Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

Contribution posted on the FSN Forum in West Africa

English translation below

La promotion de l'emploi rural des jeunes dont la tranche d'âge est située entre 15 et 17 ans suppose une révolution et une refonte profonde de l'Agriculture telle que pratiquée à nos jours. Dans la plus part des pays, l'Agriculture est strictement une activité de subsistance.  On produit pour l'autoconsommation qui est loin d'être satisfaite. Le désespoir pousse alors les jeunes à se désintéresser de cette activité considérée comme celle réservée aux seuls vulnérables. Il est nécessaire de prouver le contraire et démontrer que l'Agriculture peut constituer une importante source génératrice de revenus.

Mes recommandations en ce sens est de créer " des ilots d'espoirs" structurés pouvant conférer des richesses et fixer les jeunes aux terroirs. Pour cela il faut :

- cultiver tout d'abord un esprit d'entreprenariat chez les jeunes par une large sensibilisation les poussant à aimer l'activité agricole,

- structurer les jeunes en groupements spécialisés exploitant les différents domaines agricoles (élevage, piscicultures, agrumes, rizicultures, etc.)

- s'approprier les jeunes des activités mises en place,

- octroyer suffisamment de terres pour la conduite des différentes activités, des moyens de productions,

- mettre à disponibilité des moyens financiers et matériels sous formes de prêts remboursables, éviter la gratuité,

- accompagner les jeunes dans la mise en œuvre des activités (formations, encadrements, etc.)

Pourtant, la plus part des secteurs informels sont détenus par les jeunes de 15 à 17. L'exemple le plus frappant est aujourd'hui est celui de la téléphonie.

En mettant en place une Agriculture de business, les jeunes peuvent trouver des emplois ruraux décents et nourrir ainsi la planète tout entière.

The promotion of rural work for the young between 15 and 17 years old assumes a revolution and a profound overhaul of agriculture as it is now practiced. In most countries, agriculture is a strictly subsistance activity.  We produce for self-consumption, which is far from being satisfied. Discouragement pushes the young to lose interest in this activity considered to be reserved only for the vulnerable. It is necessary to prove the opposite and demonstrate that agriculture can be an important income generating source.

My recommendation in this sense is to create structured “islets of hope” able to create wealth and attach the young to the land.  For that, it is necessary to:

- cultivate, first of all, an entrepreneurial spirit in the youth by an extensive awareness campaign encouraging them to enjoy agricultural activity.

- organize the young into specialized groups that exploit the different areas of agriculture (livestock, fish farming, citrus, rice cultivation, etc.),

- the youth should take over the running of the activities implemented,

- grant enough land and means of production, to carry out the different activities,

- make financial and material means available in the form of repayable loans, avoid giving for free,

- guide the young people in the implementation of activities (training, management, etc.),

However, most of the informal business sectors are the domain of the youth between 15 and 17 years old. The most striking example today is the telephone.

By putting in place agriculture as a business, the youth could find appropriate rural work and in this way feed the entire planet.

Contribution posted on the FSN Forum in West Africa

Youth engagement and employment in agriculture is at the centre of the discussions today to meaning connect our next generation with today's Agricultural development agenda. In Africa, the youth constitutes about 37% of the continent total labor force, but then the young people make up about 60% of the African continent total unemployment rate.

In Nigeria, there are several initiatives, programmes and schemes in Agriculture aimed at making the sector respond to the food production needs of the country, ensure farmers get the benefit of the labor they put into food production and feeding their families and as a source of both domestic and foreign earnings. There is the Agricultural Development Programme (ADPs), There is the Fadama 1, 11 and 111 aimed at strategic engagement in the Agricultural sector, food production and rural development. There is also the National Agricultural Land Development Agency, (NALDA).

Launching of the Youth Employment in Agriculture Program (YEAP) and the Fund for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development underscore its determination to reduce the level of youth unemployment and plans to empower 740,000 market-oriented young Agricultural producers in rural areas under Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP).

On the other hand, National Alliance Against Hunger and Malnutrition (NAAHM) with Agriculture Department of the ECOWAS Commission and Humanitas Global Development has a designed project aimed at introducing a Regional Agricultural initiative tagged at Promoting Youth Agro-Entrepreneurship to increase Food security (PYAEF) for the Young people of the Sub-Region. The Alliance is also working with strategic Alliances in the West Africa Sub-Region to engage institutions and private sector that engages in Land grab and that do not adhere to FAO, and African Union guidelines on Responsible investment in Agriculture.

On the other hand, the concept of the Feed the Future as the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative, aimed at transforming lives toward a world where people no longer face the agony and injustice of extreme poverty, undernutrition and hunger no doubt provides the connection for the current discussions promoted through the Global Forum on Food Security (FSN). Also the FSN Forum in West Africa supports policy and programmes by providing a channel for West African stakeholders to contribute to existing initiatives and voice their ideas and concerns on food security and nutrition in the region.

It is therefore on the strength of this process the I feel that the objectives set under the forth –coming workshop to be held at the FAO Headquarters in Rome which includes –

       Challenges faced by rural youth aged in making both (current or future) living in agriculture and related activities, as well as in non-agricultural activities in rural areas is imperative for us to review.

       The urgent need to identify for the purpose of improved skills development and employment options for rural youth (boys and girls) aged 15-17 in agriculture and the rural economy.

This is fundamental to guaranteeing our future and the future of Agricultural practices and policies. This is the reason our contribution to this discussion is viewed in the context promoting best practices and effectives ways of youth inclusiveness in Agricultural business environmental and engagement.

Best Regards

Raymond Enoch

CEED/NAAHM Nigeria

Dear all,

Based on my own practice of the policy debate on youth employment and observation of existing experiences, it seems to me that many programs addressing youth specifics are often at risk of considering youth in isolation, as if they were on an island, while the challenge of youth employment is fully embedded in the dynamics of the economy and society as a whole.

I will refer more particularly to the specific context of late developing countries with challenging processes of structural change, and notably sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where stakeholders have to deal at the same time with the consequences of the demographic transition and a fast growing labour force, and an incipient economic diversification.

The structural transformation of SSA is a major part of the problem about youth employment, and it will be a large part of the solution. Therefore, the policy priority today is not to seek “silver bullets” which would directly give youth access to decent jobs. It is to take seriously into account youth specifics within an overall strategy for an inclusive economic and social development: youth employment will result first from a dynamic process of change, and what is at stake is to identify the indispensable building blocks in order to facilitate transitions.

There is a raging debate today about the best policy option for Africa, with extremely contrasting points of view, raising the potential for manufacturing within the new context of globalisation, reiterating the strong leverage effects of agriculture, and pointing to the opportunities of the service economy or of investing in green growth. Every sector will have to contribute to Africa’s structural change. However, policies need to focus first on the sectorial and regional distribution of activities and people and give attention to what people do and where they live.

Today, the majority of the population in SSA still lives in rural areas (the shift to the urban majority should not occur before the 2040s) and the existing employment structure of the sub-continent shows the overwhelming importance of agriculture – which is primarily family-based –and of household enterprises. Waged labour only accounts for around 15%. These figures give the rationale for a specific attention to rural development, agriculture and rural diversification.

And from here the discussion is about the critical issues to be addressed in order to unlock the potential for agricultural development and diversification of off-farm activities, and the related opportunities for decent youth employment.

I hope there will be space to discuss this further, including the paradox of the growing youth disinterest for farm activities (!) and what it means in terms of policy options and requirements.

