A focus on rural areas

Why Focus on Rural Youth? 

Developing countries have a high proportion of individuals under 25, presenting a unique opportunity for rural development. Currently, 88% of the 1.2 billion youth live in developing countries, with half residing in rural areas (IFAD, 2019). In Sub-Saharan Africa, 60% of youth are expected to remain in rural areas for the next decade (INCLUDE, 2021). Projections indicate that half of Africa’s new jobseekers will need rural employment until at least 2030 (INCLUDE, 2021). 

Rural youth can drive inclusive growth and sustainable development. Employment in decent work can lead to a demographic dividend, stimulating domestic market growth. Their involvement offers a chance to advance social justice and rural transformation. 

In rural areas much of the economic activity is related to agriculture, i.e. crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. In Sub Sahara Africa, most agricultural production takes place in (small) family farms, in the informal sector and affected by seasonality, for instance the rain fed production in Senegal provides only 70 days of work a year to family members.  

The risks related to farming are many such as unpredictable weather conditions, exacerbated by climate change, pest and diseases,  volatile prices,  high costs of inputs , contributing to situations of food insecurity. Because of the seasonality of production, farmers and their families often need to create additional income generating activities such as processing and marketing of produce to reach a living income.  

Challenges Faced by Rural Youth 

Many rural youth work in precarious conditions with low productivity due to a lack of resources, expertise, and services. Globally, one-third of agricultural workers are in the informal economy This proportion reaches 62 per cent in low-income countries. This involves that workers lack social protection, skills development, and benefits. Additionally, 20.4% of global youth are not in employment, education, or training (NEET), with higher rates in rural areas. There is also poor awareness of fundamental work rights and safety practices, weak involvement with workers' and employers' organizations, limited internet access, and poor infrastructure and basic services in rural areas. 

In addition to this, access to production factors such as land and finance is difficult for youth.  

Approaches to Decent Job Creation for Rural Youth 

A gender-responsive approach addresses gender-based barriers and empowers rural young women to improve employment prospects. A rights-based approach empowers individuals to know and claim their rights, and hold institutions accountable. Social dialogue promotes democratic governance and economic stability through negotiation and consultation among governments, employers, and workers. This social dialogue can be piloted by strong farmers organisations.  

Pathways for Change 

Creation of Decent Jobs: At the macro level, implementing sectoral and employment policies that promote decent work, such as boosting rural tourism, is essential. At the meso level, promoting rural economic diversification, such as blue, green, circular, and digital economies, is crucial. At the micro level, supporting youth-led entrepreneurship and access to finance and resources is vital. Special attention is needed for the agricultural waged labour force which is often seasonal and informal. Strategies that allow for a better resilience and food security should be associated where feasible such as providing agricultural insurance  and weather data & forecast for farmers.  

Improving Job Quality: Extending social protection and care policies to rural areas, promoting the formalization of the rural informal economy, and enhancing labour protection and collective bargaining are necessary steps.  Supporting village saving and lending groups (eg. “We save for health”) is a way of offering social protection services in the informal rural sector.  

Supporting Labour Transitions: Providing information, guidance, and job placement services, improving youth employability through vocational training and apprenticeships, and enhancing labour market information systems with rural-urban data disaggregation are important measures. The vocational training for rural youth should take into account the profiling and aspirations of the different target groups and focus on activities that are economically feasible, attractive, and don’t create a negative impact on the environment. The agro ecological production principles need to be embedded in the curricula.   

Promoting Rights at Work for Rural Youth 

Considerations include the minimum employment age, social health insurance benefits, maximum work hours, minimum wage, overtime pay, and occupational safety and health (OSH) standards. 
Rural waged labour force, which are often non educated, non-skilled youth , often landless and employed seasonally and informally need special attention. Another focus needs to be put on children that work in the family farm. In many countries child labour is mainly an agricultural issue. Worldwide 60 percent of all child labourers in the age group 5-17 years work in agriculture. 
Participation in some agricultural activities is not always child labour. Age- appropriate tasks that are of lower risk and do not interfere with a child’s schooling and leisure time can be a normal part of growing up in a rural environment. Especially in the context of family farming, small-scale fisheries and livestock husbandry, some participation of children in non-hazardous activities can be positive as it contributes to the inter-generational transfer of technical and social skills and children’s food security. Improved self-confidence, self-esteem and work skills are attributes often detected in young people engaged in some aspects of farm work. Therefore it is important to distinguish between light duties that do no harm to the child and child labour, which is work that interferes with compulsory schooling and damages health and personal development, based on hours and conditions of work, child’s age, activities performed and hazards involved. Read more here.

Social Protection and Decent Work 

Social protection policies should include short-term benefits and address climate change impacts. Integrating social protection with employment and skills development policies is essential. Policies should support structural transformations towards green and digital economies. Recognizing specific barriers faced by rural youth and young mothers in accessing social protection is crucial. 

Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) for Rural Youth 

Young workers are at higher risk of occupational injuries due to lower maturity, limited job skills, and lack of OSH awareness. A three-step approach includes knowing entitlements, conducting workplace risk assessments, and ensuring proper reporting and recording of occupational accidents and diseases. Agriculture is one of the three most dangerous sectors in terms of work-related fatalities, non-fatal accidents and occupational diseases. The OHS risks are many, related on the one hand to storage and handling of toxic and carcinogenic chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides  and soil fumigation products and on the other hand to hard or dangerous physical labour that can cause injuries . Especially for young pregnant women specific measures need to be taken.  

Youth Representation in Social Dialogue 

Enhancing youth engagement in social dialogue is necessary to promote their rights and improve working conditions. More specifically it is important to support  youth representation in farmers organisations.  

References

• Policy Guidelines for the Promotion of Decent Work in the Agri-Food Sector (2023)
• Work Wise Youth: ILO’s Guide to Youth Rights at Work (2024)