By Rosemary
Vargas-Lundius
Out-migration of youth
population from rural areas has been an unavoidable part of its structural
transformation towards increased agricultural productivity and economic
development. Migration to urban centres or abroad can potentially create new
livelihood opportunities for young people, which in turn could contribute to
rural development through financial as well as social remittances, i.e. new
skills, attitudes, ideas.
However, migration is not always the preferred
choice among rural youth since it often involves a great deal of personal
sacrifice and uncertainty. Often young rural women and men arriving
in the urban centres find that they lack the education and networks to compete
for decent jobs in already saturated job markets. Many young people would
prefer to remain in rural areas if they had the chance to access better
education, adequate training, decent employment and services. Therefore,
opportunities need to be created for young women and men in rural areas, so
that migration remains a choice and not a necessity. Moreover, it is important
to ensure that, should they decide to migrate, they are equipped with adequate
skills and information to access gainful employment in urban areas or abroad.
Challenges in the rural milieu
Young women and men in
the rural areas are faced with a number of challenges. Underemployment, poor
working conditions and the prevalence of working poverty among young people
present even more stark challenges than unemployment, and become a disincentive
for rural youth to continue to live and work in their local communities.
Deficiencies in rural education and training
programmes hinder young rural people’s capacity to acquire the
necessary skills for contributing to the development of the rural and
agricultural sector. Especially for young rural girls, gender gaps in
participation, gender biased curricula and learning environments, lack of
appropriate facilities all undermine the opportunities for young rural women to
gain the education they need.
Furthermore, anecdotal evidence suggests that
young people view agricultural work as a last resort option, offering scant
rewards in terms of income generation. It is thus not surprising that many
young people view migration to cities as a viable livelihood option, even in
the absence of relevant skills.
This exodus of young people is resulting in an
ageing rural population in several developing countries. In some provinces of
China, for example, the average age of farmers is 45-50 years. In many parts of
Asia and Africa, remittances from migrants are overtaking agriculture as a main
income source.
For those young people who do decide to migrate
there is a lack of infrastructure to facilitate their transition, such as
support networks or information preparing them for the situation they are
likely to face upon their arrival in cities. As a result, many find themselves
in precarious and often exploitative arrangements. This situation is especially
stark for young women, who face a range of additional dangers including
trafficking, especially for sexual purposes, which afflicts around 2.5 million
people globally, predominantly affecting young women between the ages of 18-24.
A way forward
Rural youth migration
and employment issues are intrinsically connected to wider rural development
issues such as weak institutional capacity, deficient macroeconomic policies
and poor governance. However, youth initiatives in rural areas appear mostly to
be ad hoc and disconnected from initiatives and policies to redress
macroeconomic and structural problems. There is a need to systematically
mainstream youth issues into broader development policies and programme cycles.
What is most important is to hear young people’s aspirations and needs. Only in
this way can meaningful discussion about migration and youth employment take
place.
Reforming rural education systems, and
integrating the private sector in designing and implementing demand
driven training programmes for young women and men will create new
opportunities for young rural people. Investments in new frontiers such as
renewable energy, green jobs and climate smart agriculture can also expand
the range of options available to young rural people, as can fostering
partnerships among governments and civil society organisations (CSOs) to
promote financial literacy and access to resources by youth.
Promotion of decent
employment approaches, such as labour rights and social security should
complement employment generation programmes. Targeted initiatives to improve
the quality of rural employment such as monitoring and regulation of working
conditions, implementation of innovative social protection mechanisms and facilitating
the organisation of young rural workers to enable their participation in
decision-making processes, are all important aspects of this process. Farmers’
organisations should also promote and facilitate young rural people’s
participation in their own structures, giving them space to make their concerns
be heard.
An enabling policy
environment with innovative, forward-looking, gender sensitive rural
development policies can result in incentives for young people to remain in
their rural communities or return home, contributing to national agricultural
and rural development goals.
Rosemary Vargas-Lundius is a Senior Researcher
in the Strategy and Knowledge Management Department of the International Fund
for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and a member of the Consortium Advisory
Group of Migrating out of Poverty.
