المنتدى العالمي المعني بالأمن الغذائي والتغذية

Hello,

I would want to give a brief contribution to this discussion.  I took particular interest in this topic having recently completed a literature review on vocational education in agriculture for high school graduate in Nigeria. I would agree with the team that many rural youths are working poor and they face a myriad of constraints especially when they work in agriculture. However, the assertion that youth in agriculture are exposed to health and safety hazards is quite debatable. This is because working in agriculture is as difficulty and hazardous to the older people as to the youth. Secondly, many of this youth are also doing more strenuous jobs like brick layering, carpentry, transportation etc. which pose more health challenges than in agriculture.

In Nigeria, one of the greatest challenge for youth in agriculture is accessibility to credit and modern facilities. Who can lend a child of 17 years “10,000 dollars” to purchase a tractor?  Is it even legally possible? The non-availability of machines and lack of hiring service and opportunities to obtain credit makes agriculture more drudgery than it should be. Most of the youth engages in agriculture because it is the only available option. Probably, they receive a portion of land from their parents who cannot afford to send them to college and they produce just little and cannot expand due to lack of land. The credit system has not recognized this groups, hence, they are neglected even if there is a window for loan acquisition.

Let say they succeed in going to vocational schools, there is yet to be any specific incentives provided by governments to attract youths to enroll for vocational courses in agriculture. In Nigeria for example, vocational education in agriculture are usually open for youth who cannot pass important courses in their secondary school examination or did not earn enough score to get into the universities. The implication is that the system is meant to select only lazy students who sought for ways to escape from parental watch. Furthermore, although there are opportunities for internship, many organizations are simply not interested to hire agric-interns. In some extreme situation, you could see an agric-intern working in a computer factory.

Even when there is a commitment from the government towards promoting youth in agriculture, those program often does not last. Poor targeting, mismanagement, short time frame and total lack of commitment reduces the potent of such activities or policies. One big example from Nigeria, is the SURE P program and YEAP program. These are nice programs that aims to encourage youth to develop entrepreneur skills and pursue careers in agriculture. However, these programs have no relationship with agriculture vocational schools. Many recipients are people without any training in agriculture. You only win if you can write a good proposal, even if you lack the skills. Notwithstanding, this programs often die with the government that introduced them. There is totally no national policy to ensure their sustainability.

The neglect of the youth has caused and would continue to cause a lot of damage to the society. They often fall prey to extremist. Since they are unstable, they could indulge in socially unaccepted behavior like drugs, stealing, etc. To minimize some of the juvenile delinquencies they indulge in, government and the society should work together to engage them in sound and regular activities. On agriculture activities, I will recommend that:

1.       There should be a national policy instituted in the constitution or bye laws of countries that recognizes the statue of this group as dependable, vulnerable but capable. This law or policy should create windows for them to access little loan, get extension services, and prepare them to engage in agriculture exhibition or shows (of their products).

2.       Government and education system should reconsider and make better decisions on the entry level for vocational studies in agriculture. They should encourage agriculture companies to hire agri- interns and provide after agriculture loans for graduates.

3.       Programs on youth in agriculture should be made as tenacious as possible. This programs should be designed in such a way that the agricultural vocational education system would also benefit.

Obi Chinedu T.

International Masters in Rural Development

Ghent university Belgium

China Agriculture university Beijing , China