How can we inspire the next generation of farmers?

Agriculture
41

Manfred - I have been around this situation for a long time. I am quite frankly sick of hearing about extension service strengthening and farmer field schools. Just look at our industry in terms of what has "embedded" in agricultural communities and you will see that we still have the same issues that we had 15 years ago. A few patches of low hanging fruit have benefitted but is this what you would class as sustainable - if the outside funding was removed - would the whole thing collapse? The producing countries need to be assisted to take control of their national assets and to have a marketing regime which, by the use of technonlogy, enables farmer groups to find and transact with the best buyer.

As part of this is the quality and food safety issue which can be achieved by independent quality inspection close to the farm gate in the quality management/resource centres that are needed.

42

thanks for your comment Phil, , this is an interesting point and very much in line with our thinking. This is why we have developed the Nestlé Cocoa Plan to start at the very first stage of the 'chocolate' value chain and make cocoa farming more attractive. This starts with vocational trainings, good planting materials combined with agricultural practices to increase yields and household income. We're working different stakeholders, including private sector, NGOs and governmental entities to achieve this. This task is too big to be tacked by a single player.

43

I mostly agree with your points. However, who would produce food in the future and how will we feed the increasing population if the next generation of young talented people abandons rural areas? What would you propose as the next generation of farmers?

44

agree that we have to work towards sustainable markets which includes the cocoa growers as feasible business units. Field schools are just one way to bring together unorganized farmers and achieve outreach with best practices - not only in agriculture, but also in business, social, and environment issues. As implementer, me may have to step back, if donors take out their funding - but the businesses involved in our programs stay on and continue implementing their sustainability programs, based on lessons learned and capacity build up in PPP paving the first paths to the higher hanging fruits.

45

Earning money is attractive. There must be a mind shift from farmer to entrepreneur farmer. If we can motivate young farmers to learn to value and make sense out of farming activities that provides significant income, it is likely that they will find farming more attractive.

To achieve this, young farmers must have right set of business and production skills, and understand how to apply available technologies.

46

That brings us to the end of our live session. Thank you to our panel and to all of you who participated!

We'll leave this discussion open - so feel free to continue posting your comments.

If you would like to read more about this topic, check out our three-part special on "The Next Generation of Farmers", co-hosted by Nestlé:

47

This was great discussion! To pick up on Alison Griffith point, we need to help young people achieve their ambitions and hopefully, in a rural environment, we can help them acquire the skills they need to become succcessful 'agripreneurs', and ensuring that their vital contribution, producing food, is recognised by consumers and society at large.

48

Hi, Alison! I have seen Practical Action's Participatory Market System Development in action in the dairy sector in Bangladesh. Not only does participation support inclusion, but the leadership groups/committees established support sustainability by putting in place local institutions that endure to support the value chain beyond the project life.

Many projects have challenges with participation because they perceive that is slows down the project implementation. In a hurry to meet deliverables, project manager often link with existing organizations and known leaders. Because young people, women in particular, are often left out of established institutions, they get left out of the project. Along comes the mid-term evaluations and - opps! - the project is not meeting targets for reaching women and young people. A specialist is often called in at that point, but has to turn the project train around. How much better to partner at the start with organizations that have experience working with young people and women, or have experience with participatory approaches. How much better to build into project costs the work it takes to organize, consult and engage young people.

In addition, every publication and forum on youth emphasizes the need to create leadership opportunities for young people in which they are not just consulted, but have decision-making roles in policy and projects.

Mary McVay

The Enterprise Development Kiosk

49

Thanks. The message is not, "youth are irrelevant to agriculture," but more that engaging youth should not be seen as the main solution to food security and agriculture should not be seen as the main solution to the youth employment challenge.

In terms of who will feed the increasing population, the best in-depth work I found on this subject is "Small-scale Farming and Youth in an Era of Rapid Rural Change," by Felicity Proctor and Valeria Lucchesi. There is an excellent analysis of global and regional data, publications and cases. One of many insights for me was their break-down of small-scale farms into 3 categories of asset-poor, asset-limited and asset-rich. The asset-rich and asset-limited are in a position to contribute to and benefit from different packages of agricultural modernization assistance, and the asset-poor are more in need of livelihood assistance and - for young family members - assistance to transition to a different livelihood because their farms are not viable economic units. Even for asset-rich and asset-limited farming families, however, the prediction is that a minority of the children in those families will actually remain as farmers. Others will enter related agri-businesses and others will leave agriculture altogether. The assumption is that there will be plenty of labor for modernizing farms, and that modernization will/should bring with it better returns, better working conditions, etc.

I think it is very exciting that young people who will stay in farming and the programs that seek to support them have a rich menu of options to choose from, as exemplified in this discussion.

I should highlight that another key recommendation is to gather and share more data and knowledge so that policy makers and practitioners are choosing form the best practices, and not just the best promoted practices.

