formulation of decent rural employment policies, strategies and programmes, targeting vulnerable groups, particularly youth, women, migrants and children. To achieve this, FAO partners with other UN agencies, civil society, producer organizations, academia and the private sector.
Key messages

Revitalising rural economies and promoting decent rural employment and workforce development is essential to address the adverse drivers of migration, reduce inequality and end poverty and hunger.

The drivers for change should be identified on both the labour demand and supply side. Greater investments in agri-food value chain and private sector development are critical for rural job creation, alongside investments in skills development and social protection.

Across developing regions, the working-age population is growing. This creates an enormous challenge, but also an opportunity to benefit from a huge demographic dividend. In Africa, for example, almost 200 million rural youth are expected to enter the labour market over the next 15 years.

They must also boost the income of rural families through skills development, technical support and access to inputs, markets and credit. The latter would also be critical to end the economic dependence on child labour, which still affects 112 million boys and girls only in agriculture.

After significant gains in the second half of 2020, the job recovery stalled during 2021, with a loss in terms of global hours worked equivalent to 125 million full-time jobs when compared to the pre-crisis benchmark (source: ILO). The negative impact has been disproportionately high for the most vulnerable workers, including youths, women, informal workers, migrants, and seasonal workers, which demands targeted interventions to guarantee inclusive recovery paths. Millions of children are pushed into labour as households struggle to cope with food insecurity, lost income, labour shortage due to limitation of movement, and deteriorating livelihoods.

As a leading institution of global agri-food governance, FAO supports member countries in advancing decent rural employment and strengthening institutional and human capacities on this topic. It advocates for attention to employment issues and a decent work environment for all those involved in agrifood systems at all levels.

 
Featured resources
Assessing decent employment situation and perspectives in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank - Briefing note on the Occupied Palestinian Territory
2024

The employment situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) has been critically impacted by the conflict triggered by the attack on 7 October...

Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions - First Progress Report, January 2023 - April 2024
2024

This is the first progress report of the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transitions for the period January 2023 to April...

In-depth assessment of child labour in greenhouses in the Akkar and Mount Lebanon Regions in Lebanon – Case study
2022

FAO commissioned the Consultation and Research Institute to undertake an in-depth assessment of child labour in greenhouses in order to be able to mitigate...

Will promotion of agricultural mechanization help prevent child labour? Policy brief
2021

The FAO-IFPRI study, of which this policy brief is a summary, focuses on the use of tractors because they are among the most versatile farm mechanization...

Effectiveness and duplicability of the Youth Inspiring Youth in Agriculture Initiative. Lessons learned from Uganda
2021

Agricultural production relies heavily on migrant labour across geographies and production systems, from large-scale plantations growing food crops...

Land and labour. Agricultural workers’ tenure rights
2021

Land and labour rights can intersect in multiple ways. Investments in large-scale plantations often entail trade-offs between job creation and compressions...

Seasonal migration and child labour in agriculture. Background paper
2021

Agricultural production relies heavily on migrant labour across geographies and production systems, from large-scale plantations growing food crops...

Tackling child labour through decent youth employment in agri-food systems. Background paper
2021

Poverty reduction and food security are intrinsically linked. Both depend on sustainable food systems and safe and sustainable agricultural practices....

Reverse migration to rural areas of origin in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
2021

This note provides an overview of available evidence on return migration to rural areas due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the related implications for migrant...

Tackling child labour in fisheries and aquaculture. Background paper
2021

The global aquatic food industry, long under scrutiny over environmental sustainability concerns, has also come under increased scrutiny within the...

Caractéristiques, modèles et vecteurs de la migration rurale au Sénégal
2021

Bien que les flux migratoires en provenance des zones rurales soient un phénomène courant dans la plupart des pays en développement, nous disposons...

Strengthening decent rural employment opportunities for youth across different processes in the forest value chain in Uganda. Practices and lessons
2021

This report addresses the subject of decent rural employment for youth in the forestry sector. It is based on case studies carried out across different...

FAO framework on ending child labour in agriculture
2020

The purpose of the FAO’s framework is to guide the Organization and its personnel in the integration of measures addressing child labour within FAO’s...

Youth in motion for climate action! A compilation of youth initiatives in agriculture to address the impacts of climate change
2020

This publication highlights various access points for projects and initiatives that engage and mobilize young people. It focuses on climate-resilient...

FAO elearning Academy - Courses on Child Labour
2020

Explore our wide variety of free, multilingual courses in the areas of food and nutrition security, social and economic developmentand sustainable management...

How can agricultural policies and strategies help to end child labour in agriculture? FSN Forum report of activity No. 165
2020

This document summarizes the online discussion How can agricultural policies and strategies help to end child labour in agriculture? held on the FAO...

FAO elearning Academy - Courses on Migration
2020

Explore our wide variety of free, multilingual courses in the areas of food and nutrition security, social and economic developmentand sustainable management...

Emploi rural des jeunes et systèmes agroalimentaires au Sénégal. Analyse rapide du contexte
2020

Cette analyse du contexte donne un aperçu du Sénégal, décrivant les défis, les politiques et les programmes d’emploi des jeunes en place ainsi que les...

The International Partnership for Cooperation on Child Labour in Agriculture statement on the impact of COVID-19 on child labour in agriculture
2020

The members of the International Partnership for Cooperation on Child Labour in Agriculture (IPCCLA), namely FAO, ILO, IFAD, IUF, IFPRI has released...

Rural migration in sub-Saharan Africa: patterns, drivers and relation to structural transformation
2020

Sub-Saharan Africa has a long history of internal and international migratory movements. Migration patterns and dynamics from, to and between rural...

FAO Policy Series: Decent Rural Employment
26/07/2016

Peter Wobst, Senior Programme Officer of the FAO Strategic Programme on Rural Poverty Reduction together with Ileana Grandelis, Rural Employment Officer...