Promoting livelihood opportunities for rural youth - IFAD

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Children harvest lotus flowers in Galgamuwa, Sri Lanka ©IFAD/G.M.B. Akash At the most general level, youth employment policies should focus on (i) increasing the demand for labour in relation to supply; and (ii) increasing the ‘integrability’ of disadvantaged youth so that they can take advantage of labour market and other economic opportunities when they arise. There are three main aspects of youth integration namely, remedying or counteracting market failure (labour, credit, location, training systems), optimizing labour market regulations, and improving the skills of disadvantaged youth. There is a fairly standard list of policy interventions to improve the livelihoods of rural youth that are enumerated in policy discussions as well as in policy documents and the academic literature. The United Nation’s World Programme of Action for Youth, which was originally promulgated in 1995, identifies the following ‘fields of action’: education, employment, hunger and poverty, health, environment, drug abuse, juvenile delinquency and leisure. Youth livelihood improvement programmes typically distinguish between interventions that improve capabilities and resources (especially education, health, ‘life skills’, training and financial services/credit) and those that structure opportunities (individual and group income generation activities, promoting access to markets, land, infrastructure and other services), the protection and promotion of rights and the development of youth institutions. There is also increasing awareness of the inter-relatedness and linkages between different kinds of interventions for youth. In particular, in the context of the AIDS epidemic, it is contended that improved youth livelihoods may reduce the incidence of high-risk ‘transactional’ sexual relationships, which are mainly motivated by material gain (the ‘sex-for-food, food-for-sex’ syndrome). Integrated programming is, therefore, desirable, but is complicated, both with to programme design and implementation. 15
According to the sustainable livelihoods approach, the livelihood ‘capital assets’ of rural youth can be broken down into the following four main types: political and social, physical and natural, human and financial. A wide range of livelihood improvement interventions has been undertaken with respect to these asset types. IFAD’s core mandate focuses mainly on strengthening the productive base of rural households and, as such, is most directly related to interventions that improve physical and natural and financial assets as well as jobrelated human capital through skills training. The available evidence strongly suggests that comprehensive multiple services approaches (such as the Jovenes programmes in South America) are more effective than fragmented interventions for generating sustainable employment opportunities for youth. However, such approaches are relatively expensive, which continues to limit their applicability in most low-income developing countries. Social capital and youth empowerment Youth, especially in rural areas, do not usually constitute an organized and vocal constituency with the economic and social power to lobby on their own behalf. Consequently, empowering rural youth to take an active role in agriculture and rural development is critical. Successful youth policies also depend on effective representation by youth. Traditionally, despite their size, rural youth have had limited social and political power. Older people, and especially older males, tend to dominate decision-making at all levels in rural societies. In SSA, some writers refer to this as a gerontocracy. The subordinate position of youth has been further compounded by the traditional welfare approach – youth are viewed as presenting problems that need to be solved through the intervention of older people. It is now widely accepted, however, that youth can play a major role in improving governance nationally and locally, and in implementing key economic and social policies. In particular, rural youth should be at the forefront of efforts to broaden opportunities for rural people. Urban bias with respect to macro-, sector- and meso-level policies and related resource allocations is also likely to become even more acute as the problems in urban areas increase and needs to be countered. Well-designed interventions are required to build up the political and social capital of rural youth. Youth have to be mobilized so that they are able to participate fully and gain ownership over youth development strategies and policies. This becomes even more challenging for young people who are under 18 and who are, therefore, still considered to be children. New ways of working with young people in rural areas are being pioneered in many countries. Rural youth organizations and networks should be established and strengthened. There are many exciting developments in this area. For example, the IFAD-funded Rural Youth Talents Programme in South America is based on a new strategy that seeks to systematize and publicize the experiences and lessons learned from rural youth programming. The ILO-supported Youth-to-Youth Fund in Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and three East African countries (Kenya, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania) also demonstrates how youth-led organizations can effectively promote rural-based farming and non-farming enterprises. The Mercy Corps Youth Transformation Framework has adopted a similar approach in 40 fragile environment countries. Community Action Plans have been successfully piloted in Jordan, which map youth livelihood opportunities with the greatest potential and foster an entrepreneurial mindset with a strong focus on life-skills training. The provision of financial services for rural youth in Sierra Leone is another pioneering initiative (see box 2). 16
Page 1 and 2: Investing in the future Creating op
Page 3 and 4: Table of contents Introduction 4 Wh
Page 5 and 6: Introduction This paper 1 reviews t
Page 7 and 8: A worker packages decorative plants
Page 9 and 10: Who are rural youth? Age and locati
Page 11 and 12: Key features of rural youth livelih
Page 13 and 14: Future labour demand in rural areas
Page 15: Improving youth livelihoods in rura
Page 19 and 20: BOX 3 Farmer Field Schools in East
Page 21 and 22: Training and capacity-building acti
Page 23 and 24: A young man makes and repairs shoes
Page 25 and 26: Partnerships to promote youth rural
Page 27 and 28: Concluding remarks The urgent need
Page 29 and 30: References Amin, S. (2008) Enhancin
Page 31: 30 International Fund for Agricultu

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