YOUTH IN AGRICULTURE:
THE YOUNG SHALL ‘’GROW’’
The youth are not future leaders
but rather present leaders. The future is the same as the present but longer.
The young will grow, not in age but grow food crops. Young people must be given
the opportunities to contribute significantly to the growth of economies. When
growing up, parents caution their children to learn hard to get a ‘’good paying
job’’. Even adult farmers warn their children not to take this path. We are
blessed as youth with exuberance, resourcefulness, creativity and obstinacy to
go into agriculture which is the backbone of economies. Agriculture is not only
about farming, but processing, machinery, logistics, and retailing.
Youth unemployment
There is insufficient youth
indulgence in this sector even though this age group makes significant
proportions of societies.
The population of youth in the
world stands at 1.2 billion with ages between 15 and 24 as recorded by United Nations
(UN), which makes it the highest recorded in history. This accounts for 17% of
the world’s population with 87% of them living in developing countries.
Globally, the International labour Organisation (ILO) reports there are nearly
73.8 million youth that are without work with Africa at 11.9%. Many of these
unemployed youth have resorted to social vices and migration to urban areas and
other countries to fight for survival. The youth must be encouraged and
empowered to go into agriculture which is an important means of reducing
hunger, malnutrition, poverty and unemployment.
Moreover, with an ageing farmer
population experienced currently in Ghana and Africa as a whole, there is a
high risk of food insecurity. Most of the award winners at the last Farmers day
Awards (2014) in Ghana averages at age 52 with the national best farmer at age
50 (was 49 during the awards). The indulgence of the youth in modern
agriculture can mitigate this conundrum.
Supports by institutions
Governments must increase the participation
and promotion of young people in modern agriculture as a viable career
opportunity especially making it an important course in the educational
curricular and also in policy formulations. Young people are important
stakeholders in the development of every society and therefore support
institutions through public private partnerships must also provide various
resources for the youth in terms of skills training and education, subsidized
inputs such as tractors, seeds, fertilizer, and financial supports.
Creation of conducive environment
for successful youth engagement through proper economic policies is also
expedient.
Successful implementations of
these and engagements of the youth will therefore encourage and motivate them
to go into modern agriculture eventually making these young ones to become
socially, morally, emotionally, physically and financially fit into society.
The youth are leaders of today!
Author: Abraham Quaye, founder of AgroCentry
Author: Abraham Quaye, founder of AgroCentry