Technical Agriculture Education, Entry Point into Green Jobs for Youth

“I advise youth to enroll in the Technical Agriculture Schools as they will learn a lot and gain new experiences to become ready to join the labor market”, said Batoul Kanj, a displaced Syrian student who flew with her family from her country and found an opportunity for studying at one of the Technical Agriculture Schools. She now plans to open a flower shop where she applies all the techniques she has learned in the school.

Batoul benefited from the “Upgrading the Technical Agriculture Education System in Lebanon” project lead by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), funded by the Kingdom of Netherlands and implemented in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, UNICEF, ILO and AVSI.

The project works on enhancing the employability of young Lebanese and displaced Syrians and other refugees in Lebanon. It offers them the opportunity of acquiring the necessary technical skills to access improved career opportunities in agriculture and agribusiness in Lebanon or in Syria upon their return, accordingly.  It also works on the efficiency of the agriculture education system in Lebanon to support more youth. This is done by improving the agricultural capacity development and creating entry points into green jobs.

  “I started my vocational training two years ago in the Agricultural Technical School. Now, I am responsible of the quality of the whole potato production process” proudly explains Ahmad Tarshishi, a student at one of the Technical Agricultural Schools. Just like Ahmad, Mohammad Nasrallah, a Technical Agriculture School graduate had the chance to learn agricultural techniques and to specialize in beekeeping. “I encourage each person who has a passion for agriculture to enroll in Agricultural Technical Schools” he said.

In this context, the FAO-led project works on increasing the enrollment of the youth to the technical agriculture and vocational programs of the Lebanese Ministry of Agriculture.

 In order to ensure a better outreach to the youth and the rural community, FAO in partnership with UNICEF developed in September 2019 a social media campaign and a national TV campaign for its agricultural TVET program.

The messages shared on social media platforms inspired young people in Lebanon to join the program. As a reaction to the posts, youth commented on the social media posts asking about the nearest school in order to register.

In one of the movies shared on social media, Sari Bou Karroum, Agriculture School Alumni encouraged the youth to enroll in the schools saying : “ Education helps you develop and leverage your skills. You cannot improve yourself without education… It helps you have a better-quality product of your farm business.”

Sari and many other youth shared their success stories, testimonies and experiences through the “Upgrading the Technical Agriculture Education System in Lebanon” project.

The social media campaign that was widely shared, was an advocacy tool to show the real challenges youth in Lebanon are facing in this field. It also reflected the efforts of the government, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and its UN partner agencies to address these challenges.

The campaign highlighted the importance of the technical education in agriculture and raised awareness on the employment horizons in Lebanon for youth in agriculture. It encouraged them to make a difference in this sector, having leadership role to economic growth in the country, at personal and national levels.