The report seems rather comprehensive and interesting. On my side, I would advise to put more attention to youth engagement in the fight for food security and nutrition. While particular importance of youth is highlighted in the preamble of the report (Introduction), there is no single reference to youth in the whole report. Meantime, youth are the major drivers for any change/transformation and should the cornerstone for enhancing food security and nutrition. This is particularly reasonable in the context of the digital revolution in food and agriculture, where youth can play a particular role because youth are:
At ease with change
Adaptable
Enthusiastic
Fast learners of new technologies
More aware of new tools
More computer literate
Good transfers of ICT skills
Able to build partnerships
The application of information and communication technologies by young rural entrepreneurs can cover all the segments of the food value-chain: apps for production, trade, water, pest management, smart greenhouses, record keeping, trade and marketing of products, access to inputs, finance, social media advocacy, etc.
Among many benefits that youth engagement in rural entrepreneurship and digital innovation will have to overcome agriculture value-chain related constraints, it will also mitigate rural youth migration that creates imbalances in the age and potential skillsets in the remaining rural labor force, potentially threatening the capacity of the agricultural and food systems to sustain not only the rural economy but also urban communities.
Actions for forwarding youth can include:
Skills and Capacity Development: collaboration with national and local governments and the private sector, development of practical skills on market-oriented agriculture and agribusiness enterprises, replication and scale-up models of success cases).
Agribusiness Development: explore promising technologies and innovations for commercialization, establishing agribusiness incubators, promoting agribusiness startups to assess best practices, establishing demonstration farms and pilot agribusinesses as centers for profitable innovation; advocating for necessary policies to support youth engagement and job creation, etc.)
Youth-focused Networking: establishing youth innovation agribusiness centers, connecting youth led research and youth led implementation on the field, organize internships with private agribusinesses and incubators for on-the-job training and skills development, create incentives to attract trained youth into agribusiness entrepreneurship, promote better networking among young agripreneurs, conduct media events to popularize and highlight youth achievements and emerging opportunities.
A promising case for promoting innovation and youth in agriculture is the Armenian National SDG Innovation Laboratory that envisions mainstreaming the culture of innovation and experimentation in policy making for sustainable development. It aims to further unlock Armenia’s development potential and accelerate the implementation of the Agenda 2030. Indeed, it is for the first time, that the government in cooperation with the United Nations establishes an innovation platform to support the SDGs implementation at country level. Currently, the project pipeline of the SDG Lab involves “Al in Agriculture” initiative that targets SDG2 (End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture) and SDG 8 (Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all). “Al in Agriculture” aims to introduce innovative digital data collection and information management system to agriculture through:
Developing a real-time agricultural data register with the help of new technologies such as satellite and drone imagery, which will be verified on the ground by agricultural experts or farmers;
Applying remote-sensing technology artificial intelligence and aerial imagery for crop growth monitoring.
The SDG Innovation Lab has a potential of becoming a promising innovation platform for youth-innovators-to-youth-implementers cooperation and action. Details are available here:
Related to HLPE questions: 1, 4, 5
The report seems rather comprehensive and interesting. On my side, I would advise to put more attention to youth engagement in the fight for food security and nutrition. While particular importance of youth is highlighted in the preamble of the report (Introduction), there is no single reference to youth in the whole report. Meantime, youth are the major drivers for any change/transformation and should the cornerstone for enhancing food security and nutrition. This is particularly reasonable in the context of the digital revolution in food and agriculture, where youth can play a particular role because youth are:
At ease with change
Adaptable
Enthusiastic
Fast learners of new technologies
More aware of new tools
More computer literate
Good transfers of ICT skills
Able to build partnerships
The application of information and communication technologies by young rural entrepreneurs can cover all the segments of the food value-chain: apps for production, trade, water, pest management, smart greenhouses, record keeping, trade and marketing of products, access to inputs, finance, social media advocacy, etc.
Among many benefits that youth engagement in rural entrepreneurship and digital innovation will have to overcome agriculture value-chain related constraints, it will also mitigate rural youth migration that creates imbalances in the age and potential skillsets in the remaining rural labor force, potentially threatening the capacity of the agricultural and food systems to sustain not only the rural economy but also urban communities.
Actions for forwarding youth can include:
Skills and Capacity Development: collaboration with national and local governments and the private sector, development of practical skills on market-oriented agriculture and agribusiness enterprises, replication and scale-up models of success cases).
Agribusiness Development: explore promising technologies and innovations for commercialization, establishing agribusiness incubators, promoting agribusiness startups to assess best practices, establishing demonstration farms and pilot agribusinesses as centers for profitable innovation; advocating for necessary policies to support youth engagement and job creation, etc.)
Youth-focused Networking: establishing youth innovation agribusiness centers, connecting youth led research and youth led implementation on the field, organize internships with private agribusinesses and incubators for on-the-job training and skills development, create incentives to attract trained youth into agribusiness entrepreneurship, promote better networking among young agripreneurs, conduct media events to popularize and highlight youth achievements and emerging opportunities.
A promising case for promoting innovation and youth in agriculture is the Armenian National SDG Innovation Laboratory that envisions mainstreaming the culture of innovation and experimentation in policy making for sustainable development. It aims to further unlock Armenia’s development potential and accelerate the implementation of the Agenda 2030. Indeed, it is for the first time, that the government in cooperation with the United Nations establishes an innovation platform to support the SDGs implementation at country level. Currently, the project pipeline of the SDG Lab involves “Al in Agriculture” initiative that targets SDG2 (End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture) and SDG 8 (Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all). “Al in Agriculture” aims to introduce innovative digital data collection and information management system to agriculture through:
Developing a real-time agricultural data register with the help of new technologies such as satellite and drone imagery, which will be verified on the ground by agricultural experts or farmers;
Applying remote-sensing technology artificial intelligence and aerial imagery for crop growth monitoring.
The SDG Innovation Lab has a potential of becoming a promising innovation platform for youth-innovators-to-youth-implementers cooperation and action. Details are available here:
https://www.sdginnovationlab.am/en/about-us
Naira Harutyunyan, PhD
[email protected]
Resources: