ICBA - IsDB Side Event: Youth Engagement in Agriculture Production

The general theme for 42nd Annual Meeting of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IsDB) is about “Youth”. In line with this theme, IsDB and the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA) are organizing a side event titled “Youth engagement in agriculture production: Developing technologies that appeal to youth to make farming an attractive career option”.

Unemployment is the highest among young people but unlike past generations, the current generation has access to technologies that show them the world of possible alternatives. The hard work of primary agricultural production and low incomes are not attractive to many of the youth even in poor areas. The average age of farmers is between 40 and 50 in many places, and it is steadily increasing. If food security for the future is to be achieved, some young people will have to take up primary production. The deliberation of the event will explore various kinds of production technologies appealing to young people that can bring them back to play an active role in agriculture production. These technologies can include improved irrigation systems that use sensors to control water flows based on plant needs, or can automatically adjust fertilizer and pesticide application rates based on growing conditions as well as use of solar pumps. Greenhouse and other protected agriculture technologies can make possible high-value agricultural production in even the most marginal lands and provide higher incomes from primary production than has been possible in the past.