We talk about the role of evaluation, but what evaluations do we have? For example for agriculture and fishery training institutions how many studies can we find of the number of students trained who actually went back onto farms or into fishing? Generally no such studies are ever made. On visits to several such institutes only isolated examples could be given of students who had gone back to farming/fishing. Training specialists assure me that this is normal. As soon as trainees have a piece of paper such as an end of training certificate they are off. It is not only the bright lights of the city and the excitement of seeking their fortune but also escaping from what is often a claustrophobic, conservative environment, repetitive toil and absolute poverty.
The decline in numbers of younger people in rural areas in one sense is an opportunity. Land still needs to be cultivated and the only way to do it - since farms are small - is by sharing or use of contract services. In Thailand you see plenty of activity in land preparation, harvesting and rice milling all done by small contractors, mainly or most often youngsters. Where there are credit services offering hire-purchase agreements for acquiring machinery this can be a great opportunity for youth and provides an attractive career.
In the longer term there is probably not much hope, or need, to re-mould the current public perception of agricultural pursuits. Food producers have suffered from a very long period of decline in real value of commodities. Similarly urban consumers have seen a steady fall in food costs as a proportion of the total cost of living. More recently and particularly in the commodity price spikes of 2008 and 2011 cereals and other food commodities have tended to move in harmony with crude oil prices – to which they are linked as a result of uses such as production of alcohol and bio-diesel. This could be a sign of hope for fairer prices for farmers in the future and consequently a better balance between prosperity in rural and urban areas.
RE: Youth in agriculture: what lessons can we draw from evaluations?
We talk about the role of evaluation, but what evaluations do we have? For example for agriculture and fishery training institutions how many studies can we find of the number of students trained who actually went back onto farms or into fishing? Generally no such studies are ever made. On visits to several such institutes only isolated examples could be given of students who had gone back to farming/fishing. Training specialists assure me that this is normal. As soon as trainees have a piece of paper such as an end of training certificate they are off. It is not only the bright lights of the city and the excitement of seeking their fortune but also escaping from what is often a claustrophobic, conservative environment, repetitive toil and absolute poverty.
The decline in numbers of younger people in rural areas in one sense is an opportunity. Land still needs to be cultivated and the only way to do it - since farms are small - is by sharing or use of contract services. In Thailand you see plenty of activity in land preparation, harvesting and rice milling all done by small contractors, mainly or most often youngsters. Where there are credit services offering hire-purchase agreements for acquiring machinery this can be a great opportunity for youth and provides an attractive career.
In the longer term there is probably not much hope, or need, to re-mould the current public perception of agricultural pursuits. Food producers have suffered from a very long period of decline in real value of commodities. Similarly urban consumers have seen a steady fall in food costs as a proportion of the total cost of living. More recently and particularly in the commodity price spikes of 2008 and 2011 cereals and other food commodities have tended to move in harmony with crude oil prices – to which they are linked as a result of uses such as production of alcohol and bio-diesel. This could be a sign of hope for fairer prices for farmers in the future and consequently a better balance between prosperity in rural and urban areas.