Please find attach a policy brief on agriculture and the employment challenge in SSA.

Best wishes

Bruno Losch

Saludos a todos, gracias por la oportunidad de participar en el foro.

En Costa Rica la población pesquera artesanal es una de las poblaciones que cuenta con más vulnerabilidad en el sector debido a las particularidades de su trabajo, en el que sus ingresos, horarios y demás condiciones depende en su mayoría (por no decir que en su totaidad) de la cantidad de capturas que obtengan.

La pesca artesanal es una actividad que se da de forma familiar, por lo que contamos con hombres, mujeres, jóvenes y niños involucrados de una u otra forma en el proceso que involucra tanto la captura en sí como las actividades que se realizan pre y post captura. Dentro de este coontexto se encuentran los jóvenes quienes son el puente dentro de la pesca entre el mantenimiento de las prácticas tradicionale de captura y la innovación no sólo en estos procesos sino también en procesos asociados a la pesca como la comercialización.

Sin embargo, este sector sufre en buena medida del adultocentrismo que los deja en una posición desfavorable, unido a la poca organización e individualismo que ha caracterizado a la población pesquera, volviendolos practicamente invisibles dentro del sector. Es por esto que dentro de la sociedad civil se han iniciado esfuerzos no solo reconocer el trabajo de los jóvenes pescadores dentro de sus comunidades, sino visibilizarlos como agentes de cambio importante que buscan una mejora de su calidad de vida y condiciones de trabajo a partir de la pesca que combinan con sus estudios en secundaria.

Las áreas marinas de pesca responsable junto con el compromiso del país con relación a las Directrices PPE han sentado una base importante como marco de procesos de capacitación y apoyo a la juventud pesquera. Creando una red de jóvenes que les permita compartir información y generar procesos de capacitación.

CONTRIBUTION POSTED ON THE FSN FORUM IN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA

RUSSIAN VERSION BELOW

I fully support and join all the challenges and potential solutions expressed by other colleagues before me. This means that this issue is quite important and worth working on despite the initial assumptions made by the majority of people.

As it was highlighted, rural youth face the challenges in accessing knowledge, information and education, land, finance, decent jobs, including green jobs, markets and participation in policy dialogue and rural organizations. We have received a number of examples from different countries and precise cases of the problems occurred with youth in getting decent job.

In my personal opinion, the psychological factor of young people is as important and ponderable as the factors mentioned above. I think and truly believe that considerable part of youth does not desire to work and dedicate their professional career in agricultural sector.

Nowadays, the minds of rural youth are set in the way that young people see the work in agriculture as not priority and attractive as becoming bankers, businessmen/businesswomen, sportsmen, etc.

A particularly good example here might serve the mindset of rural youth in the rural areas of Uzbekistan. There are the cases when young people want to migrate to big cities and grow in more ‘popular and perspective’ spheres of economy. They consider the work of being a potential farmer or agricultural researcher/scientists as not profitable and less significant.

Mostly, parents act as the triggers of such decisions who wish their children to get higher education in different path. Young people have been receiving such life setting from the very childhood and in most circumstances follow it in making steps forward to the adult life.  

Additionally, another indeed crucial factor is the underestimation of rural youth’s productive contribution. Some agriculturists, researchers and experts of higher age consider young people as supportive and administrative worker who can only make an efficient effort in providing various functions such as assisting in logistics, writing annual reports on a research made my elder fellows, etc. Such misconception and inconsideration leads steadily to a decrease of youth involvement in agricultural development. In the nearest future, we might have a few number of young professionals. The current factor truly disregard and the youth believe that they can be valued, and properly grow in professional way in different economic sector.

In this concern, I think that there is a necessity for employers in rural areas to have a strategic plan of attracting the youth. Particularly, it would be beneficial if the officials of the organizations come up with implementing several visits to schools in order to highlight the importance of agricultural research and farming in rural areas. Furthermore, it is extremely significant to emphasize the relevance of young people’s role in SDGs and conduct series of seminars on this topic with schoolchildren who are graduating.

It is significant, at this stage that the employers themselves realize the need to support rural youth and crucially contribute to their development as the changers of NOW for the sustainability of TOMORROW.

Прежде всего, я хотел бы выразить свою искреннюю благодарность организаторам этой онлайн-дискуссии. Тема участия молодежи в сельском хозяйстве и вносимого ею вклада имеет существенное значение в наши дни. Как уже было сказано, молодежь изменяет и влияет не только на ЗАВТРАШНИЙ ДЕНЬ, но и на СЕГОДНЯШНИЙ. Поэтому мы, молодые специалисты, должны решить эту проблему СЕГОДНЯ, чтобы обеспечить устойчивое будущее развитие сельского хозяйства ЗАВТРА.

Я полностью поддерживаю и присоединяюсь ко всем тем вызовам и потенциальным решениям, которые были озвучены коллегами до меня. Это означает, что данный вопрос является весьма важным и над ним стоит работать, невзирая на первоначальные допущения, сделанные большинством людей. 

Как было отмечено, сельская молодежь сталкивается с проблемами при получении доступа к знаниям, информации и образованию, земле, финансированию, достойной работе, включая рабочие места, которые способствуют сохранению или восстановлению качества окружающей среды, рынкам и участию в диалоге по вопросам политики и сельских организаций. Мы получили ряд примеров и конкретных случаев из различных стран, касательно проблем, с которыми сталкивается молодежь при получении достойной работы.

По моему личному мнению,психологический фактор молодежи является важным и весомым, как и упомянутые выше факторы.

Я думаю, и искренне верю, что значительная часть молодежи не желает работать и посвятить свою профессиональную карьеру сельскохозяйственному сектору.

Сегодня умы сельской молодежи настроены таким образом, что молодые люди не считают работу в сельском хозяйстве такой же приоритетной и привлекательной, как стать банкиром, бизнесменом, спортсменом и т.д.

Особенно хорошим примером здесь может служить образ мышления сельской молодежи в сельских районах Узбекистана. Это случаи, когда молодежь хочет мигрировать в крупные города и обеспечить свой рост в более «популярных и перспективных» сферах экономики. По их мнению, потенциальная работа в качестве фермера или исследователя/ученого в области сельского хозяйства не достаточно прибыльна и является менее значимой. 

Главным образом, родители подталкивают их к таким решениям, желая, чтобы дети получили высшее образование в другой области. Такие жизненные установки закладываются в молодых людей с самого детства и в большинстве случаев они следуют им во взрослой жизни.

Кроме того, еще одним поистине решающим фактором является недооценка эффективности вклада сельской молодежи. Некоторые занятые в сельском хозяйстве лица, исследователи и эксперты более старшего возраста рассматривают молодежь в качестве вспомогательной или административной рабочей силы, способной на эффективное осуществление только ряда функций, таких как оказание помощи в логистике, составление годовых отчетов по результатам исследований более старших коллег и т.д. Такое неправильное представление и невнимание неуклонно ведет к снижению участия молодежи в развитии сельского хозяйства. В ближайшем будущем у нас может остаться небольшое число молодых специалистов. Этим фактором пренебрегают, и молодежь полагает, что их будут ценить и они смогут должным образом расти в профессиональном отношении в других секторах экономики.

В этом отношении, я думаю, существует необходимость в том, чтобы работодатели в сельских районах имели план по привлечению молодежи. В частности, было бы полезно, если бы представители организаций пришли к тому, чтобы нанести ряд визитов в школы, с тем чтобы подчеркнуть важность сельскохозяйственных исследований и земледелия в сельских районах. Кроме того, очень важно подчеркнуть значимость роли молодежи в достижении ЦУР, а также провести серию семинаров по этой теме для школьников, которые заканчивают школу.

