Agriculture and youth migration in drylands

In general, migration tends to reduce overall resilience in rural dryland areas. Agriculture and its future labor force is severely weakened, and affected by a possible gender imbalance.

While one can say that it is easier to deal with human- induced factors instead of facing nature- induced elements, this does not mean that life and agricultural livelihood opportunities in drylands are impossible and nothing can be done. This picture is not as dark and gloomy as it might first seem.

Adopting a holistic systems approach to address both environmental and socio-economics can help strengthen the agriculture sector and curb youth migration. What is also crucial is to convince young people to see the value and opportunities in pursuing an agricultural livelihood, while providing them with the actual means to accomplish just that.

The International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas has been working for years in many dryland regions – particularly that of Middle East and North Africa – to help farmers develop holistic solutions to challenges faced in agriculture development, such as the use of suitable crop varieties, the improvement of irrigation and water harvesting techniques, the improvement of land productivity and systems resilience through conservation agriculture, and so forth.

[Full article here by Malak Tleis - Photo by Jurgen - Flickr]