Agroecological Youth in Action

Lead Organization:

National Association of Ecological Producers of Peru (ANPE PERU)

Partner Organizations:

Peru Chapter of the Young Professionals for Rural Development (YPARD Peru), National Agrarian University, and Pontifical Catholic University of Peru

Community of Practice:

Andes

Countries:

Peru

Duration:

11/2022—11/2025

Overview:

Rural youth constitute a diverse and fundamental group for Peru’s rural development. Despite this, they are not considered a fundamental actor within public policies (Urrutia, 2017). According to the 2017 Population and Housing Census, 25.2 percent of Peru’s population is 15 to 29 years old. Of this, 20.5 percent are urban youth and 4.7 percent are rural. In addition, the highest concentration of rural youth is between 15 and 18 years old, unlike the national average of 21 to 25 years, suggesting that rural youth are forced very early to start migratory processes in search of better education and employment.

According to the 2012 National Agricultural Census, 12 percent of producers are young. Not all have access to land: 63 percent own some of the land on which they work. In addition, the surface they work is smaller than adults’. Young people drive an average of 2.8 hectares per producer and adults 5.1 (Urrutia, 2017). Urrutia points out that, together with the “minifundization” of the land, lack of adequate training and limited access to credit and markets are problems.

Although access to education and basic services is now greater in rural areas, gender gaps in rural youth remain and are exacerbated for women who experience early motherhood. Of rural young women, 50.3 percent have at least one child: a higher proportion of mothers at an early age compared to their urban peers (Urrutia & Trivelli, 2019).

Rural youth have been particularly affected by Covid-19 , especially in employment and education, causing the gaps to deepen compared to their urban counterparts. Return migration to their territories has brought difficulties such as poor connectivity, which has prevented them from continuing their studies, doing paid work, or accessing land. However, in some cases it has generated opportunities linked to innovation and experiences learned from returnees (YPARD, 2021).

The National Association of Ecological Producers of Peru (ANPE PERU) promotes youth participation through training and national coordination spaces. One was the “National Meeting of Agroecological Youth: Strengthening Entrepreneurship and Associative Capacities from Agroecology” held in 2016 with the aim of building a common agenda for agroecological youth, strengthening their capacities through exchange experiences, and institutionalizing these meetings to strengthen the network. Generational change is still, however, a problem.

Grant Aims:

The overall goal is to directly and indirectly promote the collaborative empowerment of youth (young producers, leaders, and university and non-university students) involved in agroecological production from a territorial approach led by ANPE PERU, working under a logic that articulates three components: training, research, and advocacy:

Specifically, the project seeks to:

  1. Educate and empower youth through training modules on agrifood systems and agroecological practices emphasizing technological innovation and inclusive markets. The goals are:
    • 90 young people increase capacities (against baseline value) total in three years
    • 90 young people complete total training plan in three years
    • 30 young people trained as facilitators in three years
    • 30 Agroecological Learning Nuclei (NAA) formed and in operation
    • 30 NAA plans designed and in implementation
    • Three NAA interregional meeting spaces
    • One AgroecoLab strategy designed and validated with experts and users
    • Three modular programs developed
    • 90 young people graduated from training programs
    • 30 total communities benefited in three years
  2. Research and generate updated knowledge to facilitate decision making through registration and analysis of trajectories, barriers, and opportunities of youth linked to AE. The goals are:
    • 11 documents resulting from research disseminated in regional and local spaces to serve as basis for development of projects and instruments of public policy, which are:
      • One research report prepared and disclosed in regional and local spaces
      • Five bachelor theses on young people in AE
      • One paper presented at a congress and published
      • One catalog prepared
      • Three action research reports disclosed by NAA
    • Advocacy influencing national and regional public agenda regarding youth linked to AE through consolidation, visibility, and strategic positioning of youth leadership, whose goal is:
      • Active participation in seven technical tables of regional governments where decisions are made on policies promoting AE
      • One updated database
      • One report generated and distributed to ANPE bases
      • One SIANPE viewer designed, validated, and in operation
      • One directory of tutors/companions prepared
      • 15 trained tutors/companions
      • Six tutoring/accompaniment spaces implemented
      • One communication strategy designed and implemented according to territorial particularities

Outputs and Outcomes:

  • Training plan aimed at strengthening capacities in young producers and/or university students through modules in hybrid modality; acquired skills certified by PUCP and/or UNALM
  • Formation of Agroecological Learning Nuclei (NAA): collaborative learning strategy between young producers, university students, and leading producers
  • AgroecoLab: adapted version of Laboratoria initiative with emphasis on modular programs that strengthen knowledge about ICT, digital marketing, and communications to consolidate agroecological production processes and short marketing chains; acquired skills certified
  • Rapid diagnosis aimed at updating information on young people in AE with emphasis on their trajectories, opportunities, and barriers
  • Action-research models with agroecological youth; based on diagnosis, innovative methodological approaches identified that allow involvement of NAA as model validation experiences
  • Mapping youth leadership experiences and spaces at national, regional, and local levels; update information on situation of young producers in ANPE PERU bases to design development policies and programs from territorial logic
  • Virtual platform (observatory) and interactive tool (viewer) integrated into SIANPE to manage virtual content (videos, courses, news, legal regulations) and show contribution of agroecological commitment to the world
  • Tutoring/accompaniment spaces for young people linked to AE; involvement of academic and non-academic experts in learning and research processes of young people
  • Communication strategy, set of actions associated with dissemination and socialization of work carried out (webinars, web content, materials, campaigns, social networks)