На этом этапе очень важно, чтобы работодатели сами понимали необходимость в оказании поддержки сельской молодежи и вносили существенный вклад в их развитие, как тех, кто оказывает влияние СЕЙЧАС для достижения устойчивости ЗАВТРА. 

Рустам Ибрагимов, Узбекистан

I thank you for the opportunity to contribute to the discussion on one of the most challenging issues of our time in the context of rural poverty. While the introductory note focuses on policies and programmes for a good reason, rural youth in the age group 15-17, who are active labour force in most rural areas, also face formidable legal protection challenges in terms of accessing decent work and related opportunities and services.

Like rural/agricultural workers more generally, working rural youth face the challenges of labour protection gaps that result from the under-regulation of labour in agriculture and, even where there are laws of general application in place, from weakness in implementation. Labour inspection is, for example, a rarity in rural/remote areas. This is compounded by factual circumstances that result in high chances of youth aged 15-17 being engaged in hazardous labour as a result of their age-related vulnerabilities (e.g., increasing subjection to human trafficking and slavery-like working conditions in fisheries) and physical vulnerabilities (e.g., the unavailability or non-suitability of personal protective equipment in applying pesticides). Many of the challenges have to do with the failure of mainstream labour laws to either cover or be implemented in rural areas and the lack of attention of sectoral legislations to the labour rights of the people who work in the sectors. One possible solution could be to promote the adoption of sector specific legislation on labour and human rights that could be implemented in ways that ensure inter-sectoral/institutional collaborations. A good example is the Indonesian Ministerial Regulation on the protection of human rights in the fisheries business (NOMOR 35/PERMEN-KP/2015).

Legal frameworks governing opportunities and services related to rural employment, such as the possibility of joining rural workers organizations, accessing credit and other financial services and benefiting from workers social protection schemes often require attaining the age of majority, which is often 18 years of age. Policy and legal initiatives that are meant specifically to create work opportunities for and protect the vulnerabilities of youth in the age group 15-17 are not common. What is even more interesting is that even the most celebrated examples of legal measures to address decent work and social protection gaps in rural areas, such as the Indian National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005, target ‘adult members of households who have completed 18 years of age’. Such labour protection blind-spots may not be a result of mere oversight or they may be justified by the magnitude of the problems of rural employment. However, the clear importance of targeting and investing in the youth requires either the reorientation of existing policy and legal measures to include them or the adoption of more targeted ones that take the special circumstances of the age group 15-17 into account.

Finally, it is interesting to see that the introductory notes identify access to land as  one of the main challenges of rural youth in agriculture. In some countries such as Sierra Leone, the tension between land-owning elites seeking labour for their farms and impoverished rural youth is believed to have fuelled violent conflicts (Richards, 2005). In this connection, the increasing recognition of community land rights in positively rated land-related legal reforms could pay more attention to how rural youth can access land and hence go out of the cycle of unpaid family labour and migration to urban areas.  

Thank you!

CONTRIBUTION POSTED ON THE FSN FORUM IN EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA

RUSSIAN VERSION BELOW

Young people undoubtedly are the future of the country, they must have rights and they need to have the ability to choose. Economic growth and civil society development create the base of rational youth policy. Almost 64% of the Uzbekistan’s population lives in rural areas. The high unemployment rate and low wages cause young people’s massive migration to Russia and Kazakhstan. Hence, this implies that employment, income growth and increasing the welfare of population in the country will depend on the development of agriculture and entrepreneurship in rural areas. Since there is a lack of qualified staff, significant part in rural areas is the youth that remains unemployed. There are three main reasons. The first reason is the absence of professional readiness and poor experience make rural youth noncompetitive. Professional plans of rural youth do not meet the vocational qualification proportions in the composition of agricultural production. The second reason is a considerable low wage and delay of payment. Hence, low and inconsistent payments under the hard living standards make the work places unattractive for youth, especially in agriculture sector. The third reason is the deficit of working places along with low wages and hard working conditions. This is very important, since with the increase of unemployment duration, along with growing difficulties from loosed (lost) skills, the physiological condition of young people deteriorate. Unemployment in the beginning of working life can weaken any motivation to work. This can be one of the reasons for a delayed marriage life, and expansion of alcoholism, crime and other negative phenomena. It is essential to increase the level of social and economic security of specialists living in rural areas. Sustainable development programmes shall be elaborated to develop rural areas. For example, in order to attract youth in agriculture and encourage their initiatives, the grand support programmes can be introduced. This support programmes can also serve as mechanism for the development of rural civil society institutes and contribute to rural development and sustainability. For instance, conducting competition within the country to encourage high achievements in agriculture. It will enable to raise the awareness of population on development of rural areas. As a result, this can increase investment attractiveness of the village, and thus, create more jobs. Also, it is essential to conduct propaganda activities, so youth can realise that working on the ground is the most important and restigious aspect. To make presentations on the perspective development of rural areas. Informing youth about rural life, about its positive and negative aspects. All activities must have inconspicuous character, so that young people can make their own conclusions to understand that their future is connected with agriculture.

Молодые люди, несомненно, являются будущим страны, и у них должны быть права, и они должны иметь возможность выбирать. Экономический рост и развитие гражданского общества создают основу для рациональной молодежной политики. Почти 64% населения Узбекистана проживает в сельской местности. Высокий уровень безработицы и низкий уровень заработной платы являются причиной массовой миграции молодежи в Россию и Казахстан. Следовательно, это означает, что занятость, рост доходов и повышение благосостояния населения страны будут зависеть от развития сельского хозяйства и предпринимательства в сельской местности. Ввиду нехватки квалифицированных кадров, значительная часть молодежи в сельских районах продолжают оставаться безработными. Для этого существуют три основные причины. Первая причина состоит в отсутствии профессиональной готовности, а также в недостаточном опыте, что приводит к неконкурентоспособности сельской молодежи. Профессиональные планы сельской молодежи не соответствует соотношениям профессиональной квалификации в составе сельскохозяйственного производства. Вторая причина заключается в существенно более низком уровне заработных плат и задержках выплат. Следовательно, низкий уровень и нестабильность выплат в условиях низкого материального благосостояния делает такие рабочие места непривлекательными для молодежи, особенно в сельскохозяйственном секторе. Третья причина заключается в дефиците рабочих мест наряду с низким уровнем заработной платы и тяжелыми условиями труда. Это очень важно, ведь с увеличением продолжительности периода без работы, наряду с растущими трудностями в результате ухудшения (потери) навыков, психологическое состояние молодежи ухудшается. Отсутствие работы в самом начале трудовой жизни может ослабить мотивацию к труду. Это может стать одной из причин для откладывания брака, а также приводить к распространению алкоголизма, преступности и других отрицательных явлений. Очень важно повысить уровень социальной и экономической защищенности специалистов, проживающих в сельских районах. Программы устойчивого развития должны разрабатываться в целях развития сельских районов. Например, для привлечения молодежи в сельское хозяйство и поощрения их инициатив, могут быть применены программы поддержки.  Такие программы поддержки могут также выступать в качестве механизма развития сельских институтов гражданского общества и вносить свой вклад в сельское развитие и устойчивость. Например, создание конкуренции внутри страны для стимулирования крупных достижений в сельском хозяйстве. Это позволит повысить осведомленность населения о развитии сельских районов. В результате, это может повысить инвестиционную привлекательность села, и тем самым создать больше рабочих мест. Кроме того, необходимо вести пропагандистскую деятельность, так чтобы молодежь могла осознать, что работа на земле является самым важным и престижным аспектом. Создавать презентации о развитии сельских районов в будущем. Информировать молодежь о жизни  в селе, о положительных и отрицательных аспектах. Все мероприятия должны иметь ненавязчивый характер, так чтобы молодые люди могли сделать свои собственные выводы, чтобы понять, что их будущее связано с сельским хозяйством.

