Promoting Youth Engagement and Employment in Agriculture and Food Systems

Today’s young people are on the front lines of the transformation of agriculture and food systems. They are coping with the effects of environmental and climate change, which are likely to accelerate and intensify during their lifetimes. These problems have been exacerbated by the social and economic impacts of COVID-19, which has put lives, jobs and livelihoods at risk and is having serious effects on both food supplies and demand worldwide.

The report assesses the opportunities and challenges for youth engagement and employment in food systems to be part of an urgent readjustment of social and economic life towards an economy of well-being. This approach envisions re-balancing relations between human and living nature — especially in the face of climate and health crises — towards upholding the right to food, rewarding livelihoods and relationships based on cooperation and solidarity. The goal of “living well” requires a holistic perspective, challenging business-as-usual approaches to economic growth and acknowledging that youth transitions and their engagement in food systems are shaped by the intersections of multiple factors and structural constraints.