Thank you for this dialogue. It has been very interesting,

Mary McVay

50

In March this year, I had an opportunity to spend 3 days with small scale farmers in Kalisizo central Uganda. Their biggest challenge was market access. As we looked around their farms there was so much food going to waste and the farmers complained that buyers never made it to their region. This situation was compounded by the fact that, the farmers had no mean of preserving nor adding value to this food. One of the farmers we visited was 77 years old, his children had left home for the city, he exchanged food for farm help and even then, there was so much food that was simply left on the farm.

What I learned from this experience is that we need to get technology to such farmers, the kind that will allow them to add value and to preserve the excess

The farmers complained too about the change in consumption habits of the people. As far as they can work, most folks would rather buy prepackage food, squash etc than fresh food

51

For beginning farmers here are several loan programs worth a look:

Veterans any method: http://www.beginningfarmers.org/beginning-farmer-training-programs/military-veteran-farmer-training/
Standard methods: http://www.cfra.org/resources/Publications/Beg_Farmer_loan_programs.htm

Organic methods: http://nofanh.org/farming/beginner-organic-farmer-program/

52

In the Making Cents International State of the Field in Youth Economic Opportunities, we discuss the issue of IT for youth in rural areas and profile several promising cases, among them:

+Mshamba in Kenya, an application and sms agricultural information service developed by a team of young entrepreneurs.

+Radio and television programming promoting farming as a business, also highlighting family dynamics including unpaid, family child labor on smallholder farms (TechnoServe's STRYVE and ACDI/VOCA's Kenya Maize Development Program)

+Radio and sms information service to cocoa farmers in Ghana (Hershey)

+The Community Knowledge Worker program (The Grameen Foundation, Uganda) in which community members including many women and young people earn money by answering farmer questions. They use smartphones to access static data and can also consult an information/research service. The CKWs also earn money conducting surveys for companies, research institutes, etc, who need information from farmers.

+The by now well known work of ITC India in establishing village internet cafes (e-choupals) that link farmers with ITC as an input supplier and buyer, but also provide open internet access and open market information.

+Use of free on-line training and information by extension agents, trainers, teachers, and leaders of more advanced agribusinesses

We also summarize a debate about who has access and who benefits from IT, and how. And, we convey the demand for more relevant "local" content.

(Making Cents International State of the Field in Youth Economic Opportunities is forthcoming in January, 2014 at www.makingcents.com or www.youtheconomicopportunities.org )

Mary McVay, The Enterprise Development Kiosk

consultant to Making Cents International

53

We will require Govt. support. Agriculture may be included in occupation list which we can propagate as social recognition. Agricultural pricing boards be allowed to fix remunerative prices for the produce on the basis of quality/grading and the same be transmitted to the farm-head or collection centers. The institution of middlemen will have to be demolished with proactive measures like financing the farmers liberally.

The role of Govt.-Policy making, Business- Marketing and logistics, Development Agencies- Research, Incubation of ideas for new and high yielding varieties, Other stakeholders- Finance and monetary channeling. The different groups can be given incentives to contribute by involving them in Committees in every district and setting up targets for cultivation.

Agriculture can be made attractive to young people by introducing it as main subject of study at High School level, and allowing professional growth with various incentives/scholarships as the study progresses. Investment in agriculture training should be focused at Post High School level similar to ITIs and diploma holders be given on job training.

54

Nestlé Philippines is paving the way towards reinventing the farmer. This year, we launched the Nescafé “CUPS” (Coffee University of the Philippines Scholarship), which is a scholarship program for top students from low income families in the state university’s College of Agriculture. The objectives are to bring the Nescafé Plan to the academe, this includes the journey from “bean to cup”, post-harvest and the business process which includes the buying stations. Three top students were selected from the list of applicants and awarded the scholarships.

We believe that introducing the Nescafé Plan to students enrolled in agriculture primes the transition from the present misperception of a farmer as lowly, to a business leader and mentor who is an invaluable expert in the coffee industry.

The academe includes the “young people” in the third question. We believe that there is no better “critical mass” of advocates for agriculture than young students who have been given due recognition by companies like Nestlé. After graduation, the “CUPS” scholars will be given the opportunity to do On-the-Job Training with Nestlé Philippines’ agri-business section and also consultancy work, 1 year after graduation as farm managers assisting the growing list of investors who have allocated their idle lands to coffee growing the Nestlé way. These scholars will eventually become mentors.

I personally believe that as we progress with other universities with agriculture programs, graduating top scholars, the perceptions against being a “lowly” farmer will change. However, work still needs to be done to change farming as a mere occupation to farming as a respectable profession. This is where I see the emergence of the ”Green Collar”, a highly educated and articulate farm business executive/technician. A combination of cutting-edge technical knowledge, business savvy and actual field experience will find the Green Collars a permanent seat in the board rooms along with other top management officers and directors.

It is our hope that the many success stories of our CUPS scholars will bring about such an evolution.