Наргиза Мамасадикова, Узбекистан

English translation below

1. Sur la base de votre expérience, quels sont les enjeux spécifiques auxquels sont confrontés les jeunes de 15 à 17 ans de zones rurales (qu’il faut distinguer des jeunes de plus de 18 ans) pour gagner leur vie (actuelle ou future) dans le secteur agricole et les activités afférentes?*

Les enjeux auxquels font face les jeunes ruraux, notamment ceux de la tranche d’âge de 15 à 17 sont tributaires du contexte politique, économique, social et culturel de chaque pays. La République Centrafricaine connait une réalité socio-politique assez troublante depuis des décennies. Cette situation due notamment aux crises cycliques qui ont eu lieu dans le pays laisse un paysage plutôt particulier, quant à la différente catégorisation des jeunes: i) Jeunes de la rue ; ii) Jeunes associés aux forces et groupes armés ; iii) Jeunes à besoins spéciaux  iv) Jeunes orphelins ;  v) Jeunes déplacés et séparés.

Toutes ces catégories font face sans distinction aux enjeux dont certains sont indépendants de leur statut et d’autres      sont intrinsèquement liés à leur personne :

• L’absence ou l’insuffisance d’infrastructures de base (écoles primaires et secondaires détruites ou abandonnées sans aucune présence d’enseignants ; les formations sanitaires sont inexistantes et le personnel déphasé ; l’accès à la formation technique fondée sur les réalités d’emploi n’existent pas, ce qui empêche le développement et l’amélioration des savoir-faire locaux en tout genre, notamment dans le secteur agricole, dont pourraient profiter les jeunes pourtant engagés comme la cheville ouvrière des activités agro-pastorales de leur communauté) ;
• La population de la République Centrafricaine est jeune (les moins de 15 ans représentent 41% de la population nationale et majoritairement rurale (60%) selon le Programme National d’Investissement Agricole, la Sécurité Alimentaire et Nutritionnelle (PNIASAN). Seulement 30% environ des ruraux savent lire et écrire.
• La limite des politiques agricoles dans le pays empêche l’éclosion d’une agriculture de marché, tournée vers le développement des filières à fort rendement qui pourraient créer de l’emploi pour les jeunes confrontés au chômage (15 à 21 % selon le PNIASAN) dans les milieux ruraux et qui optent  pour l’exode rural.
• La faiblesse des coopératives dans les milieux ruraux désintéressent les jeunes de toute idée de se constituer en groupement promoteur d’initiatives originales agricoles intéressantes. Les rares tentatives d’associations sont limitées souvent dans leur champ d’action.
• La résurgence des groupes d’auto-défense est un facteur handicapant pour les jeunes ruraux, et contribuent à l’insécurité, à l’oisiveté, tout en compromettant parfois l’accès de ces localités à certains services offerts par les acteurs humanitaires et de développement;
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• 2. Comment les politiques et les programmes peuvent-ils contribuer à relever les enjeux auxquels sont confrontés les jeunes des zones rurales, de la manière la plus efficace et économique possible ? Si ces politiques et programmes sont ciblés sur les jeunes plus âgés, comment pouvons-nous les appliquer pour soutenir les moins de 18 ans ? Veuillez nous communiquer des exemples pertinents et les leçons que vous avez tirées de votre expérience.

A notre avis, la meilleure politique est celle qui prend en compte les besoins réels de la population à laquelle elle est applicable. Elle devra donc être pragmatique, afin de relever les défis auxquels sont confrontés les jeunes dans les milieux ruraux :

• Construire des écoles selon les besoins en infrastructure de la localité;
• Doter les centres de formation en matériels facilement malléables par la population tout en fournissant aux jeunes en situation d’apprentissage les outils techniques ayant un débouché dans le milieu (Par exemple, ne pas former les jeunes en électricité ou en mécanique lorsqu’il n’existe nulle part dans le village un seul générateur ou un seul vélo ou garage) ;
• Encadrer les jeunes à fort potentiel dans les métiers d’enseignement technique afin de pérenniser la chaîne de formation professionnelle locale.

1. Quelles sont les principales contraintes de capacités que vous rencontrez ou que votre institution/organisation rencontre pour concevoir, mettre en œuvre évaluer les politiques et les programmes destinés à résoudre les problèmes qui touchent les jeunes de moins de 18 ans des zones rurales ? Quelles sont les lacunes en matière de données en ce qui concerne les problèmes les plus fréquents qui touchent à l’emploi et des moyens d’existence des jeunes des zones rurales ?

Les principales contraintes auxquelles le Programme Initiative Jeunesse FAOCF est confronté dans la mise en œuvre et l’évaluation des politiques ayant vocation à trouver des alternatives aux problèmes de chômage, d’emplois vulnérables ou précaires, de sous-emploi des jeunes en République Centrafricaine, se situent au niveau institutionnel. Au niveau interne, il se pose déjà un problème de structuration. En RCA, la FAO a enregistré des interventions en faveur des jeunes, dans le cadre d’appui à la promotion et à l’emploi des jeunes. Cette intervention s’est concrétisée pour la plupart par la fourniture de moyens matériels ou financiers aux organes ou organisations de jeunesse évoluant dans la société civile ou sous la tutelle gouvernementale. Davantage destiné à encourager la production dans le secteur agro-pastoral, ce type d’appui n’a relativement pas eu partout les résultats escomptés. Soit parce que la gestion des infrastructures ou des moyens laisse à désirer, soit le système de suivi mis en place est à la merci des aléas.

Avec la mise en place du Programme Initiative Jeunesse, un travail de prospection, d’analyse approfondie des enjeux en tant que thématiques particulières nécessitant des approches singulières a été réalisé et continue de se faire. La formulation des documents de travail, et surtout la prise en compte à part entière de la thématique de la jeunesse dans le Cadre de Programmation Pays (CPP 2015) rend compte justement de cette volonté. Il faut noter également que la Feuille de Route élaborée conjointement par le Ministère du Développement du Monde Rural de la RCA et la FAO pendant la période de transition a accordé un axe stratégique à la jeunesse en lui consacrant son troisième pilier.

Seulement, des contraintes liées à la phase d’opérationnalisation plénière du Programme sont à l’origine du retard connu dans le déploiement des dispositifs d’intervention. Alors que les besoins se présentent parfois avec acuité, le décalage entre la réponse apportée et le timing de la mise en œuvre peut être à l’origine d’éventuelles contraintes supplémentaires. Le Programme mis en place il y a maintenant un an n’a pas encore les moyens de ses actions.

A la dernière analyse, il convient de relever l’absence de données réactualisées sur les jeunes. Les bases de données nécessitent un coup du neuf, et certaines informations ne permettent plus de se faire une idée exacte de la réalité. Notons que le dernier recensement général de la population en RCA a eu lieu il y a 13 ans.

