International Youth Day 2023
Photo: Marlon del Aguila Guerrero/CIFOR.
“Green Skills for Youth: Towards a Sustainable World” is the theme for International Youth Day on Saturday, August 12, as set by the UN.
“Green skills”—also dubbed “skills for the future”—are particularly relevant for young people, according to the United Nations, considering their critical and long-term contribution to transitioning to an environmentally sustainable and climate-friendly world.
In agriculture and food systems, young people are key players. In the Global South, many young people work in agriculture, and they provide the entrepreneurship, innovation and drive that is critical for sustainably growing the sector. At the same time, young people do not always consider farming an attractive career choice, and their aspirations and desires are often poorly understood by development programs.
To mark International Youth Day, we feature some of CGIAR’s past and current work on how to better understand young people in agriculture and food systems, and on how research can contribute to providing them with better opportunities.
Interview with Nicoline de Haan, CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform Director
“I think it’s exciting to start seeing youth as real partners in agriculture—not just as agri-entrepreneurs—they are the new generation of farmers that will shape agriculture into the future.”
Join our discussion on youth at the Africa Food Systems Forum
Join CGIAR GENDER at the Africa Food Systems Forum in Arusha, Tanzania, on September 4-8, 2023 for a discussion on youth in agrifood systems
The CGIAR GENDER Impact Platform is co-organizing a side event to explore opportunities and gaps for young women and men farmers in agrifood systems. The event is co-organized with Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU) and Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
CGIAR news on youth
CGIAR videos on youth
CGIAR publications on youth
The gendered impacts of income fluctuations on household departure, labor supply, and human capital decisions: Evidence from Kyrgyzstan
Adolescents’ capabilities and aspirations across gender and generations in Amhara, Ethiopia
Bethelihem Gebre Alwab, Els Lecoutere & Nicola Jones (2022) Adolescents’ capabilities and aspirations across gender and generations in Amhara, Ethiopia, Journal of Eastern African Studies, 16:3, 472-494, DOI: 10.1080/17531055.2022.2162191
Sweet or not: Nudging toward healthier food choices for children using information
Nguyen, Trang; de Brauw, Alan; and Van den berg, Marrit. 2021. Sweet or not: Nudging toward healthier food choices for children using information. IFPRI Discussion Paper 2041. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). https://doi.org/10.2499/p15738coll2.134565
Testing methods to increase consumption of healthy foods evidence from a school-based field experiment in Viet Nam
Trang Nguyen, Alan de Brauw, Marrit van den Berg, Ha Thi Phuong Do, Testing methods to increase consumption of healthy foods evidence from a school-based field experiment in Viet Nam,
Food Policy, Volume 101, 2021, 102047, ISSN 0306-9192, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2021.102047.
Relative validity of a mobile AI-technology–assisted dietary assessment in adolescent females in Vietnam
Phuong Hong Nguyen, Lan Mai Tran, Nga Thu Hoang, Duong Thuy Thi Trương, Trang Huyen Thi Tran, Phuong Nam Huynh, Bastien Koch, Peter McCloskey, Rohit Gangupantulu, Gloria Folson, Boateng Bannerman, Alejandra Arrieta, Bianca C Braga, Joanne Arsenault, Annalyse Kehs, Frank Doyle, David Hughes, Aulo Gelli. Relative validity of a mobile AI-technology–assisted dietary assessment in adolescent females in Vietnam. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 116, Issue 4,
2022, Pages 992-1001, ISSN 0002-9165, https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqac216.
School feeding or general food distribution? Quasi-experimental evidence on the educational impacts of emergency food assistance during conflict in Mali
Food for thought? Experimental Evidence on the Learning Impacts of a Large-Scale School Feeding Program
Food for thought? Experimental Evidence on the Learning Impacts of a Large-Scale School Feeding Program.
Validation of Mobile Artificial Intelligence Technology–Assisted Dietary Assessment Tool Against Weighed Records and 24-Hour Recall in Adolescent Females in Ghana
Gloria K. Folson, Boateng Bannerman, Vicentia Atadze, Gabriel Ador, Bastien Kolt, Peter McCloskey, Rohit Gangupantulu, Alejandra Arrieta, Bianca C. Braga, Joanne Arsenault, Annalyse Kehs, Frank Doyle, Lan Mai Tran, Nga Thu Hoang, David Hughes, Phuong Hong Nguyen, Aulo Gelli. Validation of Mobile Artificial Intelligence Technology–Assisted Dietary Assessment Tool Against Weighed Records and 24-Hour Recall in Adolescent Females in Ghana, The Journal of Nutrition, Volume 153, Issue 8, 2023,
Pages 2328-2338, ISSN 0022-3166, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2023.06.001.