Thank you for having brought up Youth in Agriculture in this forum. The remarkable response indicates how important this topic is for evaluators and others. I have had the opportunity to evaluate several agriculture programs in Senegal and The Gambia. I would like to share my reflections, findings and the recommendations that I have made which I hope answers your initial questions: Are evaluations making a difference or not? If not, how does that happen to greater effect?
There seems to be general agreement that the negative perception of agriculture which describes farmers as illiterate; farm work as back breaking are deterrents for young people. I think that these are part of a larger number of reasons. What can be done to de-stigmatize farming? I believe that changing the language and concept concerning small-scale farming is a first step. Should we not
Think of the farmer as an agriculture entrepreneur, businessman or businesswomen not the illiterate poor person who does a backbreaking job who is able to provide for his family
Treat the farm as a family business and not some entity for survival?
Colleagues have mentioned educated and uneducated Youth. I believe that an uneducated Youth with some numeracy and literacy skills can become a successful entrepreneur. Let’s not stigmatize the “uneducated” Youth in rural areas. It will perpetuate the negative perception of farmers and farming.
In the discussion, it was noted that there are initiatives that are encouraging the Youth to enter the Agribusiness. This person is not necessarily from a rural community. Hence two other divisions:
Outsidesr and
Children of the farmers/Youth in rural areas.
The outsider is as in the AgriHack Talent initiative - already an entrepreneur/start-up/companies/country diaspora etc. i.e. they are investors in the agricultural sectors. (Thank you, Pamela White, for the link https://www.cta.int/en/youth ). They are educated presumably, with technology and resources obtained on their own or as beneficiaries of some programs. The questions I would like to ask are:
Are they going to build capacity among the local farmers and Youth or are they expecting cheap labour?
Do they have a good understanding of the rural and farming community to be able to collaborate with the rural community? Will they be ready to learn from locals and adopt traditional agricultural practices that bring results?
Are they truly going to make a positive difference for the local Youth or are they going to be the masters who dictate?
For the children of the farmers, the challenges are many. Land ownership is an important issue. Farmers in my studies did not have title to their land and we collected incidence of abuse; for example once the farmer is having success as in the cashew sector that can be quite lucrative, there is a “cousin” who lives in the city and presumably now “wealthy” who arrives and makes claim to the ancestral land farmed by the “pauvre paysan, son cousin” . Young people are justifiably upset and discouraged to see their father mistreated and have few recourses for this “injustice”. One of the recommendations made is that there is a push for land ownership in the country and if the law already allows for this, that the farmer be taught and supported in obtaining title for his/her parcel of land through an association of farmers and/or the aid program.
Someone has mentioned the “claustrophobic” environment of farms. Indeed, lack of roads or difficult access to towns is an issue. This situation limits the sale of the crops and in fact, in many villages, we found that the farmers are at the mercy of buyers. For lack of transportation, the farmer has no choice but to sell to those who come in the village with their own truck, car, motorcycle etc. and of course, at the price set by the buyers. An unfair practice which will discourage the Youth from farming.
I disagree that young people are leaving for the city just because of the big city lights; the discotheques and the “fun” life. Once outside, the appeal for not returning to the village is great. Can we blame them if they do not return to their village where there is no electricity and no running water? Rural development is fundamental if we wish Youth to remain on agricultural land.
How do we get the young people to start thinking of the farm as a business?
I was deeply saddened to hear of a compound in Gambia that saw 26 of its youth leave for the north. They were believed to have all died in the Mediterranean Sea. They were young people who have attended school, but the lack of opportunities led them to take this risk of leaving home with the hope of a better future. I was deeply saddened because growing cashew trees could be a lucrative business in this country and maybe had they known that this sector had much to offer, they would not have left their village but cultivate the land instead. Unfortunately, an academic education is intended for landing in a white-collar job. This is a common problem. Here in Canada, we have a shortage of tradespeople; for a long time, our children were encouraged to get a university degree for example, in electrical engineering while a college degree to become an electrician was not viewed in the same light. This is in reverse now as an entrepreneurial electrician is often making more income than an engineer.
Older farmers are also selling their land as their children have gone away for higher education and other professions. However, university graduates in agriculture in this country are hired by large food producing companies and in research; this may not yet be as frequent in developing countries.
We should not forget the agriculture sectors offer jobs along the value chain and toiling the land is not the sole occupation. These usually require a certain level of education.
It was suggested in our evaluation reports that young literate family members be included in the Farmers Field Schools (FFS) which targeted the farmers only. The evaluations found that the training which includes business practices and accounting was not very successful since the farmers were too often illiterate.
I understand that the recommendations we have made, were taken into account in the planning of the next phase of the programs. I hope to have the opportunity to evaluate these “enhancements”. I strongly suggest that similar to gender, we treat Youth as a cross-cutting theme in evaluations of agriculture programs. Let us not forget the young girls and women who farm. I have found that the agriculture programs would make a head count of female beneficiariesbut few initiatives adopt activities to match the needs and accommodate the timetable of the women. Absenteeism and drop-out rates for female at FFS was higher for females than males.