1. Comment améliorer l’éducation et la formation professionnelle dans les zones rurales de façon à aider les adolescents et les jeunes de zones rurales à participer de façon productive aux activités agricoles et afférentes ? Quelles sont les compétences et quel est le soutien dont ils ont besoin ? Comment se produit la transition entre l’école et le travail pour les jeunes de 15 à 17 ans des zones rurales et quels sont les meilleurs moyens de soutenir les jeunes des zones rurales au cours de cette transition ?

L’amélioration de l’éducation et de la formation professionnelles passe bien évidemment par un retour sur les conditions dans lesquelles apprenants et enseignants travaillent, chacun selon ses besoins spécifiques. Depuis les événements violents qui ont commencé en 2012 en RCA, la quasi-totalité des établissements scolaires ont été soit vandalisés, soit constitués en sites de personnes déplacées internes. Aujourd’hui, il est question de remédier à cette situation en :

• Restaurant l’autorité de l’Etat et des chefs coutumiers (chefs de villages, de groupe ou de quartiers) et en redéployant l’administration et tous ses services régaliens (Police, Gendarmerie, Services pénitentiaires, Centres socio-culturels etc.) afin de redonner non seulement confiance à la population, mais également aux nouveaux fonctionnaires déployés;
• Réhabilitant les Centres de formations agricoles (Centres de formation de la Jeunesse Pionnière Nationale par exemple);
• Dotant les Centres de formateurs rompus à la tâche et compétents dans le secteur prédominant d’activité de la province ou zone rurale concernée (politique de développement local) ;
• Formant les jeunes et adolescents ruraux sur place en fonction de leur vocation agricole et/ou pastorale afin de les installer et faire prospérer dans leurs milieux sans qu’il leur soit nécessaire d’envisager une réussite en dehors de leur région.
• Mettre en place, grâce à une politique agricole mieux adaptée à la réalité locale une caisse d’entraide, où les jeunes pourraient, selon leur engagement et la nature de leur projet, avoir accès à de petits fonds de financement, de crédit ou simplement des kits d’insertion moins onéreux, de façon à les sédentariser dans leurs perspective de développement.

Généralement, la transition n’est pas linéaire, c’est-à-dire, qu’elle ne se réalise pas une fois que l’adolescent a terminé les études scolaires et va ensuite s’orienter vers une activité professionnelle dans le secteur agricole. Souvent, il est possible de noter que les jeunes participent aux activités agricoles du ménage au moment où ils fréquentent encore l’école. Très souvent, il leur est dédié des parcelles, dont ils doivent prendre soin au fur et à mesure que leur goût des travaux champêtres va se développer. Pour la plupart des cas,  les travaux agricoles sont réalisés dans la même journée que la fréquentation scolaire. Par exemple, le jeune quitte la maison à 06 heures pour se rendre à l’école qui finit généralement à midi. Il n’a juste que le temps de déposer ses effets à la maison pour ensuite se rendre au champ où travaillent ses parents. C’est au début de la soirée que le ménage rentre au village.

En conséquence, les moyens les plus sûrs pour pouvoir opérer une transition sans écueils entre une fréquentation scolaire aboutie et une entrée réussie dans la vie active seraient de doter les provinces de centres pédagogiques et d’orientation socio-professionnelle, accessibles aux jeunes. Ceci permettrait de susciter en eux une certaine vision d’avenir, fondée sur les potentialités agricoles de la localité. Par ailleurs, l’existence au moins, de petites unités locales de production et/ou de transformation, constituant un vrai lieu d’incubation permet une appréhension de l’avenir chez les plus jeunes. Par exemple, le plus jeune qui voit les moins jeunes s’insérer dans les activités de production de l’entreprise est enthousiaste à l’idée de travailler un jour dans l’usine ou l’entreprise comme ses aînés.

1. Quelles sont les approches les plus efficaces pour surmonter les difficultés additionnelles que les jeunes de moins de 18 ans des zones rurales rencontrent pour avoir accès à des emplois décents, y compris des emplois verts (décents) (par exemple, les compétences, l’inadaptation, les conditions de santé et de sécurité, la discrimination, l’exclusion) ou pour lancer leur propre entreprise (par exemple, les barrières pour accéder au financement, aux organisations de producteurs et aux marchés) ?

A défaut d’intervenir seul face à une réalité aussi complexe qu’unique en son genre à savoir le chômage des jeunes, l’insertion de certains jeunes et la réinsertion d’autres jeunes en difficultés (jeunes présentant des handicaps, jeunes orphelins sans perspectives, jeunes de la rue, jeunes associés aux forces et aux groupes armés) il est préférable parfois de privilégier une synergie d’action ainsi qu’un travail conjoint plus ou moins renforcé entre les acteurs de développement du systèmes des Nations Unies et les acteurs locaux gouvernementaux et non-gouvernementaux afin de déboucher sur des solutions plus durables aux problématiques de la jeunesse rurale.

Toutefois, il importe de comprendre les besoins en termes de demande d’emploi des jeunes dans le secteur agricole en tenant compte de leurs réelles aspirations. C’est à ce titre que le Programme Initiative Jeunesse de la FAO en République Centrafricaine a organisé en Octobre 2015 un atelier qui a regroupé un échantillon de jeunes intéressés par les questions de l’entrepreneuriat. Les recommandations suivantes ont été formulées par les participants à l’issue de l’échange :

• Améliorer l’image de l’agriculture dans le milieu jeune (école primaire, lycée, université, centres de formations professionnelles…)
• Encourager les initiatives des jeunes dans le secteur agricole afin de créer une génération de jeunes producteurs agricoles;
• Favoriser l’accès aux financements, aux mécanismes viables d’écoulement de produits sur le marché, aux crédits pour les jeunes présentant des projets agricoles bancables;
• Favoriser l’éclosion d’une génération de jeunes modèles et «d’agrobusiness men» centrafricains capables de susciter la vocation agricole des jeunes;
• Faire de l’agro-business le fer de lance du développement agricole en RCA.
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1. Based on your experience, what are the specific challenges rural youth aged 15-17 face (different from those over 18) in making a (current or future) living in agriculture and related activities?

The challenges faced by the rural youth, in particular those between 15 to 17 years old, are dependent on the political, economic, social and cultural context of each country. The Central African Republic has experienced a very disturbing socio-economic reality for decades. This situation, due in particular to the cyclical crises which have arisen in the country results in a rather special environment, in terms of the various categories of the youth: i) street youth; ii) youth associated with the armed forces or armed groups; iii) youth with special needs; iv) orphaned youth; v) displaced and separated youth.

All these categories without distinction face challenges, some of which are independent of their status and others are intrinsically linked to them personally:

• The absence or insufficiency of basic infrastructures (primary and secondary schools destroyed or abandoned, with no teachers present; health facilities nonexistent and the personnel scattered; access to technical training based on the reality of employment is nonexistent, which prevents development and improvement of all aspects of local know-how, in particular in the agricultural sector, in which the youth could however benefit as kingpins of  the agro-pastoral activities of their community);
• The population of the Central African Republic is young (under 15s  represent 41% of the national population and the majority live in rural areas (60%) according to the Programme National d’Investissement Agricole, la Sécurité Alimentaire et Nutritionnelle (PNIASAN).[National Agricultural and Food Security and Nutrition Investment Programme].  Only around 30% of the rural inhabitants know how to read and write.
• The restriction on agricultural policies in the country prevents the birth of a market-based agriculture, orientated towards development of high productivity sectors which could create employment for the young facing unemployment (15 to 21% according to PNIASAN) in the rural areas and who opt for leaving the rural areas.
• The weakness of the cooperatives in the rural areas make the young lose interest in any idea of forming groups to promote interesting and original agricultural initiatives. The rare attempts at associations are often limited in their field of action.
• The revival of self-defense groups is a crippling factor for the rural youth, and contributes to insecurity, idleness, while sometimes compromising access to those localities of certain services offered by humanitarian and development agents; 
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• 2. How can policies and programmes overcome the challenges faced by rural youth in a cost-effective manner?  If they target older youth, how could we apply them to support those under 18?  Please share relevant examples and lessons from your experience.

