What could youth- inclusive transformation entail?

Highlights on what a youth-inclusive transformation could entail:

      •  Addressing systematic challenges that constrain agricultural productivity growth – in doing so  opportunities to engage social groups esp. young people could emerge
      • Harnessing and maximizing strengths that young people may bring to the transformation process such as their affinity to use and engage in emerging technologies
      • Addressing specific institutional and systematic challenges that limit young people from accessing resources
      • Empowering youth to participate in the conversation to shape the solutions that are being addressed, to ensure their vision is integrated in the decision-making process
      • The Youth-livelihoods program from the Mastercard foundation highlihgted the holistic approach that is centred on addressing youth challenges while also integrating soft and hard skills and financial literacy.
      • Senegal Delegation outlined some funds that have been allocated creating an enabling environment for youth.

Watch this interesting discussion on youth-inclusive transformation and what other organisations are doing to engage young people.

Solid Research for Solid Programming

The exciting thing about working at IFAD is that there is always something exciting happening. Which provides an opportunity to learn and network.

Last week our division- Environment, Climate, Gender and Social Inclusion (ECG) hosted a change lecture titled: “Solid research for solid programming”. The lecture was co-organized with the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), the guests were:

Peter Läderach holds an Msc in Geography and a PhD in Tropical Agriculture. Peter is currently the theme leader for Climate Change at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT). Peter’s passion is conducting research that leads to visible impacts on the ground, that is why his research supports private sector, NGO’s, governments and multinational agencies to take evidence-based decisions and deliver impact on the ground.

Le Nghiem is a research associate in the field of ecosystem services and climate information services  Asia office in Hanoi, Vietnam. Le holds an MSc from the National University of Singapore and has broad research experience in the fields of climate risk vulnerability assessment in rural landscape, ecosystem services modelling, and sustainable consumption. She has authored 10 research papers in peer reviewed journals.

The lecture was on determining how Agriculture Research for Development (AR4D) efforts effectively support IFAD’s programming needs.

What stood out for me in the lecture were the strategies used to engage with the private sector, these included:

  1. Development of new enterprises/support to start-up businesses to be run by capable individuals or farmer groups in the community
  2. The enhancement of existing micro-small-medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs)
  3. Leverage investment of non-MSMEs
  4. Leverage resources from microfinance institutions (MFIs) and Commercial banks

It is interesting how IFAD investments plays a role in helping large private corporations direct their investments in a way that enhances inclusive development of rural communities. These engagement strategies are also helpful in defining strategies to engage rural communities.  The study was  published in The Business Advantage which provides further details on the findings.

Youth – Who are they?

There is growing need to engage youth across sectors. Ensuring that their voices are heard, skills and expertise valued. But who exactly is targeted when you refer to youth?

Literature highlights that, there is no clear definition on what constitute youth. In some countries, youth comprises of individuals in the age between 12 and 35 (Leavy & Smith, 2010) , while in other countries, it is from the age of  8 years to 35 (FAO, 2002). The United Nations considers youth to encompass the people between the age of 15 and 24, whereas the African Union considers youth to be from the age of 15 to 35 years of age.

Adolescence is the period from the start of puberty until physical and emotional maturity is reached. ‘Adolescents’ are a group that is asserted in the definition of youth. In general, young people are described as a group of people in the transition during which children and adolescents gradually become recognised as adults – the intermediary between childhood and adulthood. However, defining youth goes beyond age, they are a heterogeneous group (IFAD, 2007). Youth are a diverse group of individuals, with different experiences, drivers, aspirations, challenges which essentially leads to their varied ideas . While there is this difference, there is also a class difference among youth – the rural and urban youth.

Thus, the varying ages, gender, employment status, skills and capacities mean that their livelihood options will be different and projects targeting youth will need to account for this.