Webinars [ID: 145]
Youth and Agriculture, What should donors know?
A successful agenda 2030 will have to find a solution to the declining participation of youth in agriculture not only for the sake of a food secure future, but also for the reduction of extreme poverty. With this realization, the development community has begun to prioritise youth in their agendas, recognizing the myriad of issues that must be addressed in order to promote youth in agriculture.
The Platform invited 3 presenters from youth innovation networks, agricultural social enterprises and technology for agriculture in different parts of the world, to discuss the topic based on their experience. In a discussion titled “Youth and agriculture, what should donors know?” the key conclusions were:
- There are two categories of youth, those who are still struggling to get into agriculture and those that have moved to the cities. Donors should target these two groups individually so as not to lose those who are still struggling to stay involved.
- Donors should do more to promote “agropreneurship” to ensure youth participation in agriculture. All youth involved in agriculture are “entrepreneurs by default” because farming is a business. Making farming more appealing by promoting entrepreneurship skills, access to credit with fair conditions as well as financial services, access to farming innovations and access to assets
- Donors should promote the use of ICT to promote agriculture and make it "savy". Mobile technologies are already being used in a number of countries to improve access to markets and secure better prices.
- Donors should promote networking, knowledge and information through social media and conferences.