Strengthening youth participation in agricultural cooperatives

Within the framework of the 2025 International Year of Cooperatives, FAO and Cooperativas Agrarias Federadas (CAF), in coordination with the General Directorate for Rural Development of the Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries (DGDR-MGAP) and the National Institute of Cooperativism (INACOOP), promoted an initiative to strengthen youth participation in agricultural cooperativism in Uruguay.

Strengthening rural youth is strategic to ensuring generational renewal, innovation, and the resilience of agrifood systems. Young people bring new skills, drive the adoption of technologies, promote more sustainable production models, and contribute to the economic and social dynamism of rural territories.

The initiative responded to a key challenge for agricultural cooperatives: the decline in the rural population and the exit of producers from the sector, factors that may compromise their sustainability. In this context, encouraging young people’s participation in cooperatives not only expands their development opportunities, but also strengthens the governance, adaptability, and long-term sustainability of these organizations.

The initiative “Strengthening Youth in Agricultural Cooperativism” sought to encourage the participation of rural youth through exchange, awareness-raising, and training activities. The process focused on issues such as entrepreneurship, digitalization, family farming, and the transformation of agrifood systems.

During 2025, workshops and dialogue spaces were held in CAF member cooperatives, including CADOL, in Dolores, Soriano, and CALIMA, in San Carlos, Maldonado. The activities brought together adolescents, young people linked to cooperatives, producers’ family members, students, and people interested in the agricultural sector. They combined field visits, training sessions, and exchanges on opportunities within agricultural cooperativism.

The agreement between CAF and FAO was implemented between December 2024 and December 2025. During this period, a national agenda of training, dialogue, and communication was developed, including capacity-building activities on youth participation with a gender and generational approach, digitalization, and first steps in artificial intelligence applied to the cooperative and agricultural sectors.

The experience helped highlight the role of rural youth, strengthen capacities, and open up spaces for participation in agricultural cooperatives. Through these actions, FAO supported the development of a more inclusive and sustainable cooperativism, with young people playing a leading role in building the future of agrifood systems.