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By APD writer Melo M. Acuña
Nearly 60 per cent of developing world’s rural youth in Asian and Pacific countries would require specific and effective policies and investments for better future. This was how the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) looks at the current situation.
In a statement datelined Rome at 12:00 midnight (UTC), IFAD’s “2019 Rural Development Report – Creating Opportunities for Rural Youth” revealed policies and investments in rural development, education, skills training, empowerment and job creation are needed to support about 340 million young people in the rural areas of Asian and Pacific countries. They also found our youth unemployment is a significant issue in the region with about 31.6 million young people without gainful employment, which is close to half of the world total.
The report said with more investments and policies that will ensure young people having access to markets, financial services and technologies, rural young people could become more productive, connected and in charge of their own futures.
“Young people can drive economic growth in their communities and countries, but they need support quickly as climate change and the digital revolution spreading across the world won’t wait,” said Paul Winters, IFAD Association Vice President who led the formulation of the report.
Many countries in Eastern Asia have undergone demographic transition, where their economies transformed and youth involvement in agriculture declines. However, in South Asia and South East Asia, the “youth bulge” remains a challenge. The majority of youth still remain in rural areas, where they are susceptible to unemployment and poverty, lack of access to skills, land, financial services, inputs and technology.
“We need to act to ensure that the rapid changes and rural transformation happening in the region are inclusive of rural youth. If not, we run the risk of having millions of young people left in poverty,” Winters added.
Serious concerns are found in South Asia and Southeast Asia where rural youth are exposed to extreme weather events linked to climate change, and where youth-to-adult unemployment rates are the highest in the world. More than one third of the youth in South and Southeast Asia, specifically in rural areas, remain underweight.
China, according to IFAD, has the highest number of rural youth (76 million), in the region. With the progress towards rural transformation, young rural people still need access to assets, services and new skills. About 51 per cent of the young people living in areas with rural characteristics, the semi-rural and peri-urban areas, are areas with high agricultural potential require more market access.
Countries with low rural transformation and where agriculture still plays a key role in the economy, investments should focus on promotion broad rural development to create opportunities. In more transformed economies, cognitive and non-cognitive skills training is needed to increase access to jobs in the non-farm economy, stimulate entrepreneurship and develop youth’s capacity to process complex information about risks and new technologies related to climate change.
The study underscored the use of information and communication technologies to access financial and savings instruments will play an important role in the rural development of the Asia Pacific region.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)