UNITED NATIONS, Jul 06 (APP): As global youth unemployment reaches alarming levels, a new report from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a Rome-baased UN agency, pointed to agrifood systems for eliminating unemployment among individuals aged 15-24 years.
The Status of Youth in Agrifood Systems report noted that more than 20 per cent of the world’s 1.3 billion young people were currently not in employment, education or training (NEET).
Tackling this unemployment, particularly among 20-24-year-olds, could generate a 1.4 per cent boost in global gross domestic product (GDP), with about 45 per cent of that increase driven by increased youth participation in agrifood systems.
Globally, 44 per cent of the working youth relied on agrifood systems for employment, compared to 38 per cent for working adults. The share of working youth in agrifood systems has decreased from 54 per cent in 2005.
The report also warned of a looming labour shortage in agrifood systems as rural youth numbers fall. Today, 54 per cent of youth lived in urban areas, especially in Eastern Asia. On the contrary, rural youth made up just 5 per cent of the population in industrial agrifood systems, the authors of the report noted, urging governments to make agriculture more attractive.
Meanwhile, nearly 85 per cent of global youth lived in low- and lower-middle-income countries, where agrifood systems were essential for livelihoods.
However, food insecurity among youth was also alarmingly high — rising from 16.7 per cent to 24.4 per cent between 2014-16 and 2021-23 — especially affecting young people in Africa.
Climate shocks and extreme weather events driven by climate change also posed a significant threat. An estimated 395 million rural youth are living in locations expected to experience declines in agricultural productivity, particularly in traditional agrifood systems and sub-Saharan Africa.
“The Status of Youth in Agrifood Systems report provides a timely and evidence-based assessment of how decent jobs and food security for youth can be achieved through agrifood systems transformation, and how empowered youth can act as catalysts for broader agrifood systems transformation,” QU Dongyu, FAO director-general, wrote in the foreword to the report.
While youth are “key agents of change” for the agrifood sector and the global economy writ large according to the report, they also
face many challenges in realizing this potential.
The next generation of agrifood producers will confront a growing global population requiring more food and increasing climate shocks threatening food supplies.
FAO estimates that 395 million youth live in rural areas expected to see declines in agricultural productivity due to climate impacts.
Despite large numbers employed in agrifood, most youth work in vulnerable jobs: 91 per cent of young women and 83 per cent of young men hold positions that often offer few benefits and are seasonal.
Low wages and hazardous conditions discourage continued employment and drive migration to urban centers.
“Because youth are the next generation of producers, consumers, processors of food, service providers, it is really important to understand how they can benefit from and contribute to agrifood systems,” said Lauren Phillips, deputy director of rural transformation and gender equality at FAO.
“Policies really need to make sure that they invest in preparing young people with skills and education so that they can have decent jobs in agrifood systems,” Ms. Phillips said.
One major barrier for youth aspiring to become producers is lack of social and financial capital – policy makers often overlook youth voices, and young people struggle to access loans, banking services, and land deeds.
Youth involvement in policymaking can sometimes feel “tokenistic.” The report highlights that collective action—whether through informal networks or formal unions and cooperatives—can amplify youth voices.
It also calls for expanded training and restructuring financial systems to improve access for young people.
“FAO is unconditionally committed to stepping up its work with and for youth to ensure their voices are heard and that their participation in and contribution to sustainable and inclusive agrifood systems are fully harnessed,” FAO Director-General QU said.