In our view, the best policy is the one that takes into account the real needs of the population to whom it will apply. Therefore, it should be pragmatic in order to relieve the challenges faced by the youth in rural areas:

• Build schools according to the infrastructure needs of the locality;
• Provide the training centers with materials that are easily workable by the people while supplying the young in apprenticeship the technical tools that will be of value in their environment (For example, do not train the youth in electricity or mechanics because nowhere  in the village is there a single generator or bicycle or garage);
• Shape the high potential youth in the skills of technical training in order to perpetuate the professional local training network.
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• 3. What are the most binding capacity constraints that you or your institution/organization encounter when designing, implementing and evaluating policies and programmes aiming to address the issues affecting rural youth under the age of 18?  What are the data gaps regarding the challenges affecting rural youth employment and livelihoods that you periodically encounter? 

The main constraints faced by the Programme Initiative Jeunesse [Youth Initiative Programme] FAOCF in the implementation and assessment of policies whose mission is finding alternatives to the problems of unemployment, insecure and precarious jobs, and under employment of young people in the Central African Republic, are located at institutional level. At the internal level, there is already a problem of structuring. In the Central African Republic, FAO has registered interventions in favor of the youth, in the context of supporting their promotion and employment. This intervention has mostly taken the shape of supplying material or financial means to entities or organizations of the youth evolving in civil society or under government supervision. Mainly intended to encourage production in the agro-pastoral sector, this type of support has not always had the expected results. Either because the administration of infrastructures or the means leaves something to be desired, or because the system of follow-up adopted is at the mercy of the ups and downs of life.

With the implementation of the  Programme Initiative Jeunesse, an exploratory work, of profound analysis of the issues as particular themes meriting a special approach, was carried out and continues to be done. The drafting of working documents and in particular the taking entirely into account of the theme of youth in the Country Programming Framework (CPF 2015) rightly bears witness to this desire. It should be equally noted that the Roadmap prepared in conjunction with the Ministry of Development of the Rural World in the Central African Republic and the FAO during the transition period has granted a strategic route to the youth by dedicating to them its third cornerstone.

Nevertheless, constraints linked to the phase of bringing the Programme into full operation are at the origin of the delay experienced in the deployment of intervention measures. While needs sometimes make themselves acutely felt, the gap between the response provided and the timing of implementation is sometimes the cause of eventual additional constraints. The Programme put in place a year ago still does not have the resources required for its actions.

In the last analysis, it is important to note the absence of up-to-date data about the youth. The data bases need a new look, and some information no longer enables one to get a precise idea of the real situation. We note that the last general census of the Central African Republic was carried out 13 years ago.

1. How can education and vocational training in rural areas be improved to support rural adolescents and youth to productively engage in agriculture or related activities?  What are the skills and support they need?  What does the school-to-work transition for rural youth aged 15-17 look like and what works to effectively support rural youth during this transition?

Improvement of education and professional training quite clearly comes back to the conditions in which students and teachers work, each one according to their specific needs. After the violent events which started in 2012 in the Central African Republic, almost all schools had been vandalized, or were used for internally displaced people. Today, it is a question of solving this situation by:

• Restoring the authority of the State  and of the traditional chiefs (village chiefs, chiefs of groups or districts) and redeploying the administration and all its sovereign services (Police, Gendarmerie, Prison Services, Socio-cultural centres, etc.) in order to return confidence not only to the population but also to the newly deployed civil servants;
• Rehabilitating the Agricultural Training Centers (Training Centers of National Pioneering Youth, for example);
• Providing the Training Centers with instructors who know their job and are competent in the predominant sector of activity of the province or rural area concerned (local policy of development);
• Training the rural young and adolescents locally according to their agricultural and/or pastoral vocation in order to establish them and make them prosper in their local area so that they do not need to look for prosperity away from their region.
• Implementing, thanks to an agricultural policy most adapted to the local reality, a mutual assistance fund, where the young could, according to their commitment and the nature of their project, have access to small amounts of financing, of credit or simply less burdensome insertion kits, so as to settle them in their development outlook.

In general, the transition is not linear, that is, it does not just happen once the adolescent finishes school and immediately heads towards a professional activity in the agricultural sector. Often it is possible to remark that the young participate in agricultural activities at home when they are still at school. Very often, they are provided with their own small plots of which they can take care to the extent that their liking for working in the fields develops. In the majority of cases, the agricultural work is carried out on the same day as attendance at school. For example, the young person leaves the house at 6.00 am and goes to school which in general finishes at midday. He only has enough time to leave his books at home and go immediately to the fields where his parents are working. It is only at the onset of evening that the family goes back to the village.

Therefore, the surest way  to be able to manage a transition without pitfalls between good school attendance and a successful entry to working life would be to give provinces centers  for educational  and socio-professional guidance  accessible to the young. This will make it possible to instill in them a certain vision of the future, based on the agricultural potential of the locality. Moreover, the existence at least of small local units of production and/or of transformation, forming a real incubation chamber, allows the very young to form an understanding about the future. For example, the youngest who sees the less young becoming involved in production activities will get enthusiastic about the idea of working one day in the factory or business like their older relatives.

1. What approaches are most effective in overcoming the additional challenges rural youth under the age of 18 face in accessing decent jobs, including (decent) green jobs (e.g. skills mismatch, health and safety conditions, discrimination, exclusion) or becoming entrepreneurs (e.g. barriers in access to finance, producers organizations and markets)?

Instead of intervening alone in the face of  a reality as complex as it is  unique in its nature, that is, youth unemployment, the insertion of some youth and the reinsertion of others who are in difficulties (handicapped youth, orphans without hope, street youth, young people linked to armed forces and groups) it is sometimes preferable to give priority to action in synergy, as a conjoint effort  more or less intensified among the agents of development of the United Nations systems and of local government and non-government actors in order to lead to longer lasting solutions for the problems of the rural youth.

Nevertheless, it is important to understand what is required in terms of employment needs of the youth in the agricultural sector taking into account their real aspirations. It is under this heading that the FAO’s Programme Initiative Jeunesse in the Central African Republic organized in October 2015 a workshop that gathered together a selection of young people interested in the question of entrepreneurship. The following recommendation has been made by the participants at the end of the exchange:

• Improve the image of agriculture among the young (primary school, secondary school, university, professional training centers ...);
• Encourage the initiatives of young people in the agricultural sector in order to create a generation of young agricultural producers;
• Promote access to financing, to workable mechanisms for getting  products into the market, to credits for the youth who present bankable agricultural projects;
• Promote the blossoming of a generation of  young models and Central-African agro-businessmen capable of generating an agricultural vocation among the young;
• Make agro-business the spearhead of agricultural development in the Central African Republic.

Inducing the Rural and Semi-Urban Youth to Engage in Agriculture

In view of the aging agricultural work force, high unemployment rates even among high-school  and university graduates,  and critical urban congestion throughout the world, it is crucial not only to retain the non-urban populations in situ, but also to  device some meaningful mode of employment to 15-17 year-olds that seem to constitute a major portion of those who leave their homes and migrate to cities.

