Climate Change & Development (CCD) Community, of the Pacific Solution Exchange Consolidated Reply.

Query: Engaging Youth in Agriculture and Forestry Experiences; Advice.

Compiled by Jacqui Berrell, Community Facilitator, and Finau Domonakibau, United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Pacific Centre Issue Date: 24 June 2013

The Secretariat of the Pacific Community‟s (SPC) Land Resources Division (LRD; www.spc.int/lrd), is working on two youth projects. The first focuses on how best to engage and involve youth in agriculture and the second investigates ways youth can use Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), such as mobile phones and social media, to develop agricultural opportunities for youth.

Firstly, in collaboration with the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) ACP-EU (African, Caribbean and Pacific - European Union), SPC-LRD is in the process of facilitating a project on „Promoting Coherent Multi-Sectoral Youth in Agriculture Policies in the Pacific‟. A key element of this project is documenting and sharing experiences, case studies and lessons learned on best ways to engage youth in agriculture. SPC-LRD plans to share these stories via a portal and through printed and electronic publications to assist people who work with youth and agriculture (including youths), to further implement some of the recommended actions and initiatives from the „Pacific Youth in Agriculture Strategy‟ report (http://www.spc.int/lrd/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=678&Itemid=396).

Complementing that project, is the CTA funded „Agriculture Rural Development and Youth in the Information Society‟ (ARDYIS) initiative that also promotes youth and agriculture in ACP countries, but with an emphasis on how social media and other ICTs may be used to develop agricultural opportunities for youth. This includes how youth may develop IT platforms or mobile applications for agriculture, or in other ways to improve their livelihoods. This project will also seek experiences and lessons learned for youth and agriculture relating to ICTs.

Thus, your shared experiences, stories and case studies from this PSE query will assist both projects.

Specifically, what are some ways to engage youth in agriculture programs?

• Are youths interested to learn about agriculture? How may social media and other ICTs be used to engage or educate them, such as training young farmers to better manage their agri-business? • What youth in agriculture activities or groups and programs exist in the Pacific? For such programs, what challenges do we face in engaging youth and how do we overcome these? • Do you know youths who are developing software or mobile applications for agriculture?

Experiences may be specific to agriculture or youth projects, or relate to whole-of-community programs or to other program areas such as development, climate change, Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) or Management (DRM), renewable energy, gender or any other topic given it‟s likely we can transfer the stories, lessons learned, social media and ICT innovations, into practical applications for youth and agriculture approaches.

Your responses will assist SPC LRD to collate these valuable experiences to help with both their projects and, ultimately, to help people working with youth and agriculture in the Pacific.

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