Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

1. The Future of Food and Agriculture: Trends, Challenges and Implications for Youth (Employment) in Rural Areas International Leadership Workshop for Rural Youth 19 August 2019, Herrsching, Germany Peter Wobst Senior Economist Social Policies and Rural Institution Division Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

2. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) • FAO’s vision: • “A world free from hunger and malnutrition where food and agriculture contribute to improving the living standards of all, especially the poorest, • in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable manner” • FAO’s 3 global goals: • Eliminating poverty and the driving forward of economic and social progress for all • Promoting sustainable management of natural resources Eradicating hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition

3. The future of food and agriculture - challenges • Sustainably improve agricultural productivity to meet increasing demand • Ensure a sustainable natural resource base • Address climate change and intensification of natural hazards • Eradicate extreme poverty and reduce inequality • End hunger and all forms of malnutrition • Improve income-earning opportunities in rural areas and address the rural dimension of migration • Meet the needs for coherent and effective national and international governance of food systems

4. FAO’s Strategic Framework and objectives

5. Rural poverty and decent work deficits Poverty remains predominantly rural • While globally now 46% of the population lives in rural areas, in Africa and Asia its 60% and 52% respectively • 80% of the world’s extreme poor live in rural areas where most depend on agriculture • Income inequality has risen within countries with rural areas being disadvantaged, which leads to spatial poverty traps • Poor job prospects and decent work deficits are among the determinants of rural pov. and adverse drivers of migration • Women, youth, migrants, people with disabilities and indigenous people continue to face particular inequalities and discrimination • Climate change and conflict are exacerbating the current situation

6. Main challenges faced by rural youth • Insufficient access to skills development, education, information, and knowledge • Limited access to resources such as land • Inadequate access to financial services • Limited access to markets • Limited inclusion in social and policy dialogue, such as involvement in decision-making processes • Difficult access to green jobs due to the lack of skills • Despite the potential of the agricultural sector, rural areas are progressively losing a vital part of their work force

7. Decent rural employment: Main work areas GREEN JOBS CHILD LABOUR DECENT RURAL EMPLOYMENT YOUTH EMPLOYMENT RURAL MIGRATION

8. The employment issue YOUTH EMPLOYMENT • 1.2 billion youth (15-24 years) – 87% living in developing countries, 55%of them in rural areas • While the youth population is expected to grow, employment opportunities remain limited and of poor quality • Youth are mostly working in theinformal sector and vulnerable jobs • Young people are overrepresented among the unemployed (24% of working poor) • They typically • earn low wages • are employed under casual or seasonal work arrangements • face unsafe, often exploitive working conditions Developing countries are facing the challenge to create enough quality employment opportunities

9. The employment issue YOUTH EMPLOYMENT • Effective way to address many global challenges – not just the youth challenge, but also food security, climate change, natural resource degradation • Efforts should focus on the untapped potential for farm and non-farm employment in the agricultural sector and within food systems • The drivers for change should be identified on both the labour demand and supply side • In sub-Saharan Africa alone, 10-12 million new jobs will have to be created per year to absorb new labour market entrants • Only around three million formal jobs are being created annually • At the same time, farming populations are ageing worldwide • Agriculture and rural areas provide ample employment opportunities to youth

10. The migration issue RURAL MIGRATION • 2017:258 million international migrants worldwide, • more than 1 billion peopleinternal • migrant in developing countries • 1/3 of international migrants are youth aged 15-34, many coming from rural areas • Migration is a complex phenomenon and can have positive and negative impacts • Rural youth are more likely to migrate in response to lack of gainful employment and entrepreneurial opportunities • The adverse drivers of migration need to be addressed by providing sustainable alternatives • It is important to facilitate rural mobility to enhance the positive effects, while minimizing negative consequences

11. The child labour issue CHILD LABOUR • Worldwide, more than 70% of child labour is found in agriculture • Not all work carried out by children is child labour – however, much of the work they do in agriculture is not age-appropriate, likely to be hazardous and/or interferes with children’s education • Child labour perpetuates a cycle of poverty. Without education skills development, they remain trapped in • unskilled employment, • low wages, • weak social protection and • limited bargaining capacity Addressing key factors such as low family incomes, limited livelihood alternatives, poor access to education and limited law enforcement is crucial to eliminate child labour in agriculture

12. The green jobs issue GREEN JOBS • Decent jobs that result in more environmentally friendly proccesses, products and services • Global agricultural is in need of more sustainable practices to respond effectively to climate and environmental stresses • The transformation to a greener and low-carbon economy could create up to 60 million additional jobs • Rural youth often lack education and skills to access gainful employment and entrepreneurial opportunities in agreenculture Enabling rural youth to access green jobs is an important pathway towards reduced poverty while simultaneously counteracting the impacts of climate change