Even a cursory glance at the developments in agriculture world-wide,  is sufficient to show one the three main trends therein, viz., regardless of the type of their ownership, increasing physical size of agricultural production units, increased mechanisation,  and the increasing separation of the producers and end-users both in distance and time.

These necessitate long-distance transport, storage and processing that leads to waste, loss of flavour and nutrients and to higher food prices. However, if rural and semi-urban youth can be helped to engage in agriculture at or near their  homes, it would considerably ameliorate the ills of the present irrational trends in agriculture. Moreover, it would offer youth an important path to independence through meaningful employment.

True, youth migration has a greater quantitative impact on food production in less affluent countries, but it is important to note that it has a highly undesirable effect on food quality in the affluent ones, not to mention  the social problems associated with unplanned urban expansion.

So, it would be reasonable to suggest that we ought to formulate some appropriate global action to resolve this problem in general terms,  so that each nation may select the areas relevant for its specific needs. In other words, the proposal will be a action template from which one could pick and choose according to one’s needs.

I think the kind of rural and semi-urban change that would  be most beneficial to everybody, would require a considerable change  in current politico-economic notions. Provided that we could persuade the political and economic establishments to devolve their power, hence, their modes of operation,  our present problem may be resolved  in the following multi-layered manner.

Naturally, a really holistic approach would be the means of choice to enable the 15-17 year-olds to secure a sustainable and adequate livelihood by engaging in agriculture.

Unfortunately however,  such an approach would run into a number of difficulties, which would render it too resource-intensive for the countries where it is needed most. I believe this difficulty can be overcome to a significant extent, if authorities are willing and able to undertake certain system changes.

The greatest hindrance to a holistic problem resolution is the policy incongruence prevalent in every administration. This stems from their inability and/or unwillingness to render consistent the categorically identical aims included in diverse policy areas. For instance, health policy may be directed at the prevention of the so-called NCDs, while the trade policy may allow import, production, advertising and the sale of unhealthy industrial food and drink. This is an ubiquitous example of policy incongruence, which not only increases the cost of health care, but allows the investment of resources into an area that does not  enhance public health.

For a start therefore, I suggest that we  strive towards policy congruence with reference to youth in the least controversial areas like environmental sustainability, employment, agriculture, education, health and justice, with a view to expanding it into trade as soon as possible. Within the framework of employment policy, we can then move to agriculture as an environmentally sustainable, equitable and health promoting area of youth employment.

Before we go any farther, it is necessary to recall that the policy formulation and implementation represent two recursive endeavours. This means that policy congruence  must obtain at global, regional and national levels if we are to expect worthwhile results.

Furthermore, even at the national level, central authorities are all too often insensitive to what local people really  value, especially as many a national agriculture expert  believes that his function is to prescribe to rural people not only what crops and animals they ought to raise, but also how to do it. A misplaced belief in ‘international best practices’ in agriculture is often not only inappropriate, but often flouts the local food culture.

Before we proceed any farther, let us try to indentify what drives our target group from their location:

1. Lack of opportunities to earn a decent living, including facilities/opportunities to engage in agriculture.
2. Family poverty.
3. Unjustified belief in a possible better life in a city.
4. nrealistic personal expectations generated by political promises and/or ‘entertainment’/’media’.
5. Under valuing the vital importance of agriculture owing to the world-wide belief in the prestige of ‘high-tech’ propagated by trivial ‘media’.

Any one or more of these five causes could drive a young person out of his locale and head for a city, where a life of incredible squalor awaits him in some slum. A sceptic would get a chance to convince himself easily, if he only took the trouble to visit any one of those habitations around any city in Southern Africa, India, etc., where material evidence awaits him, perhaps in vain.

Obviously, what we need to ameliorate  the situation would be to design and undertake a plan of action that embodies policy congruence, which could address the five issues described above. It is clear from the list that even though its power of motivation is not easy to quantify, prevailing public attitude to agriculture (5 above) nevertheless represents an important obstacle to us. However, dealing with it seems to be the least controversial, and might easily get wide political support.

Put differently, this calls for re-educating the general public everywhere on the vital importance of agriculture, and integrating in school education systems a continued teaching of values. I think this is getting more and more important as most children have no idea about what is essential for living, and an incredible number of them tend to believe ICT is the staff of life!

A related area, where both policy and facilities require a radical revision is education. Here, what I find difficult to accept is the current belief on the purpose of education. It seems to embody two notions awkwardly bound together, viz., everybody should aim for a university education’ or one that qualifies one to get a job quickly and earn a lot. In order to achieve the latter, emphasis is mostly on ICT, economics, and trade-related professions. True, this is commonest in affluent countries, but, this attitude to education is spreading widely, especially as it is promoted by several organisations concerned with ‘development’.

The policy change required here involves the acceptance of two simple facts; equal opportunities for education is not equal level of education for all, and secondly, equal education opportunities means paying due attention to inchoate abilities and skills  individual children possess. Modern education system is stifling children’s ability and skill to become excellent farmers, craftsmen, painters, etc., by forcing them to continue a formal education they find irksome, rather than letting them leave formal education and to concentrate on their inherent skills and abilities before they are 15 years old. I anticipate howls of protest here, let me point out, we are not talking about equal opportunities, rather about not smothering talent by forcing children to learn what they are ill suited to master.

It will be seen that ‘motivators of migration’ 3-5 can induce even the rural young who are not influenced by the motivators 1 or 2 to leave for urban centra, because of the glamour attributed to city life, etc. Perhaps, it would be salutary if the ‘media’ in every country could be induced to show the extent of slum populations around cities and their real living conditions to the rural audiences. I know this is a naïve idea, for honest and truly unbiased reporting is only an abstract notion.

While family poverty could drive our target group to the city, it is the lack of facilities/opportunities to engage in agriculture to earn a decent living that is at the heart of our problem. So, a reasonable solution  ought to provide such opportunities, make available the requisite facilities, and encourage rural youth  whose families are not involved in agriculture to  take it up as a profession.

I have already touched upon the changes needed in education and social attitude to agriculture. As far as I know, these important motivators of human behaviour has received scant attention in development programmes. The irony is that even the poorest country could bring about those two changes at a very low cost.

Once the youth believes that the agricultural pursuits are desirable and are actually more important to us than the every aspect of ICT, it would become fruitful to design and implement the ways and means to enable the rural youth to engage in agriculture in its widest sense. Before we look at some possible means, let us identify some reasonable areas in agriculture one which we may concentrate, and then the general way forward.

Selection of our goal for a given area should take into account the following in order to ensure its appropriateness in every sense:

1. Approximate number of vocational trainees/workers intended to benefit from the undertaking.
2. Local climate and geography.
3. Local flora and fauna.
4. Traditional food crops and household animals of the area.
5. Possibility of guaranteeing a sound land tenure/grazing/harvesting rights to participants.
6. Possibility of establishing dependable local storage/low-tech processing units, eg., drying fruits or nuts, etc./tool maintenance units within a reasonable distance from producing sources.
7. Establishment of a novel financing system described a little later on here.
8. Ensuring real political support from every level, i.e., national, regional and local, and undertaking effective measures to prevent uninvited and/irrelevant interference.

