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Rural youth populations shift over time and help shape future demographic patterns while impacting the options for states to achieve demographic dividends and reduce gender inequalities. Building on United Nations data, this study analyses how past growth of the youth population was dramatic in Asia and the Pacific, while projections suggest a sharp rise in the youth population of sub-Saharan Africa until 2050. A primary concern to raise the demographic dividend is efforts involve women in key agricultural roles so that female productivity increases. Indeed, large proportions of rural youth, of both sexes, lower dependency ratios and raise the urgency of accumulating human capital to increase their productivity.
Adolescence and early adulthood are periods of major biological, economic and social transitions for rural youth. They provide a critical window of opportunity for addressing chronic nutritional deficits from childhood, for “catch-up” growth, for providing a solid foundation for a healthy productive and reproductive life, and for arresting the intergenerational transmission of malnutrition. In this study we show that rural transformation processes are associated with improvements in rural youth nutrition - malnutrition and underweight - in nearly all regions, although the pace of change varies considerably across countries. Most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are faced with the double burden of malnutrition and overweight/obesity, and in some countries this double burden is increasing, with the prevalence of underweight and overweight/obesity rising concurrently. The effect of rural transformation processes on rural youth nutrition is mediated by its effects on the external and personal domains of the “food environment”. Transformation of agri-food systems are bringing about large changes in the diets of rural youth in LMICs, and particularly of the younger age groups, who appear to be witnessing rapid dietary transitions. The Young Lives dataset suggest that certain near-universal changes in patterns of dietary and nutrient intake patterns can be discerned in LMICs, although the pace of change varies. Dietary transitions are also driven by “globalisation influences” - especially dissemination of information through digital/social media and food industry advertising and marketing strategies - even in countries with low/slow rural transformation. Our results show that rural transformation processes can have both positive and negative effects on rural youth nutrition in LMICs. Despite the globalisation influences of international trade and agri-food systems, dietary changes in individual LMICs are still influenced by national policies and production patterns. Understanding the pathways to impact of rural transformation on rural youth nutrition is crucial for designing “nutrition-sensitive” rural transformation policies.
EPDF and EPUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. Millions of children throughout Africa undertake many forms of farm and domestic work. Some of this work is for wages, some is on their family’s own small plots and some is forced and/or harmful. This book examines children’s involvement in such work. It argues that framing all children’s engagement in economic activity as ‘child labour’, with all the associated negative connotations, is problematic. This is particularly the case in Africa where many rural children must work to survive and where, the contributors argue, much of the work undertaken is not harmful. The conceptual and case-based chapters reframe the debate about children’s work and harm in rural Africa with the aim of shifting research, public discourse and policy so that they better serve the interest of rural children and their families.
This book analyzes how international organizations and the European Union engage with civil society to pursue their policy goals. Multi-stakeholder initiatives, private-public partnership, sub-contracting, political alliances, hybrid coalitions, multi-sectoral networks, pluralist co-governance, and indeed foreign policy by proxy are all considered. Bringing together the most advanced scholarship, the book examines trade, environment, development, security, and human rights with reference to both EU and global institutional settings such as the WTO, UN Climate Summits, FAO, IFAD, ICC, UNHRC, UNSC, and at the EU level the DG FISMA, TRADE, CLIMA, DEVCO, HOME and ECHO. The book also studies the use of NGOs in the foreign policy of the EU, USA, and Russia. This changing politics and the polarized debate it has generated are explored in detail.
Originally published in 1994, this book brings together papers developing feminist analyses of the rural condition from a wide range of industrialised countries, informed by the national and local cultural constructions of gender and rurality which they interpret. The chapters address the gendered power relations of rural households and agricultural science; women’s mobilisation in farming and environmental politics; the intersection of domestic and rural values and practices as they shape gender identities.