Note: From “Left Field”

Another radical way to encourage interest in agriculture in the younger generation is to link the virtual with the real. On Feb. 12, 2013, Sponsor Pay, a value exchange ad group released its research on the demographics of gamers. The research showed that the virtual game “Farmville 2” had 36 million users, 27% of which belongs to the 25-34 year old groups, while 16% came from ages 18-24, see link below:

http://www.insidesocialgames.com/2013/02/12/sponsorpay-reveals-socialmobile-demographics/.

What if the game was linked to an actual farm and there were actual planting and produce with sales/profits?

55

Transparency and empowerment must be key ingredients of any "recipe".

56

Ida - thanks for an actual experience on the ground, a much needed message in this conversation.

I'll offer my comments to the three questions in a second, but first, I wanted to highlight how culturally insensitive this conversation feels especially with the assumptions of educating youth to 'transplant' our existing farmers and their efforts; the idea that because you are 'asset-poor' you should no longer be a farmer and feed yourself seems derelict, especially if that family/individual is likely feeding themselves as a result of having no other skill set or opportunity, which I'm sure they would take if they could. I realize this is a complex subject, but the views seem to be originating from a place external to the challenges, beliefs, values, needs, etc. of a small holder or farmer. Again, it appears to be another imposition of beliefs, in a way (would have loved to hear from Luis more!); the idea of shared value, in particular, is supposed to incorporate the producer (as an active member/actor), but like I've seen in the comments, that appears to take too much time...further alienating the true value of this conversation and it further highlights the misgivings of the shared value model (which sees the producer not as an active/powerful actor but as inputs to the production process).

My responses to the questions:

1) I think this question is a little odd coming from a corporate giant like Nestle, since one of the ways that small farmers are benefiting the most is via the Fair Trade and/or Direct Trade models, which ultimately (using the normal value chain models or even the shared value models) aim to remove the corporate giant from the picture in order to see those very gains at the producer level. Ultimately, by removing all those middle men and value chain partners in the corporate system, a small holder can see more of their fair share by directly accessing the market - the challenge is...accessing the market. Even the corporation’s move to incorporate certification bodies is falling apart with too many actors in this space and the labels' meaning diluted. A more wholesome food system might be better if corporates were not part of the picture, see here: http://talkaboutfoodjb.com/2013/11/08/redesigning-our-food-markets/

2) Gov isn't really doing this now, large agri-business sees it in their own interests (not society's these days), and dev agencies are waiting for the funding from both gov and business to push their interests. Seems like much of the problem lies in these relationships. But what can be done? Maybe something outside these entities/stakeholders... e.g. entrepreneurs, small businesses, re-focus on local markets (not global ones)...

3) This is a tough one, but what I've seen is that when mentors/elders talk about the industry as if it is something of value, something sacred, something worthwhile to pursue - then this ideology gets passed on to its youth. If they are saying this because they can make small businesses that help them thrive, then its about gaining access to resources, farm inputs, credit/finance in particular. I've seen young (recent secondary level) graduates forgoing university for small agriculture enterprises, but only because there was a sense of opportunity that provided them with what they wanted in the future (in this case an opportunity to go to university). That pull is strong and is a message generated over and over in rural areas; but there is never the message of what one will do with their degree once obtained and no jobs exist.

57

Reviewing, an elephant in the room is chemical agriculture versus the world, with companies like Monsanto propagating seed that requires fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides it's exactly the wrong direction to go with agriculture and very costly to society in more than lost revenue that could have been used on the farm for other needs such as soil enhancement, a key issue to nutrition in crops.

Modern chemical agriculture is producing crops with inadequate nutrition on key minerals in every study I've seen lately, this leads to a general loss of health in the people eating them, not to mention glyphosate in foods which is now seen to cause a huge list of diseases because it kills the gut bacteria in humans or animals and those are needed to pre-digest food so it's acceptable in the bloodstream.

By killing off too many beneficial gut bacteria the body uses other biological pathways that involve toxins to get needed minerals denied by having a broad spectrum chelator in the food.

This is a huge issue and affects who wants to farm when farm workers are dying from using Roundup and Bt crops due to these effects. It won't go away, my take is within ten years most of these will be illegal and banned from ever being used again, the push for more deadly pesticides results is more extinct species and it seems the honey bee is one of them.

Young people interested in being farmers can read, they see their parents struggle with bills and putting on haz-mat suits to "farm", the ones I talk to don't want any part of it and the current push by Big Ag are very restrictive laws on organic farming with endless, expensive hoops to jump to "prove" your crop isn't tainted by all the poisons and it's perfectly legal to use them without a care ... totally insane by their view, totally a money game and a deadly one.

I don't have any answers to this, in our state with a huge majority wanting labeling the money interests poured $23-million into a media blitz that worked, barely but did defeat a very popular initiative according to Corruption United that allows money in politics without a limit, the kids see it no problem, words are worthless and they are not impressed with status quo.