Prior to the strategy’s formulation, consultations with youth groups and organisations were conducted. These consultations revealed that the major constraints youth becoming involved in agriculture and agricultural enterprises lie outside the agriculture sector.
‘Getting support to access land often lies within the community and family structures,’ said Stephen Hazelman, Information, Communication and Extension Coordinator for the Land Resources Division of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community.
In presenting the strategy, Mr Hazelman said that motivating youth to view agriculture as a career opportunity requires working closely with the education sector.
‘We need to work a lot more closely and strategically with community structures, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), youth groups, the private sector, the education sector and financial institutions.
Under the youth-oriented extension, we need to work more with the youth ministry, private sector and NGOs that are working with youth groups already to provide extension support in a coordinated way,’ Mr Hazelman said at the HOAFS meeting.
SPC’s Youth Adviser, Rose Maebiru reiterated the call for a more coordinated approach when involving young people in the agriculture sector.
‘One example is to encourage partnerships with the education sector to integrate agriculture into primary school curriculum. We’ve also heard this week about ongoing initiatives to support youth in agricultural enterprises and showcase their success.
As part of the FACT [Facilitating Agricultural Commodity Trade] meeting earlier this week, two of the awards for agriculture went to young farmers ....
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