Rural Youth Action Plan

Rural Youth Action Plan
Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
Total Pages: 20
Release: 2022-07-13
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9251364400

The FAO Conference in 2017 endorsed the call to develop a rural youth action plan that addresses the importance of making rural areas more attractive for young women and men. Under the aegis of the Committee on Agriculture (COAG), the Rural Youth Action Plan (RYAP) was developed and presented at COAG’s Twenty- seventh Session in 2020. The Plan presents a five-year Action Plan (2021–2025), aligned to five thematic areas (or pillars) with the goal of contributing to the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by equally empowering rural young women and men. The RYAP is embedded in FAO’s Medium Term Plan (2022–2025), and serves as a key performance indicator (KPI) for the cross cutting theme on youth.

Hear it from the countries

Hear it from the countries
Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
Total Pages: 64
Release: 2023-02-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9251375445

Young people are key agents of change, with enormous innovation potential. FAO recognizes that youth are already at the frontline to build more sustainable agrifood systems and are best placed to rejuvenate the sector, acquire the knowledge and skills needed to innovate, uptake new technologies, and spearhead the digital transformation. The Organization provides support to countries to develop more youth-inclusive policies, strategies, investments and programmes, in order to enhance the overall well-being of young women and men. This compendium of good practices brings together snapshots of selected FAO's youth-specific projects, activities and products in support of the Rural Youth Action Plan (RYAP) first biennium of implementation (2021–2022).

Building resilience in the Sahel region through job creation for youth

Building resilience in the Sahel region through job creation for youth
Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
Total Pages: 48
Release: 2023-08-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9251380406

The Sahel region is nowadays facing many challenges, including insecurity, rising extremism, lacking of economic prospects and decent employment opportunities, besides also experiencing poor access to education, vocational training and overall basic services. Youth are among the most vulnerable group in the region, and although youth population is expected to grow, if employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for youth remain limited, young people will continue to remain in a vicious cycle of food insecurity and deep poverty. This case study outlines how the project "Building resilience in the Sahel region through job creation for youth", strengthened the capacities of rural youth in their entrance in the agrifood system adopting green practices, while also empowering the national institutions tasked in supporting them. The case study also provides all the lessons learned throughout its implementation as well as details of the project’s evaluation.

Creating resilient livelihoods for youth in small-scale food production

Creating resilient livelihoods for youth in small-scale food production
Author: Van Uffelen, A., Sinitambirivoutin, M., Tanganelli, E., Gerke, A., Korzenszky, A., Brady, G., Nagano, A., Bernoux, M.
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
Total Pages: 84
Release: 2022-05-24
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 9251362645

This publication showcases initiatives that have been successfully implemented to help youth build resilience in the agrifood system, despite the severe consequences of climate change and formidable social and economic challenges. It aims to inspire potential policies and programmes by portraying key needs, challenges and initiatives, as well as lessons learned and opportunities for helping to improve the resilience of livelihoods for youth in small-scale food production. The aim is to draw recommendations from these initiatives, building on the Koronivia Joint work on Agriculture (KJWA) – a landmark decision under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that recognizes the unique potential of agriculture in tackling climate change.

Opportunities for youth in the bioeconomy

Opportunities for youth in the bioeconomy
Author: Dietershagen, J., Bammann, H.
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
Total Pages: 128
Release: 2023-10-17
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9251382727

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of key challenges and barriers to achieving greater youth inclusion in the bioeconomy. The analysis covers key factors (push/pull factors) that impact youth employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, such as education, vocational training, skills building, technology and business development. It also underscores the significance of considering economic development opportunities, rural–urban dynamics, and sustainable resource management when implementing policies. The study assesses the youth inclusiveness of current bioeconomy strategies and related policies and identifies six policy goals and how they need to be addressed for greater youth inclusion. Additionally, the report assesses specific youth employment opportunities and challenges in different sectors of the bioeconomy and provides a specific set of recommendations to support youth participation in the bioeconomy. Finally, the report provides generic recommendations for better youth inclusion and support in the bioeconomy. Overall, the report concludes that the bioeconomy offers considerable opportunities and is attractive to youth, but more needs to be done to support youth entrepreneurship and employment in the sector.

