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Agriculture accounts for 32 per cent of total employment globally and 39 per cent in developing Asia and the Pacific, according to the ILO’s Global Employment Trends Report 2014.
Yet, it seldom tops young people’s “most wanted” wish list of careers. It is perceived as representing the past and the antithesis of progress.
While there is a growing trend in industrialized economies, including those of Korea or Australia, towards offering agriculturally-focused education and incentives for young people to invest in rural areas, moving back to the countryside in developing nations remains associated with poverty, informality and archaism. Improving tertiary agricultural education might be one way to improve the appeal of a sector some believe could boom in the coming decades.
Suk Moo Lee, a native Korean, has combined farming and camping to invent ‘farming’ on his blueberry farm. In 2013, his innovation brought in US$ 200,000 in profit. “As a little boy, I dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur. After examining the opportunities in various industries, I discovered that the agricultural sector had enormous potential for prosperity.”
His move proved wise, particularly at the height of the global employment crisis, which hit young people hard. In developed countries with few jobs available, many young people are qualified for trades that are unavailable or do not exist; and in developing countries, the absence of social protection forces many to venture into poor quality jobs where minimum labor standards are not met.
The agricultural sector has a huge potential to create jobs but needs to polish its image in order to attract more young people. To do this, governments should provide relevant education and training.
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SOURCE: ILO
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