Abstract

‘Rural youth’ is a new focus area within the CGIAR (and in the wider academic literature), yet there are few studies which examine young people’s roles and relationships to trees, forests and agroforests. This background report suggests ways the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees, and Agroforestry (FTA) can involve rural young people into its research and action. This is at a time when academic and government reports note the widening gaps between the aspirations young people have as compared to the realities of the job markets in much of the Global South. For rural and marginal areas, these trends are especially acute as agriculture and forestry sectors decline and many rural young people desire stable, paid employment., suggesting now is a critical time to involve young people into FTA’s research and action. In doing so, the report examines how rural youth are studied from a variety of angles: in contemporary agrarian, youth and development literatures, and examines how young people are studied by five large development agencies; and by some of CGIAR’s Research Programs. In learning from these studies, the report offers four major lessons for FTA. These lessons focus on how to study rural youth and their various contexts, conceptually and methodologically; how to engage local to regional rural development activities; and how to support local to national level partnerships. All of these activities give means and networks of support for rural young people’s development and employment. In sum, the report offers key questions and starting points for engaging with young people in each of FTA’s Flagships, which can not only move the Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Strategy forward, but help study and address the challenges facing rural livelihoods and landscapes now and in the future.

Highlights

  • This report is one attempt to move beyond this knowledge gap by suggesting ways FTA might engage and research with young people to learn about their needs and interests in rural environments

  • The CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA) aims to unlock the potential forests, trees and agroforestry have to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including poverty reduction, food security and nutrition, and reduced gender and other inequalities

  • The aim of this background report is to identify key issues and approaches for engaging with young people in forestry and agroforestry systems in the Global South, and inform the revision of FTA’s Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Strategy to more explicitly engage with intergenerational relations and issues of significance to rural youth, among other important social analyses, such as those pertaining to gender

Read more

Summary

Executive summary

Representing nearly 20 per cent of the Global South’s population, rural young people are a diverse and significant demographic. Governments and international organizations have expressed concern over these employment, livelihood and demographic trends, as they affect young people, and their families and regional and national economies. These trends are significant for agricultural and development research and for programs such as the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA). As FTA moves its Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Strategy forward, the FTA Flagships will need to engage new conceptual approaches, field methods and field practices In large part, this means placing more effort in four key areas, which are outlined in this report: 1. Engaging local to national level partnerships to advocate and support rural young men and women

Introduction
Processes of rural livelihood change in the Global South
Rural livelihood changes for households and youth
Consequences for rural youth in employment, education and migration
Conceptualizing rural young people
Becoming, being and contemporary perspectives of rural youth
Understanding rural young people relationally in the Global South and for FTA
Engagement with youth by some international aid and development institutions
19 The 10 I’s include
Engagement with youth by CGIAR Research Programs
CGIAR Research Program on Dryland Systems Youth Strategy 2014-2017 (2015)
CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems (WLE) Gender Strategy (2014)
CGIAR Research
Moving FTA’s Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Strategy forward
Current activities and key youth approaches for FTA Flagships
24 FTA has five main research themes or ‘Flagships’: Flagship 1
Engaging rural youth in FTA
Engage the heterogeneity of rural youth through a relational approach
Adapt field methods and initiate projects to research with young people
Support local and regional rural development activities that address rural youth’s challenges
Findings
Conclusion

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.