Gender equality and social inclusion for youth organizations

Gender equality and social inclusion for youth organizations
Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org. [Author] [Author]
Total Pages: 84
Release: 2024-05-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9251387575

Youth networks and organizations of young farmers, producers and entrepreneurs play a central role as partners in development initiatives that target youth in rural and agrifood spaces. [Author] By understanding and applying gender‑transformative and socially inclusive approaches, youth organizations can become more equitable, accessible, impactful and pluralistic platforms that legitimately represent the heterogeneity of young people and amplify the voices of those most marginalized or those in situations of vulnerability. [Author] These guidelines are a practical tool for youth organizations to better understand gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) and their importance, offering a step-by-step methodology to self-assess main gaps and areas for improvement as the basis to embed inclusive approaches in their organizational practice. [Author]

Orphan Crops for Sustainable Food and Nutrition Security

Orphan Crops for Sustainable Food and Nutrition Security
Author: Stefano Padulosi
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 466
Release: 2021-09-22
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 1000450422

Orphan Crops for Sustainable Food and Nutrition Security discusses the issues, challenges, needs and opportunities related to the promotion of orphan crops, known also as neglected and underutilized species (NUS). The book is structured into six parts, covering the following themes: introduction to NUS, approaches, methods and tools for the use enhancement of NUS, integrated conservation and use of minor millets, nutritional and food security roles of minor millets, stakeholders and global champions, and, building an enabling environment. Presenting a number of case studies at the regional and country levels, the chapters cover different but highly interlinked aspects along the value chains, from acquisition and characterization of genetic diversity, cultivation and harvesting to value addition, marketing, consumption and policy for mainstreaming. Cross-cutting issues like gender, capacity building and empowerment of vulnerable groups are also addressed by authors. Representatives from communities, research for development agencies and the private sector also share their reflections on the needs for the use enhancement of NUS from their own perspectives. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of food security, sustainable agriculture, nutrition and health and development, as well as practitioners and policymakers involved in building more resilient food and production systems.

Assessing the digital readiness and communication ecosystem of rural youth

Assessing the digital readiness and communication ecosystem of rural youth
Author: Pafumi, M.
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
Total Pages: 102
Release: 2024-02-12
Genre: Education
ISBN: 9251385114

Digitalization is a potential game-changer to boost youth engagement and leadership in agrifood systems. Digital engagement can increase youth access to timely information, training, or marketing opportunities while providing more venues for peer learning, networking, and participation in policy dialogues. Yet, the transformative power of digital technologies also entails the risk of widening existing divides. As we seek to engage youth in the digital space, we must consider a series of interrelated factors that influence their online experiences ranging from digital access, use, and literacy, to overall information flows, offline communication resources, social interactions, and the norms shaping them. These methodological guidelines will be a useful resource for development professionals who wish to leverage communication and digital technologies in their work with and for youth. The document provides an analytical framework and practical orientation to conduct age-specific and gender-responsive research on digital readiness and the overall communication ecosystem of young people in order to inform inclusive engagement strategies and youth-centred digital services. Section 1 explains the rationale behind investing time and resources in appraising the existing communication ecosystem before designing any initiative aimed at engaging youth in agrifood systems and in rural areas. Section 2 outlines an analytical framework to unpack the digital readiness and the communication ecosystem of young rural women and men along major investigation areas: digital access, use and skills; information flows; offline communication resources; and social capital and social norms. Section 3 describes how to conduct hands-on research combining the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods. Section 4 summarizes final considerations and take-home messages. The Annexes provide two examples of data collection tools, namely a mobile survey questionnaire and a focus group discussion guide, while the Field Stories present real-life examples testifying to the multiple and varied applications of the methodology within the scope of FAO’s Integrated Country Approach (ICA) for Boosting Decent Jobs for Youth in the Agrifood System project.

Being "agricool": Supporting ASEAN youth and tertiary student futures for sustainable agrifood system learning and livelihoods to meet the Sustainable Development Goals

Being
Author: Nelles, W., Ferrand, P. (eds.)
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
Total Pages: 15
Release: 2021-12-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9251355258

This policy brief is one in a series led by Chulalongkorn University with support from the Office of the Higher Education Commission, Ministry of Education, Thailand, in partnership with FAO. The series was initiated to support the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Work Plan on Education, 2016–2020 implementation while Thailand was Chair of ASEAN in 2019 under the theme: “Advancing Partnership for Sustainability.” The Briefs offer critical interdisciplinary perspectives on agri-food systems from social and sustainability sciences. They are fully aligned with the regional initiative on Food System Transformation and are meant to support the work engaged with ASEAN. This brief focuses on the need for HEIs, international agencies, regional organizations and governments in Southeast Asia to do more to assist youth and tertiary students by providing adequate programmes, curricula, research and extension services. It highlights that it is critical to consider youth as an active partner and to fully include them in better documenting and evaluating youth and student issues while scaling-up best practices. It advocates for improved university services in rural communities to catalyze a paradigm shift from industrial agriculture to diversified agro-ecological systems.

Author:
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
Total Pages: 156
Release:
Genre:
ISBN: 9251391289