13. Integrated Country Approach(ICA) • The Integrated Country Approach (ICA) has the overall objective to help youth to access more and better employment opportunities in rural areas and agri-food systems • At global and regional level, it contributes efforts to integrate employment issues in the agricultural and rural development discourse • At country level it supports governments in developing strategies, policies, and programmes to improve the quantity and quality of on-farm and off-farm job opportunities for rural youth

14. ICA in Uganda Youth inspiring youth in agriculture initiative Country context 75% of Uganda’s population are below 30 years of age, many facing huge challenges in finding decent employment. • Identifying youth aged 14-30 years, who • are already successfully engaged in agribusiness • can act as role models and agribusiness change agents • inspire a generation of youth agro-entrepreneurs • Inclusive committee to guide the process, comprising youth organizations • Nation-wide competition with over 500 applications • 25 youth selected finalists awarded as national youth champions, now acting as mentors for other youth • Variety of capacity building trainings (productive employment, decent work, occupational safety and health, strategic planning and business writing) • In line with the National Strategy for Youth Employment in Agriculture

15. ICA in Guatemala • Business laboratory helping youth start-up community-centred small and medium enterprises • Virtual platform • Up-to-date information on opportunities and resources, including training and funding, as well as practical tools, trainingmaterials and inspirational stories • Integrated social networks, live chats and instant messaging to maximize the reach and interaction • 3-month training on entrepreneurial skills and local development to empower youth as agents for local development • Establishment of community initiatives: youth-led enterprises engage 25 to 50 families Country context 46% of the rural population between 15 and 29 years old are engaged in agriculture. Often, however, they are facing precarious and insecure working conditions and try to migrate as a last resort for making a living.

16. FAO’s Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools (JFFLS) • Innovative approach for skills development that trains vulnerable youth in agricultural, business and life skills • Content determined by the facilitator in accordance to local needs • Great flexibility and adaptability – approach can be conducted in remote rural areas or emergency situations • Adapted to address specific issues, such as youth employment and entrepreneurship • (Example of) • AGRICULTURAL SKILLS • PLANNING IN AGRICULTURE • WATER MANAGEMENT • CHARACTERISTICS OF SOIL CONDITION • HOW TO PROTECT YOUR CROPS • WHEN & WHAT TO DO WITH HARVEST • ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS • (Example of) • LIFE – BUSINESS SKILLS • PLANNING IN LIFE • WATER IN LIFE, HYGIENE, HEALTH • PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS - HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF • AGRICULTURE AS A BUSINESS • MAINTANANCE IN THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PROPERTY

17. Tools and resources www.fao.org/rural-employment

18. FAO rural youth (employment) projects About to start: • Green Jobs for Rural Youth Employment– Timor-Leste – Zimbabwe – Sierra Leone,including a youth-led problem and solving mechanism • Eliminating child labour and removing barriers to decent rural youth employment Lebanon – Mali – Pakistan, including focus on school-to-work transition • Launch of FAO-UNIDO Flagship Initiative for accelerating Youth Employment in Agriculture and Agribusiness in Africa” on the margins of the 7th edition of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) Ongoing: • ICA for boosting decent jobs for youth in the agri-food system Guatemala – Senegal – Uganda – Kenya – Rwanda • Reducing MigrationThrough Local Value Chain Development– Kenya Emergency context: • Prevention of youth radicalization and reintegration of former young combatants and child soldiers, support of young refugees and youth at risk Key component: Collaboration with rural youth and youth organization

19. Youth initiatives • United Nations Inter-Agency Network on Youth Development (IANYD) • Strengthening collaboration and information exchange on UN system’s work on youth development • Global Initiative on Decent Jobs for Youth • Strategic multi-stakeholder alliance • Scale up country-level action and increased impact on decent jobs for youth through innovation and collaboration • FAO: leading the thematic area of Youth in Rural Economy • Youth Council to the Rome-Based Agencies (RBAs) • Facilitate the input of young people in the work of the RBAs (FAO, IFAD, and WFP) and by doing so to meaningfully contribute to their work • Focal point: Young Professionals for Agricultural Development (YPARD) – network and platform by Young Professionals for Young Professionals, hosted by FAO info@ypard.net

20. Thank you! Peter Wobst, Senior Economist Peter.Wobst@fao.org • Visit us:http://www.fao.org/rural-employment/en/ • Learn with us: www.fao.org/rural-employment/resources/e-learning/en/ • Contact us:Decent-Work@fao.org