FAO highlights that expanding access to finance is key to strengthening the future of rural youth

Access to investment and financing instruments tailored to the needs of rural youth, together with stronger producer organizations, is essential to promote young people’s financial inclusion and economic autonomy, encourage them to remain in family farming and improve their livelihoods. These were the main conclusions of the third session of the Cycle of Technical Exchanges on Family Farming. 

Experiences from Paraguay, Eswatini, Rwanda, Kenia, Morocco and Togo showed that the effectiveness of investment instruments for rural youth depends not only on the availability of resources, but also on enabling conditions, favorable regulatory frameworks and effective institutional coordination. They also highlighted the importance of reinforcing young people’s capacities to access finance and develop innovative initiatives in family farming.

The cases also demonstrated the important role of producer organizations in expanding access to credit, savings and investment by developing specific financial products tailored to young people and providing technical assistance and training.

The event, led by FAO through the Regional Technical Platform for Family Farming, together with the Specialized Meeting on Family Farming (REAF) of Mercosur and the youth initiative World Food Forum, reaffirmed the value of dialogue and the exchange of experiences in identifying solutions that can be replicated and adapted to different national contexts.

This session marked the conclusion of the third Cycle of Technical Exchanges on Family Farming, which facilitated the exchange of experiences from different regions of the world and brought together more than 70 countries to analyze the gaps and opportunities related to rural youth’s access to, adoption and use of technological tools in family farming.

“Over the course of three sessions, we were able to examine the role of digital technologies as tools to improve the productivity and economic integration of rural youth. At the same time, we have placed family farming at the heart of an inclusive rural transformation agenda, recognizing the role of the sector in ensuring food security and offering solutions to address the inequalities affecting our societies”, emphasized Luiz Beduschi, Senior Policy Officer in Territorial Development at FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean.

In the coming months, the initiative will continue with new exchange spaces focused on the inclusion of women in the sector, as a way of continuing to contribute to the agenda of the United Nations Decade of Family Farming (2019-2028) and the objectives of the International Year of the Woman Farmer.

Digitalization of Rural Youth

In line with the objective of fostering the participation of rural youth in family farming and supporting the implementation of their innovative ideas, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and Procasur, with support from FAO, are promoting the Nexus Rural award, which will recognize 10 digital solutions designed by rural youth from Latin America and the Caribbean.

The selected initiatives will participate in mentoring, training in artificial intelligence and business, and a series of regional webinars.