Making sure that 1-4 above obtains will not only help to ensure an inclusive endeavour, but it enables us to  adapt our actions to the environment rather than  degrading it by resorting to artificial ecosystem services. Moreover, it benefits from the empirical knowledge and wisdom locals have gathered over centuries. Of course, one may introduce new species of animals or food plants to an area, but, this has to be done only after a careful assessment of its environmental implications have been made. Further, one ought to consider the local willingness to use such cultivars.

Points 5 and 6 are concerned with property ownership at one level, but sometimes, point 6 involves managing and harvesting nationally owned entities like forests, lakes and rivers and the economic exploitation zone of the sea. Inept responses relating these have cause enormous environmental damage and unemployment for considerable numbers.

Forests:

Local people should be given the custody of their forest, and harvesting it should be done according to best available ecologically sound practice by the local people for their benefit. I think the time has come to stop every large-scale logging operation in the rain-forest, for it has exceeded the sustainable level long ago. It would be wise to impose the same strict controls on tropical hard woods

As on ivory export. Make sure the forest will continue to exist before it is exploited.

Rivers and lakes:

The possibility of harvesting food from these is becoming increasingly difficult for two reasons. Over-exploitation by  big harvesting units and building of dams and/irrigation canals. It would be a rational action by a government to ban large  fishing boats from these, so that smaller ‘family owned’ boats could return or earn a better living.

The sea:

It is not so long ago that thriving fishing villages were strung out along many parts of the coast of S. America, Asia and Africa. There lot has become progressively worse for two reasons. First, local operators with trawlers can offer the customers fish at a slightly lower price pushing the fishermen out of business. Secondly, Fish stocks in tropical waters show a dramatic drop in fish stocks owing to unrestricted fishing by foreign factory ships, which is often illegal, and sometimes allowed by the government owning the right of economic exploitation due to corruption in it. The question we ought to ask here is, Is it right that a foreign seller should earn a profit by selling our fish cheap to foreign customers, while we loose our fish stocks and our fishermen  flock to city slums? A fisherman may then say, it may be free trade, but it certainly frees us from our freedom from hunger.

I spent a little time over the above issues, because of their part in driving people into cities, which includes our target group. A holistic approach obviously calls for measures to deal with background factors that exacerbate our problem. I do not think it would be easy to undertake immediate and effective action to remedy the situation, but, if we could, more and more people would take up these activities rather than migrate from their homes.

Next, a brief note on what not to do and why. Never stop a project in X years, especially if it seems to be successful. Never let the local people give up any part of their authority or rights in return for large cash ‘compensations’ which may have drastic consequences for our environment.

Never forget the project is intended to benefit the local youth so that they may earn a decent income by agricultural pursuits, and it is not intended to support distant purveyors of high-tech stuff. Never forget the vocational training and support to the youth would be most effective if the youngsters could make use of what they already know, rather than learning everything from scratch. This is especially true of harvested produce, household animals, food crops, and implements used.

Never forget high-tech is synonymous with capital-intensive undertakings that uses less and less labour as it gets ‘higher and higher’! Never forget that it is in poorer countries where unemployment is very high and the numbers of the hungry run into millions, unskilled youth in the target group flock to the miseries of city slums looking for something better to do.

Never forget we need labour-intensive undertakings to stem this human tide. Never forget tools and implements that require high-tech competence to repair and maintain is inappropriate, because it cannot be done by those who are living within a reasonable distance at an affordable cost. Never introduce varieties which cannot be sustained by the available ecosystem services, rather select ecological variants.

Any one or more of the following activities may be chosen to enable rural youth to become satisfactorily self-employed either alone, or in a self-owned cooperatives:

1. Market gardening using suitable species.
2. Small scale floriculture, where non-local species could be used.
3. Apiculture for supplementary income.
4. Small units of aqua-culture using herbivores like carp, tilapia, etc.
5. Free-ranging poultry both for high-priced eggs and meat.
6. Mixed small scale agriculture growing fruit trees, nut trees, yams and other suitable tubers, as well as some vegetables.
7. Keeping other household animals including rabbits, Cavia, goats, etc. This may be combined with any of the above activities.
8. Growing herbs/spices as an income supplement.
9. Harvesting forest products as a source of additional income.
10. Fishing as a family or a cooperative enterprise.

Unlike most others, I have not emphasised the importance of infra-structure including irrigation.  This is not to deprecate their importance, but I think we need to act quickly and those structural changes are expensive and time consuming. Therefore, I favour an approach where we can do most with what we already have and what resources are easiest to get.

I suggest simple underground cisterns for rain water storage and covered wells, both equipped with had-driven pumps (unless they are excessively deep) ought to be used as sources of water when necessary.

Before I sketch how one may store and transport one’s produce to end-users, let me outline how one may economically preserve it for storage.

1. Some fruits may be turned into home made jam by a producer cooperative. It may also be possible to make some popular pickles.
2. Drying some fruits, nuts, spices and herbs.
3. Salting and drying the superfluous catch (fish and prawns).
4. Smoked meats (it is more wide-spread than one would like to assume).

In addition to the necessary political changes, improved law enforcement, equitable laws to regulate and guarantee  the types of ownership discussed earlier, local and/or international funds, the following will be needed:

1. Vocational training units within easy distance from as many potential trainees as possible, where skills immediately relevant for them could be taught principally by practise. Age of admission has to conform to the local law.
2. Local cooperative units for sharing hand tractors and perhaps a van to transport of perishable items quickly to the market. It may also employ a mechanic for maintenance of those, whom one may choose from village youth for special training.
3. One or more suitably central locations  where produce may be preserved in small bulk quantities. This too can be run on a cooperative basis. These will also contain secure and appropriate storage facilities.
4. Ideally, country’s own agriculture extension service should provide seeds and livestock required here. Subject to the conditions  outlined, these may be provided by other local sources.
5. Government help to build rent-free and reserved stalls where village youth could freely sell their produce.
6. Real tax benefits and legal protection  from harmful vested interests.

Finally, we come to the question of money needed to finance such an undertaking. I do not know to the extent  to which a host country and non-governmental entities there, may be able to contribute, but I think a considerable contribution from international sources may be required here.

The scheme can be divided into three parts:

1. Survey of resources available locally, determining the maximum number of participants, then planning the details in collaboration with the authorities and representatives of the beneficiaries, and reaching agreement on the extent of external financial assistance. Part of this agreement would be to establish a project fund to be administered independent of national or international contributors. While strict accounting procedures are to be in use, propriety of resource expenditure should be determined with reference to relevance and appropriateness by local professionals versed in local agriculture and ecology. Every expenditure should embody the dictum:

If one wants to succeed in development, money ear-marked for it should be spent as close to the place one intends to develop.

The project fund  will grant an establishment loan to a trainee adjudged capable of working on one’s own, when a trainee sends in an application to the fond explaining the plan and its financial requirements, and specifying one or more relevant mentors from the training unit who will undertake to help and guide the applicant when necessary.

The fond, mentor and applicant (more than one person may apply as a group)  will agree on when the repayment of the loan is to commence.

Skipping nuts and bolts to shorten this already long  submission, I jump to the repayment. It would defeat the purpose of this endeavour if we should  charge interest on the loan. My novel approach is to ask the youth to prove itself not by   paying it back, but getting it written off each year by an amount equal to one’s annual profit. Until now, we have been using an economic system whose inherent properties makes poverty and economic exclusion its inevitable side-effects, so let us now do something to those who have fallen by the way side at such an early age. Let us do something that would help them, but that will also show them man could live comfortably without making somebody else miserable.

Best wishes!

Lal Manavado.