It will be good that evaluators share their findings and recommendations. Should we, evaluators have a common set, a repertoire of recommendations that promotes practices proven to bring positive results? Of course, to be applied where relevant and contextual!
Jackie Yiptong Avila Program evaluator / Survey methodologist Canada
RE: Youth in agriculture: what lessons can we draw from evaluations?
Dear Dorothy,
Thank you for having brought up Youth in Agriculture in this forum. The remarkable response indicates how important this topic is for evaluators and others. I have had the opportunity to evaluate several agriculture programs in Senegal and The Gambia. I would like to share my reflections, findings and the recommendations that I have made which I hope answers your initial questions: Are evaluations making a difference or not? If not, how does that happen to greater effect?
There seems to be general agreement that the negative perception of agriculture which describes farmers as illiterate; farm work as back breaking are deterrents for young people. I think that these are part of a larger number of reasons. What can be done to de-stigmatize farming? I believe that changing the language and concept concerning small-scale farming is a first step. Should we not
Colleagues have mentioned educated and uneducated Youth. I believe that an uneducated Youth with some numeracy and literacy skills can become a successful entrepreneur. Let’s not stigmatize the “uneducated” Youth in rural areas. It will perpetuate the negative perception of farmers and farming.
In the discussion, it was noted that there are initiatives that are encouraging the Youth to enter the Agribusiness. This person is not necessarily from a rural community. Hence two other divisions:
The outsider is as in the AgriHack Talent initiative - already an entrepreneur/start-up/companies/country diaspora etc. i.e. they are investors in the agricultural sectors. (Thank you, Pamela White, for the link https://www.cta.int/en/youth ). They are educated presumably, with technology and resources obtained on their own or as beneficiaries of some programs. The questions I would like to ask are:
For the children of the farmers, the challenges are many. Land ownership is an important issue. Farmers in my studies did not have title to their land and we collected incidence of abuse; for example once the farmer is having success as in the cashew sector that can be quite lucrative, there is a “cousin” who lives in the city and presumably now “wealthy” who arrives and makes claim to the ancestral land farmed by the “pauvre paysan, son cousin” . Young people are justifiably upset and discouraged to see their father mistreated and have few recourses for this “injustice”. One of the recommendations made is that there is a push for land ownership in the country and if the law already allows for this, that the farmer be taught and supported in obtaining title for his/her parcel of land through an association of farmers and/or the aid program.
Someone has mentioned the “claustrophobic” environment of farms. Indeed, lack of roads or difficult access to towns is an issue. This situation limits the sale of the crops and in fact, in many villages, we found that the farmers are at the mercy of buyers. For lack of transportation, the farmer has no choice but to sell to those who come in the village with their own truck, car, motorcycle etc. and of course, at the price set by the buyers. An unfair practice which will discourage the Youth from farming.
I disagree that young people are leaving for the city just because of the big city lights; the discotheques and the “fun” life. Once outside, the appeal for not returning to the village is great. Can we blame them if they do not return to their village where there is no electricity and no running water? Rural development is fundamental if we wish Youth to remain on agricultural land.
How do we get the young people to start thinking of the farm as a business?
I was deeply saddened to hear of a compound in Gambia that saw 26 of its youth leave for the north. They were believed to have all died in the Mediterranean Sea. They were young people who have attended school, but the lack of opportunities led them to take this risk of leaving home with the hope of a better future. I was deeply saddened because growing cashew trees could be a lucrative business in this country and maybe had they known that this sector had much to offer, they would not have left their village but cultivate the land instead. Unfortunately, an academic education is intended for landing in a white-collar job. This is a common problem. Here in Canada, we have a shortage of tradespeople; for a long time, our children were encouraged to get a university degree for example, in electrical engineering while a college degree to become an electrician was not viewed in the same light. This is in reverse now as an entrepreneurial electrician is often making more income than an engineer.
Older farmers are also selling their land as their children have gone away for higher education and other professions. However, university graduates in agriculture in this country are hired by large food producing companies and in research; this may not yet be as frequent in developing countries.
We should not forget the agriculture sectors offer jobs along the value chain and toiling the land is not the sole occupation. These usually require a certain level of education.
It was suggested in our evaluation reports that young literate family members be included in the Farmers Field Schools (FFS) which targeted the farmers only. The evaluations found that the training which includes business practices and accounting was not very successful since the farmers were too often illiterate.
I understand that the recommendations we have made, were taken into account in the planning of the next phase of the programs. I hope to have the opportunity to evaluate these “enhancements”. I strongly suggest that similar to gender, we treat Youth as a cross-cutting theme in evaluations of agriculture programs. Let us not forget the young girls and women who farm. I have found that the agriculture programs would make a head count of female beneficiariesbut few initiatives adopt activities to match the needs and accommodate the timetable of the women. Absenteeism and drop-out rates for female at FFS was higher for females than males.
It will be good that evaluators share their findings and recommendations. Should we, evaluators have a common set, a repertoire of recommendations that promotes practices proven to bring positive results? Of course, to be applied where relevant and contextual!
Jackie Yiptong Avila
Program evaluator / Survey methodologist
Canada