Environmentally Sustainable Development Studies and Monograph Series No. 17. A 1995 publication from the World Bank, Monitoring Environmental Progress: A Report on Work in Progress, generated great interest in the use of indicators to measure the pace and direction of change in environmentally sustainable development. In particular, the attempts to define what it means to be wealthy or poor by recognizing that a countrys wealth is the combination of various forms of capital--produced, natural, and human resources--led to new thinking on what constitutes wealth and how it might be measured. The current document, Expanding the Measure of Wealth: Indicators of Environmentally Sustainable Development, extends the earlier analysis by highlighting portfolio indicators for tracking a countrys progress toward sustainable development. These include new estimates of national wealth and genuine savings, a detailed analysis of changes in subsidies that have environmental consequences, and progress on the conceptual foundations of social capital. The new estimates reinforce the importance of the natural resource base of all economies as well as the fundamental role of human resources, including both human capital and the more difficult to define concept of social capital.
The 'Gender in Agriculture Sourcebook' provides an up-to-date understanding of gender issues and a rich compilation of compelling evidence of good practices and lessons learned to guide practitioners in integrating gender dimensions into agricultural projects and programs. It is serves as a tool for: guidance; showcasing key principles in integrating gender into projects; stimulating the imagination of practitioners to apply lessons learned, experiences, and innovations to the design of future support and investment in the agriculture sector. The Sourcebook draws on a wide range of experience from World Bank, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and other donor agencies, governments, institutions, and groups active in agricultural development. The Sourcebook looks at: access to and control of assets; access to markets, information and organization; and capacity to manage risk and vulnerability through a gender lens. There are 16 modules covering themes of cross-cutting importance for agriculture with strong gender dimensions (Policy, Public Administration and Governance; Agricultural Innovation and Education; Food Security; Markets; Rural Finance; Rural Infrastructure; Water; Land; Labor; Natural Resource Management; and Disaster and Post-Conflict Management) and specific subsectors in agriculture (Crops, Livestock, Forestry, and Fisheries). A separate module on Monitoring and Evaluation is included, responding to the need to track implementation and development impact. Each module contains three different sub-units: (1) A Module Overview gives a broad introduction to the topic and provides a summary of major development issues in the sector and rationale of looking at gender dimension; (2) Thematic Notes provide a brief and technically sound guide in gender integration in selected themes with lessons learned, guidelines, checklists, organizing principles, key questions, and key performance indicators; and (3) Innovative Activity Profiles describe the design and innovative features of recent and exciting projects and activities that have been implemented or are ongoing.
Solar Energy Advancements in Agriculture and Food Production Systems aims to assist society and agricultural communities in different regions and scales to improve their productivity and sustainability. Solar energy, with its rapidly growing technologies and nascent market, has shown promise for integration into a variety of agricultural activities, providing an alternative, sustainable solution to current practices. To meet the future demands of modern sustainable agriculture, this book addresses the major existing problems by providing innovative, effective, and sustainable solutions using environment-friendly, advanced, energy-efficient, and cost-optimized solar energy technologies. This comprehensive book is intended to serve as a practical guide for scientists, engineers, policymakers, and stakeholders involved in agriculture and related primary industries, as well as sustainable energy development, and climate change mitigation projects. By including globally implemented solar-based agriculture projects in each chapter and highlighting the key associated challenges and benefits, it aims to bridge the knowledge gap between the market/real-world applications and research in the field. Provides up-to-date knowledge and recent advances in applications of solar energy technology in agriculture and food production Introduces two advanced concepts of agrivoltaics and aquavoltaics and addresses their potentials, challenges, and barriers Explains the application of solar energy technologies in agricultural systems, including greenhouse cultivation, water pumping and irrigation, desalination, heating and cooling, and drying Explains the use of solar energy in agricultural automation and robotics, considering precision agriculture and smart farming application Describes new applications of solar energy in agriculture and aquaculture, and technoeconomic and environmental impacts of solar energy technologies in agriculture and food production
This book features a comprehensive foresight assessment, exploring the pressures — threats as well as opportunities — on the global agriculture & food systems between now and 2050. The overarching aim is to help readers understand the context, by analyzing global trends and anticipating change for better planning and constructing pathways from the present to the future by focusing on the right questions and problems. The book contextualizes the role of international agricultural research in addressing the complex challenges posed by UN 2030 Agenda and beyond, and identifies the decisions that scientific leaders, donors and policy makers need to take today, and in the years ahead, to ensure that a global population rising to nine billion or more combined with rising incomes and changing diets can be fed sustainably and equitably, in the face of the growing climate threats.