FAO Science and Innovation Forum 2025 Highlights the Transformative Potential of Rural Youth with Scientific Training

The 2025 Science and Innovation Forum of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for Latin America and the Caribbean brought together actors from rural development and innovation to address a phenomenon that has remained largely overlooked: the rural brain drain of university-educated youth with a strong community commitment.

In the region, thousands of rural youth migrate each year in search of higher education. While some do not return to the countryside, a significant group is eager to go back and contribute to the development of their communities. The Ayllu Tech initiative, with nearly 3,000 applicants, showcased these young people as a key resource for driving technological transformation in their territories.

Ayllu AgTech is an initiative that seeks to empower students, technicians, and young professionals in agriculture and food systems in Latin America to create innovative ventures that support smallholder family farming.

"Rural youth with scientific training represent an opportunity we cannot afford to miss. If we provide the right conditions for their return, many are ready to lead technological transformation from within their own territories," explained Soroush Parsa, FAO Officer for Science and Innovation.

Karen Caman, an Environmental Engineer from Peru, emphasized that transformation does not begin when university ends, but when structures exist to return and contribute. "We need policies that see those of us who return not as exceptions, but as part of a strategy."

The report emphasized the need for policies that, much like existing talent return programs for citizens abroad, encourage the internal return of these youth and support their reintegration as local tech leaders.

The forum featured a dialogue between the study's authors and a young ambassador of the Ayllu AgTech program, who shared experiences and proposals to support this transformative return. The session was aimed at government representatives, development agencies, foundations, and stakeholders involved in rural development, innovation, and applied science.

The session was part of the 2025 FAO Science and Innovation Forum (SIF) and aligned with the principles of FAO's strategy by placing historically underrepresented actors—such as rural youth—at the center. The proposal combined evidence, territorial relevance, sustainability, and equity, seeking practical solutions from a systemic transformation perspective.

The forum concluded with a call to strengthen regional alliances that promote transformative cooperation, where science, local knowledge, and youth engagement come together as drivers of change toward fairer and more sustainable agrifood systems.

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